Humanity’s Fatal Flaw

Humanity has a fatal flaw. It’s on display in these numbers: 79.9M, 18.8M, 1.75M, 330K, 1.2C.

As of this writing: 79.9 million people have been infected by COVID-19 worldwide (18.8 million in the U.S., 2.06 million in California). Worldwide, 1.75 million have died from the virus (330,000 in the U.S.; 23,964 in California). The Earth has warmed about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels.

The COVID infection and death rates grow so fast the numbers in this article will be obsolete by the time it’s posted. While they, and what we need to do to reduce them, are endlessly broadcast and published on a daily basis, the numbers continue to grow. Despite Centers for Disease Control warnings and public health experts’ pleas, Americans traveled with abandon both at Thanksgiving and Christmas, want only spreading disease and death. Despite knowing that masking (and social distancing) prevent the spread of COVID, anti maskers persist in believing that masks are ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus and that government “mandates” would be authoritarian and anti-American. Anti-vaxxers are likewise representative of humanity’s fatal flaw. They believe the COVID vaccines, which are lifesaving and have been developed with unprecedented speed, are made up of dangerous chemicals, cause autism, and will cause COVID-19 rather than immunize one from getting it (even though there is no coronavirus in them). What this part of humanity fails to recognize is that wearing a mask and being vaccinated is not just for one’s own protection. It’s for the protection of others.