We’re facing too many risk clusters at once. Our brains weren’t designed for it.
We live in an age of escalating risk. America’s always been a risky place to live; we lack the social safety nets of Europe, the social cohesion of Japan, or the communitarian impulses of Latin America. Here, you’re on your own. And if you’re not white, male, straight, and Christian, you have always multiplied that risk by a factor that depends on your marginalizations.
Somehow, we’ve always made our way through it… well, except for those of us who didn’t. We’ve always managed to get past the big crises: The dot-com bubble popping, 9/11, even the Great Recession.
But 2022 is different. The risks are multiplying and escalating their attacks — all at the same time.
Let’s Start With COVID, Because It’s Not Over
COVID has wreaked physical and emotional damage on everyone. But 2022 worsens the stress via gaslighting. The pandemic’s violent impacts continue despite President Biden’s “mission accomplished” style declaration that it’s over. Some 4,662 people died in the past 12 days from COVID in the US — not counting the excessive deaths that run 3x that.
At least 18.5 million American adults have seen their activities limited by long COVID. Between 2 and 4 million are out of work due to…
