Everything Is Worse Than You Thought

All Worse: COVID, heat, politics, misogyny, housing, and culture

Photo by Kasia on Unsplash

Very Unpopular Strong Opinions Blog by Christyl Rivers

According to todays paper, everything is not bad, it’s worse

After coffee, I make the daily mistake of checking into the news. (I never try to sip headlines with my coffee, that would be barfy.)

Today’s stories are dominated by heatwaves, death and destruction, primarily in Europe — and sub headlines freak us out about COVID.

Politics and elections are worse, because more details about corruption and election stealing are surging out like low pressure systems pumping fire air into the sweltering Northern nations.

Contempt for women is worse, law makers are methodically reminding women like me who miscarriage, that we are not whole beings. Or mothers who already feel financially pinched are expected to support a few million more people on the planet.

Sexuality, related, of course, is worse. People do not understand that consent for sex is just the beginning. Young women, (been there, done that,) are more concerned about disappointing a potential flame, than caving in to pressure. After all, it is awkward when you may be attracted to someone to tell them: “so sorry, no raping this time, maybe Friday?”

This is truly true, and the emotion, pleasure, and complexity of human sexuality is not taught to our eventually, sexual, human, children.

Inadequate healthcare and misinformation, cough, cough, is roiling new COVID variants around the world.

Cops, paid to protect and serve, choose to reject and swerve.

Politics and money in elections — it’s not just Joe Manchin — are bank-rolling the whole above End-Cha-Lotta.

How much worse can it get?

This leaves one wondering how low we can go.

Some of us believe things must get much worse. Everyone who has the luxury, or ability, to live in denial of crumbling democracy and smoking landscapes will continue to do so for as long as it is possible.