(Archive.is link here) Basically, this is people who look at what is going on, and understand the consequences down the road.
Think of the myth of Cassandra, as the author of this piece does:
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Many of us have been identifying strongly with Cassandra over the last few years. We watch the media downplay and dismiss one threat after another. We endure endless opinion pieces about everything from climate alarmism to coronaphobia. Influencers accuse us of hurting everyone’s mental health. Strangers call us doomers and fearmongers. Our friends and family treat us like we’re paranoid. When we share dozens or even hundreds of studies, they refuse to look at them. They say, “I don’t want to read anything that’ll bring me down.”
“I’m trying to stay positive.”
Americans and Westerners in general are suffering from a pandemic of denial, wishful thinking, and toxic positivity. It impedes us at every turn, on almost every serious issue. It exacerbates our existing anxiety and contributes to our sense of despair about the future of the planet. Here’s the thing:
You’re not a fearmonger.
You have sentinel intelligence.
Sentinel intelligence refers to a special cognitive ability that allows someone to detect threats before anyone else. Richard A. Clarke and R.P. Eddy talk about this trait in their book, Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes. They review a number of natural and economic disasters throughout history. As they write, “in each instance a Cassandra was pounding the table and warning us precisely about the disasters that came as promised.” Not only were they ignored, but “the people with the power to respond often put more effort into discounting the Cassandra than saving lives and resources.”
This ability is not uncommon, as the author suggests, nor is it a superpower.
For many people, in our currently dysfunctional society, they simply do not have the time to look at what is going on. They are living from paycheck to paycheck and hanging on by their fingernails.
Those who are in a position where they can observe and draw obvious conclusions understand that acknowledging and reacting to potential threats will result in the loss of your job, and as Upton Sinclair noted, "Upton Sinclair, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
That's why you have things like CDC directors pretending that Covid is over and the Great Barrington Declarations.
Right or wrong, you get fame and fortune for not addressing future risks.
