Meme: “First World Problems”

First World problem is an informal term for the issues in First World nations that are complained about in response to the perceived absence of more pressing concerns. It is a subset of the fallacy of relative privation. (Per Wiki)

and

Oppression:

Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power, often under the guise of governmental authority or cultural opprobrium. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced.

The MAGAs feel oppressed. The federal government, led by Joe Biden (who, theoretically, stole an election by convincing MAGA Republican state officials to violate the law in his favor), requires them to wear masks, at least on federal property. States are free to spread COVID far and wide, some are doing just that.

The underlying problem with masks has always been that they are more about protecting thy neighbor than protecting oneself. And if MAGAs are against anything, it is against protecting their neighbors… unless it involves guns, they’re happy to use their guns to protect their neighbors. Guns, not masks. Too bad you can’t shoot a virus, god knows they’ve likely tried.

The other problem with masks is that they involve science or at least trust in science and that alone is going to cause problems. We heard an anecdote on Twitter the other day and who knows if it is true, we don’t, but some MAGAs gave a guy a bad time for having surgeons who wore a mask while operating on him. It is probably not true, but that’s not the point, in today’s America, it’s possible that it could be true and that alone is enough of an issue.

The point is, no matter how many lives that masks save, the MAGAs see them as the ultimate sign of repression, oppression, the end of freedom. First-world problems, problems arising in rich countries. Masks are not forced labor, forced party membership, they are not forced military service, not forced state religion, not forced state education, not protein coupons like World War II, no rations, they are not even forced inoculations. They are masks.

And yet, this is a meme making its way around the MAGA right:

These people have never endured any hardship in their lives. pic.twitter.com/i4vTOjMlBP

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) April 10, 2021

It is true. The cable going out is probably very high on the list of hardships these people have faced. “Communism” would require these people to stay in and… work at the jobs to which they’re assigned, and then line up for shots, all their shots. Whining about divisibility is just precious coming from people that sacked the Capitol because the country didn’t let their guy win. The fact that they’re able to go on social media to express their grievances, or to not wear masks without fear of arrest, sure seems like liberty to us. “Justice?” Talk to our black friends about injustice.

First-world problems, they were asked to wear masks. Masks basically performed the same function as vaccines (which many of them won’t take, either.) Come to think about it, this country’s reaction to COVID, at least under Trump – indeed all four years under Trump – is enough to make one reconsider whether we can even lay claim to being part of the First World anymore. The highest COVID death rate on earth doesn’t sound like the richest nation on earth. It sounds like a third-world problem.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak