Invisible Terror
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
―George Orwell,1984
I’m old enough to remember when I was instructed to fear ISIS. I didn’t know anyone in my neighborhood who supported ISIS, let alone belonged to it, but surely they were a formidable and dangerous foe, otherwise why would the television set be so insistent on bringing it to my attention?
When I was 32, I went to the doctor for a routine checkup and blood tests, and my cholesterol came back high. I felt fine and played in vigorous full court basketball games every weekend, but cholesterol was “The Silent Killer,” and I was to start immediately on a course of statins. My doctor who was nearly 80 at the time told me he was only alive because he took them. I refused, but I was made aware that inside my body was less a heart than a ticking time bomb that could kill me without warning.
Two years ago, I was told we were in a deadly pandemic, that I should stay home, stay away from people, wear a mask and wash my hands 10 times a day. I went along with most of this for about eight months, but a few things didn’t add up. First off, I didn’t know anyone who had died of covid personally…