The Right’s Denial of Reality is Alarming and Catastrophic

Are we living in a world where rationality and logic hold sway or are we existing in the midst of Voodoo and Make Believe? If we were to go by what the Right Wingers worldwide are saying and acting, it looks like they are promoting an alternate universe where Fantasy and Magic are the defining characteristics. From Trump’s “stolen election” narrative to Florida and Texas’s “anti mask” and “anti science” stances, it is clear that Republicans, much like their counterparts elsewhere want us to believe in “denying reality” and instead, subscribe to their warped version of truth.

While this can be amusing in normal times, at the moment, with the Delta Variant fast spreading and causing havoc even amongst the vaccinated, such denial of reality is plain dangerous and catastrophic as well. As we read the news about those who refuse vaccinations and then upon hospitalization, claim that Covid does not exist, and it is not happening to them, even while they are on their death beds, it baffles me as to how can perfectly sane individuals, believe what Fox News says i.e. that they cannot possibly be victims, and then expect even trained medical professionals to echo their feelings.

It is not the United States alone which faces this “shocking” denial of reality problem. World over, there are any number of Tinpot Authoritarians as well as Populist presidents belonging to the Loony Fringe, who espouse this same addiction to conspiracy theories, running down science and logic, and above all, taking such beliefs to the streets, in an attempt to convince, nay, “force” others to take their side. Witness how Brazil has one of the highest death tolls where Bolsonaro behaves very much like Trump, and see how Anti Maskers and Anti Vaxxers, are vandalizing public property in some European countries, just because they are either Q Anon subscribers, or supporters of some Right Wing party.

The term Loony Left is quite popular among the Bourgeois worldwide and denotes how the overwhelming majority of Free Market Neoliberal Capitalists dismiss the Left as something that only the Crazies would support. With all the mayhem and chaos that the Right is causing worldwide, perhaps it is time we changed the term to the Loony Right as they outdo each other in their attempts to insanity. Moreover, this My Way or the Highway attitude of Right Wingers leads to Social Media trolls and Organized armies of Keyboard Warriors running down all and any opposition to their weird beliefs and what is worrisome is that they get the Establishment to crackdown on anyone and everyone who does not subscribe to their ideology.

Even in India, we have our own version of this playing out in the Cyber as well as the Physical Realms where dissent is suppressed and where it is Dangerous to be Right (pun intended) when the Government is Wrong. These trends are like a Lethal Cocktail waiting to explode, much like what happened during the Jan 6 Insurrection on Capitol Hill in the US. Of course, it is easy to ignore and deny reality as long as it doesn’t affect our immediate lives. However, as Climate Change wreaks havoc and as the World battles Wildfires and Extreme Weather events, there is no gainsaying that the Right’s Denial of Reality is Hitting Home.

While one cannot predict where all this is leading to, it is clear that absent any shift in the Collective Consciousness, we are headed for collapse and chaos and maybe, that would catalyze sanity among them. Or, perhaps, there would be some Divine Intervention (much like the Evangelists prophesies) that would make them accept reality. Either way, one can only say that, Forgive Them Oh Lord, For They Do Not Know What They are Doing.