It’s grim - to start a new year, tweeting about the pandemic. But here we are.
I’ve spent the past months coming to terms with the fact that most of my neighbors - & a huge swath of America - know of Covid’s lethality, & simply do not care.
They know it’s a very real threat.../1

2/...to their health/lives, & to the health/lives of others. And they do not care.
They don’t.
They care about their wants. Their level of enjoyment of the moment. That’s what they care about.
Not whether they’re sick or dead.
Or whether their loved ones are sick or dead.
3/ It’s nihilism. And it has taken root in our society.
We must grasp this, so that we can stop expending energy trying to get them to care.
They won’t.
They don’t.

I’ll share just one example, from within my own circle.

My daughter is an equestrian. Quite good, actually...
4/ And we had to stop her training at the barn she’s always known due to their lack of vigilance with Covid (she’s at a different barn now). But she’ll still mask up & go visit the horses she trained & loves.

Just before Christmas, we brought peppermints to the horses...
5/...& ran into her old trainer. A lovely young woman, who can not grasp why we are no longer at the barn - despite how well we’ve known each other (for years now).

She knows our reason, she believes Covid is real, yet - doesn’t understand why we’re reacting the way we have.
6/ It’s a “priority” thing - that’s the difference between us.

Regardless, we exchange our “Merry Christmas” greeting, and I ask her about her holiday. She takes a deep breath and says she’s flying home to be with her parents.

“I know it’s bad,” (meaning Covid spread), “but...
7/ “... I don’t want to be here. It’s Christmas.”

I ask her if it’s worth it, if this is then the last Christmas she ever has with them. Or any holiday, for that matter. What if they die?

“We talked about it, and it’s worth it.”

And with that, the line is drawn...
8/...between her version of humanity & mine.

I haven’t checked in w/ her since. Maybe she made it home & back w/o infecting herself or family. Even if she did, I’m certain she is unbothered in her spirit. She is sleeping fine.

And THAT worldview - that full embrace of nihilism
9/...on a mass scale, is what I have come to terms with.

I will not spend my time or energy trying to convince her or others to abandon their worldview. It’s a waste of my life. And to me, the breath in my lungs - my LIFE & the lives of my loved ones, are too precious to waste.

More from Society

So, as the #MegaMillions jackpot reaches a record $1.6B and #Powerball reaches $620M, here's my advice about how to spend the money in a way that will truly set you, your children and their kids up for life.

Ready?

Create a private foundation and give it all away. 1/

Let's stipulate first that lottery winners often have a hard time. Being publicly identified makes you a target for "friends" and "family" who want your money, as well as for non-family grifters and con men. 2/

The stress can be damaging, even deadly, and Uncle Sam takes his huge cut. Plus, having a big pool of disposable income can be irresistible to people not accustomed to managing wealth.
https://t.co/fiHsuJyZwz 3/

Meanwhile, the private foundation is as close as we come to Downton Abbey and the landed aristocracy in this country. It's a largely untaxed pot of money that grows significantly over time, and those who control them tend to entrench their own privileges and those of their kin. 4

Here's how it works for a big lotto winner:

1. Win the prize.
2. Announce that you are donating it to the YOUR NAME HERE Family Foundation.
3. Receive massive plaudits in the press. You will be a folk hero for this decision.
4. Appoint only trusted friends/family to board. 5/

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