Rapid changes in a society often lead to responses that are based in fear. Any disruption to the comfortable, or at least predictable, flow of our daily lives often leads to anxiety. Anxiety directly slows the processing of the higher order functions of our brains. When an entire society encounters a rapid change, this fear of the unknown future magnifies in intensity, often leading large groups of people to make extreme decisions in what they believe and even how they express themselves.
Historically, hardcore fundamentalist movements often arise when religions come into contact with other belief systems. Extreme hoarding and and crime increases in times of economic distress. Hate groups often arise in opposition to changes in civil rights. The word "sabotage" literally comes from when the Dutch threw their wooden shoes into factory machines out of an effort to break them in a response to the changing technology (I first learned this from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). Basically, people push back against any kind of change, and sometimes in violent ways.
Thus, I have been impressed that the protests against various states' measures to limit social distancing have been nonviolent. Certainly, I have many personal reservations about the protests and some the antics of some of the protestors. However, this sort of push-back is a very natural expression of uneasiness, fear, and anxiety, so I am happy that the protests has been mostly in rhetoric and that the actions have not been destructive.
May that continue to be the case.
Historically, hardcore fundamentalist movements often arise when religions come into contact with other belief systems. Extreme hoarding and and crime increases in times of economic distress. Hate groups often arise in opposition to changes in civil rights. The word "sabotage" literally comes from when the Dutch threw their wooden shoes into factory machines out of an effort to break them in a response to the changing technology (I first learned this from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). Basically, people push back against any kind of change, and sometimes in violent ways.
Thus, I have been impressed that the protests against various states' measures to limit social distancing have been nonviolent. Certainly, I have many personal reservations about the protests and some the antics of some of the protestors. However, this sort of push-back is a very natural expression of uneasiness, fear, and anxiety, so I am happy that the protests has been mostly in rhetoric and that the actions have not been destructive.
May that continue to be the case.
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