[dhdallas]

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (or What Happened to the Boomer Generation?)

Remember the 1956 American science fiction horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter? The black-and-white film was done in a film noir style and is really creepy but the idea underneath the material is a lot scarier than anything you see.

Alien plant spores had fallen from space and grown into large seed pods, each one capable of producing a visually identical replacement copy of a human. The new human copies moved and thought together as a group. Many viewed it as an allegory for the loss of personal autonomy.

This brings me to my point. Whatever happened to the Baby Boomer/Woodstock generation? Were they victims of alien spores? Are they now living among us as pod people? The Baby Boomers used to question everything and especially anything the government and media told them.

Do NOT tell me, “We grew up”. Of course we did; we matured, we became a little less confrontational and we learned to bend a little. Some degree of conformity is necessary to get along in society but have we thrown out our ability for independent thinking along with our bell bottoms and tie dyed shirts?

Now comes a brand new virus. Fear & rumor run amok. Instead of our leaders and the media calming the public and speaking as a voice of reason, we continue to be bombarded daily with stories of death and measures we all must adhere to lest we get sick and join the daily published death count.

Constitutional rights were the first casualty of the virus... or was it the truth? Individual freedom was quickly proven to be just an illusion as the government mandated lockdowns, forced businesses into bankruptcy, banned travel and public gatherings.

My recent article dealt with the reasons I was not getting vaccinated & that people should really investigate the pros and cons rather than to blindly trust the government and the pharmaceutical industry. Rather than delve behind the curtain to sort out the real truth, it seems everyone is fighting over who gets to drink the Kool-Aid first.

Cancel culture is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles either online on social media, in the real world, or both. As an example, I posted the exact same article about vaccinations that appeared on this forum to “The Villages Friendly Folks” Facebook page only to have it removed by their administrators. The reason given was that I somehow violated their posting policies of no hate speech/bullying, no promotions or spam, and to respect others' privacy. Their feedback also included a quote from the WHO stating “Approved COVID-19 vaccines have been tested extensively for safety and effectiveness.”
Facebook and free speech are not compatible, I should know better.

I find there are three distinct psychological terms that apply to the general public and their behavior regarding COVID prevention and vaccination.

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

Compliance Theory is when you act the way you are “supposed” to act; either because you were directly asked, or pressured more indirectly

Complicity Theorist is a person who accepts the political narrative of the day unquestionably; consumes mainstream media; and is prone to submissiveness, outbursts of irrational fear, and public shaming of free-thinkers.

So either these terms apply to the masses (and not just to the Baby Boomers) or “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has become a reality. I don’t know about you but I am checking the house for seed pods every night before bed!

David H. Dallas, RN-ASN, EMT-P, retired

“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”
― Galileo Galilei