Coronavirus: We were instructed not to panic in advance of a self-evident threat, when panic (taking sensible precautions and reasonable measures) could have averted both economic and biological catastrophe.
911: We were instructed to panic after the attacks, when panic (bomb someone/anyone, sht your pants and run when you see a Moozlum, give away civil liberties, run up unsustainable debt) was precisely the state-of-mind that lead to moral and financial catastrophe.
These were two of the biggest events of our lifetime, each of which we could have handled as mentally healthy adults. These events were opportunities for us to become resilient. And what did we do? We inverted the very mindsets that would have saved us a whole lotta trouble.
If you think we’re going to get it right a third time, you’re not paying attention.