Part III. “But It Couldn’t Happen Here” — The Deadly Danger of Normalcy Bias
How many people do you know who live in denial: that the financial system could be on the verge of collapse; that America could lose its freedom and descend into a communist dictatorship; that the Covid-19 crisis is a manufactured scam by the globalists to grab power in the US and around the world; that the lockdown could go on for many more months or years; that the coming mandatory vaccines are a people/population control scheme by the globalists; or that we may never return to the “old normal”? Probably many or most of the people you know, unless you and your family are long time readers of MIA or conservative activists. Sadly, even most Christians live in denial that these things are our becoming our new reality.
The article which follows by Dr. Don Boys (published in All News Pipeline), is about normalcy bias (which is closely related to living in denial). If it’s too horrible, “I don’t or won’t believe it” or “it could never happen to me — or in America.” This was the exact denial (or normalcy bias) that most German people lived in as the Nazis were rising to power in the 1930s. This article is a stern warning not to fall into the same complacency and denial that most Americas are living in today — don’t fall into the trap of believing it could never happen to me.
As Dr. Boys writes: The normalcy bias, unknown to most people, refers to the inclination for people to mentally lessen the probability of possible threats or their dangerous repercussions. Consequently, the normalcy bias causes many people not to prepare for natural disasters, accidents, and world pandemics. In simple terms, it’s the ostrich effect; however, ostriches do not really bury their heads in the sand! They aren’t that stupid. When an ostrich senses danger, it falls to the ground and remains still. When uneducated, unthinking, and unconcerned (complacent) people sense danger, they look to the government — when often the government is the problem.
But It Can Never Happen to Us! Are You Sure?
With the Chinese coronavirus, the world has experienced the first global lockdown, and it was done based on dubious evidence. Not only businesses shut down and stopped doing business, but all schools, parks, and most churches closed their doors. Attending church or continuing your business one-on-one was illegal, but you could legally protest in huge crowds! The funeral for former congressman John Lewis in Atlanta was said by the media to have abided by face mask and social distancing guidelines; however, that was an obvious lie. The audience was seated close together, and the singing team and soloist were not masked or separated. So, it’s legal to protest and go to state-approved funerals but not go to church or run your business!
Since when did any official have the authority, — power, yes, authority, no — to tell churches they must
close? Or, if they could open, they could not sing or have more than ten congregants? Never has a nation or the world made such a sea change so quickly. ”But that could never happen to us.” But it did! “But it can’t last forever.” Are you sure? “Well, government officials will never let it get so bad that we run out of food and water.” Are you sure about that? When God warned Noah that bad weather was coming and the earth would be inundated, he followed God’s instructions that involved long term planning. And many years of hard work. He was ready when the rain began. While a global flood had never happened before, Noah thought it best to prepare for it. The normalcy bias killed everyone but Noah and his family.
The normalcy bias is a mental condition which individuals experience when facing a disaster. It causes people to become vulnerable to approaching danger as they underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its potentially dangerous impact. This often results in situations where people fail to prepare for a disaster, and that failure can be catastrophic on a state or national scale. It is a mental condition that convinces a person that since it has never happened before, it can’t happen. Or “it won’t happen to me.” After all, this is America. We are special; however, we are not immune from natural or manmade disasters.
The Last Days of Pompeii
The Italian town of Pompeii, located on the Bay of Naples, was a flourishing resort for wealthy, powerful, and elite citizens of Rome in the first century AD. The city of about 20,000 citizens was located about five miles from Mount Vesuvius, and citizens, slaves, tourists, and artisans jostled through the well-paved city streets. They passed elegant villas, taverns, cafes, bathhouses, and brothels to attend the arena that could seat 20,000 people. Everyone knew about the volcano at Mount Vesuvius nearby, but it had been silent for over 1700 years. Nothing to worry about, until in August of 79 AD, the mountain blew its top, sending ashes, rocks, and hot gases 21 miles into the sky that could be seen for hundreds of miles.
Pliny the Younger was living with his uncle Pliny the Elder, an admiral of the Roman fleet who died in the eruption that had 100,000 times the thermal energy of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings. The younger Pliny watched the eruption from across the bay and then wrote, “I believed I was perishing with the world.” However, there was plenty of time to flee the eruption, yet about 2,000 people watched in wonder as death fell around them! The hot, heavy ash made it difficult to breathe, and then a 100-mile-per-hour surge of poisonous gas rushed down the mountain, killing every living thing in its path. When the mountain stopped shaking, spitting, and sputtering the next day, the silent city of the dead was covered with up to 20 feet of ashes, rocks, and lava. Highly intelligent people watched the eruption until death devoured them, an ancient example of the normalcy bias.
Hurricane Katrina
When Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans on August 29, 2005, thousands of citizens refused to leave the city, and city officials didn’t even attempt to evacuate them. There were scores of parked buses that could have saved hundreds of people, but the mayor refused to give the order, and 1,461 people died. The National Hurricane Center warned on August 28 that the area would be “uninhabitable for weeks” after “devastating damage” caused by the storm. Finally, the day before the disaster, Mayor Ray Na gin ordered a mandatory evacuation, yet thousands of people refused to seek safety! Normalcy bias killed again.
The mind seems to make an attempt to protect us from traumatic events that come our way. When some things are too troublesome, traumatic, or tragic, the mind often shuts down. One survivor from the Muslim terrorist attack on September 11 in New York City reports of going blind when she saw some of the 200 humans hitting the ground after falling 100 stories outside the Twin Towers. The human mind is an incredible organ, but obviously, there are some things too terrible to comprehend or mentally accept. When faced with major danger, the mind goes into one of three modes: it will “suggest” flight, fight, or freeze. Many people freeze — and die.
Americans have had it too good, nice, easy, cushy, soft, and pleasant all their lives. Disaster does lie ahead; so, each one, especially heads of households, must prioritize, plan, and prepare. You cannot plan for every contingency, but you can for some. And remember that “hope” is not a plan. And “thinking about it” is not a plan. Nor is “worrying about it” a plan. A plan requires a plan. If you don’t have one, then get one.
What’s in Our Future?
It could be a total financial collapse of our economy far worse than the Great Depression. Highly respected economists tell us that it is only a matter of time. Not if, but when, the big bubble bursts, we are in for a major financial meltdown that will be the most shaking financial event we have ever seen in recorded history. But surely not. ”It iust can’t happen to us.” A financial collapse would bankrupt state and federal governments, and the feds would renege on their financial obligations. Tax payments to the IRS would plummet, and our national debt would really go into the stratosphere. Already billions of dollars in the hole, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, an agency that guarantees pensions of major corporations, would go belly up. So would Social Security. Everyone would be on his own. ”But our government would not permit that to happen.” The disaster that does you in may be an epidemic that shuts down every school, church, theater, or even all public transportation. Hospitals and clinics will be overwhelmed, taking only the most diseased and dying.” But that couldn’t happen here.”
It may be an attack by one of the rogue nations, such as China, North Korea, or Iran, dropping an EMP device over a major heartland city knocking out all electronic devices including all electrical power, all automobiles, all cell and land phones, all elevators, televisions, radio, traffic lights, air traffic control, air travel, etc. In other words, we would be back in the 18th century. A major solar bombardment would have the same effect! “But that just couldn’t happen, could it?” Tomorrow morning a dirty bomb may explode in the heart of Dallas or Washington revealing the fact that some suitcase bombs are already circulating in Muslim circles in the US. But then, “It’s never happened here.”
Are you living in normalcy bias, that could end up killing you or your family? It is better to prepare and not need it than to not prepare and need it. Hope is not a plan. Wishful thinking is stupid thinking. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah built or entered the Ark!
If you are living in denial of what is happening or coming (in normalcy bias) — just stop it!
Links for more from this edition of the McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on this topic:
- The Globalist Strategy: A Seven Step Plan from Plandemic to Totalitarianism
- The Revolution is Escalating: BLM Mobs are Blocking Roads, Attacking Vehicles, Holding Travelers at Gunpoint
- But It Couldn’t Happen Here: The Deadly Danger of Normalcy Bias
- Economic Nightmare: Entering A Depression Far Greater Than The 1930s
- The People Advance Report
- Practical Considerations: Operation Joseph Update
- Final Thought: Dr James Dobson Warns of Disaster that Awaits America
Nordskog Publishing (NPI) provides articles and essays by select guest authors which we believe have much to offer the Christian community—to motivate Biblical thinking and action. We believe in the market place of ideas within the context of God’s Word. However, we may disagree at points. Publishing an article does not mean absolute agreement. Therefore, please understand that opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NPI, nor of its editorial staff.
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