A Problem Unacknowledged

Good morning, Readers.

Got this well-known meme from imgur.com (click to link). I couldn't find the original creator to acknowledge here. If you know them, please tell me!

A problem unacknowledged will forever be a problem unsolved.

I've been noticing a trend, and it has me incredibly frustrated.  That trend is this:

"Hey, this is problematic."
"I don't see a problem."
"There is literally a pattern here."
"I don't see a problem."
"Look, this needs to be fixed."
"I don't see a problem."
"the pattern is obvious to anyone with eyes and a functioning brain. We need to talk about this."
"You're lying. There is no problem."
"PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY DYING!"
"Nope. Not a problem."

It's like banging your head against a brick wall.

We've all been there, right?  We've spoken about something that we notice.  This is for a great deal of social topics. I often talk about the problem that is the entitlement of cis-het white folk, and often about the problem that is cis-het people in general (regardless of ethnicity or gender), and also the problematic patters in the behaviours of men.  I don't do this to be trendy, or jumping on [insert group] for the lols.  I'm not trying to get ahead in any way by talking about what I've noticed, what I regard as offensive, hurtful or dangerous.

I write about it because I see it.  I've heard the stories of people affected by it.

I've been affected by it.

That's the problem currently facing climate scientists.

"Here's the data.  We're fucking things up and we need to stop."
"Oh, we're not the problem.  We don't need to change."
"Uh, we are and we do."
"Nope. Climate change isn't even really a problem."
"Hi, military expert here.  It's not just about destruction of habitat and the loss of biodiversity.  It's legitimately a threat to our national security.  It's a problem."
"Nope. Not a problem."
"Well, great.  We're all going to die."

It's a pattern I've noticed, and getting defensive or pretending that it doesn't happen, or isn't a serious, systemic problem won't make the problem going away.  This isn't a case of ignore it and it will vanish.  It's a case of ignore it and prove yourself an arsehole, because it's literally destroying lives.

These problems need to be addressed.  But I've seen so many people refuse to even acknowledge the problems as problems, when they so clearly are.

How can we possibly move forward with so many people doing that?

The short answer, we can't.

Problems need to be acknowledged.

If they aren't, well, they will never be solved.

And people will continue to suffer.

That, in my opinion, is unforgivable.