In my somewhat long and very circuitous life I have lived through several natural disasters, economic, spiritual and emotional crises. The current one of COVID-19 feels different on so many levels. With natural disasters and to some extent with economic crises there is something physical to grasp onto, something to see. Especially with natural crises, there is often something physical you can do. Our physicality in this crisis is limited to sheltering in place. With a natural disaster you generally have a timeline. You have an expectation of when it will be over and when you can start the process of recovery. This crisis does not yet have a timeline that we can hang our hopes on.
I’ve gotten a bit obsessed with tracking the numbers at this site: Worldmeter COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis. I know each one of the numbers represent somebody’s loved one. While I am far from panicking, I do wonder when I will be added to those stats. When I look at the pandemic numbers from around the world, I just get plain mad at how poorly our government is handling this crisis in comparison to many other countries, many of which are not economically advantaged. For some reason it reminds me of the fairy tale, The Three Sillies. The difference is this time we do not have a semi-awaken squire to take the mallet down from the ceiling. If anything Trump is leaving the mallet up there and threatening people with it falling on their heads.
It is a bit of a stereotype, but I believe it to be mostly true. Crises tend to bring out the best in groups of people. We have a tendency to rush to help each other out in bad situations. Perhaps it is the nature of a viral contagion and the need to social distancing, but I do not see a lot of that going on right now. When I am reading news stories of runs on gun stores I begin to wonder how much we will be pulling together if systems start to crumble. Some folks really do believe the Zombie Apocalypse is just around the corner.
The other element of the lack of social cohesion is that Trump, Fox News, and Republican Party in general has worked very hard to put us in separate camps. Trump does not see himself as a uniter. He is happy to divide and conquer. The GOP, which is in power nationally and in many states, is approaching the crisis as an economic problem rather than a medical crisis. The party which has rejected science on just about every other issue is rejecting it for this one also. We are not going to pray our way out of a pandemic. I can list several reasons, but the bottom line is that I am scared to death of the cluster of an economic stimulus package both parties have put together. I do not believe the end result will be good for my beloved country.
I hope I am proven wrong, but I am really afraid that the pandemic will hit the United States harder than other countries. And it all ties back to bad leadership and one party doing all they can do to make government dysfunctional. We can and must do better.
But I am seeing a bit of a silver lining, at least here in my Chesterfield suburb of St. Louis. The kids are, of course, not in school. Many adults are working from home, or not going into work. With no sports on the TV, many TV shows not doing new episodes, there are only so many reruns you can watch and videos game that you can play. I, personally, can only take in a limited amount of bad news each day without going totally berserk. In the twelve off and on years I have lived here I have never seen so many families out walking together. I have never seen so many kids playing in the streets. Dogs must be wasting away from all the walks their masters are taking them on. It reminds me a bit of the good old days. (I so want to insert a smiley face)
Our neighbors across the back fence have never really spoken to us except to complain about our dog barking. The dog is a little dog, but not particularly yappy. She does see every squirrel in our much populated yard as her mortal enemy. It is also amazing how territorial she is behind our fence when another dog walks by. Generally, she just likes to lie there and bask in the sun. Yesterday I was working in the back yard as was the husband. We came close together at one point. Normally, I just ignore him due our previous encounters. He made a point of doing some brief small talk about the weather, about how nice it was to get out of the house. He actually seemed very pleasant in that interaction.
Of course, Robin’s brother and sister-in-law are in the hospital with COVID-19. Her nephews and niece are recovering at home. It is amazing how the Jewish community and the larger community have rallied around behind them. Mike is aware of this, but Jane is far from being able to be cognizant of it. Nevertheless, it is heartwarming.
I cannot think of a time I have had more fear for the future of the American Experiment than now. I am going to grasp on these examples of good human spirit to give me some hope.