More Coronavirus Musings

Unlike many of you, I haven’t read much news or kept on top of derivative chatter on social media.  Part of this is due to my constrained schedule and part is an intentional effort to not get sucked down the vortex.  Nevertheless, I’ve consumed enough information to have a somewhat informed (although likely still ignorant) take on things.  And, given that I’ve tried to exercise balance in this, that information (whether news or my friends’ take on the news) has come from all perspectives and persuasions.  From all of that, here are a few observations I’d like to record for posterity, which I’m sure you’ll push back on some of this and I would welcome that as we’re all flying blind and could use a little guidance.  In no particular order:

1. A contagious disease that spreads rapidly and spares no one is literally the stuff of the scariest of horror movies.  It is not hard to be utterly terrified in times like these.  It is good advice when people say be vigilant but don’t panic.  It is not macho to say that all of this is overblown and everyone should just get over it.  (Kind of reminds you of that older relative you have who thinks gluten sensitivities are for sissies, but multiplied by like a billion.)

2. Containing pandemics in a globally connected world requires a level of vigilance that will seem uncomfortably restrictive and overly cautious.  Those chafing the most from such limitations are the ones who value mobility and despise top-down edicts. This describes much of our country and especially those of a particular political persuasion.

3. There is such a thing as too cautious.  I personally don’t think that has been the case so far, and if anything I think too many of us have been dangerously cavalier.  But it is possible, in terms of the cost-benefit analysis of weighing more exposure and more deaths versus the continued disruption of people’s livelihood.  In both cases, vulnerable people are hurt: in the former, people who are older or immune-compromised, and in the latter, people who lack financial resources or social safety net to withstand prolonged economic inactivity.

4. Tracking COVID-19 deaths is to me not unlike the rage we have towards gas prices, in which we are disproportionately sensitized because they’re posted in big signs and we watch the dollars and cents roll by as we stand at the pump.  There is no doubt that COVID-19 is causing an unbearable number of deaths, but a fair question to ask is: compared to what?  On net, that number must be cut by the proportion of its victims that might have otherwise died during this time.  It is still a frighteningly high number, but it is not the whole amount, given that many who have died (obviously not all) were already dealing with critical health issues.

5. Another factor in our fixation on this particular danger is that is simultaneously a threat to the most vulnerable among us (the elderly, those with compromised immune systems) and has claimed a large swath of victim types including the young and healthy.  We who are young and healthy are doubly right to be worried, because we are not immune and because it should matter to us to protect those among us who need the most protection.

6. Much of my social network and much of national media is concentrated in places that are similar to Europe in terms of politics, geography, and human density.  Much of America is not like Europe in those ways.  The federal government has an important role to play in response to a global pandemic, such as managing international travel, conducting public health research, and conveying leadership/assurance/togetherness that we are all aching for during this time.  But it is simultaneously appropriate that individual governors and mayors are asserting themselves, because there is too much diversity in America for everything to be approached with a one-size-fits-all solution.  

7. It is possible the Chinese government will have to be held to account for their failure to properly inform the rest of the world of the danger of the novel coronavirus.  It is incorrect to transfer that scrutiny to the Chinese citizens, to Chinese-Americans, or to Asian-looking people.  In a world of sound bites, the nuances needed to hold both of the above statements are easily lost.  I fear - personally and for others who look like me - that danger will result.

8. They say that every crisis is an opportunity.  Which can be interpreted in a very privileged way, like“this crisis doesn’t affect me, but from on high I can use it to advance my agenda or improve my position.”  I choose to interpret it differently, as if you are surprised by an imminent threat and you instinctively reached for the most important thing to salvage in response.  What are we reaching for when the world has turned upside down?  What have our leaders reached for?  Have we crafted for ourselves a world that only makes sense a certain way, and now that everything has changed we are desperately trying to force things back the way it works for us?  Are we using the moment to score political points, safeguard our resources, elevate our social standing, or force our premises and plans on others?  Or are we being mindful to help the most needy among us, and to cheer on those who are doing the same?  History will judge our leaders in this way, and our grandchildren’s questions to us will shine a similar spotlight on our motives and actions.