When COVID-19 made its appearance in Wuhan, China, the first victims literally had no chance. Slightly later victims, however, fell to the virus due to the fear in local officials of reporting the outbreak to top Chinese officials: fear of losing promotion or of losing their current position because of backlash from Chinese officials, who, in turn, fear the consequences of political disadvantage they feared an out-of-control virus might bring to their government. And, because of our advanced travels links, I don’t think we ever had a chance of containing it to Wuhan, unfortunately.
But the rest of the world had advanced warning. Some took advantage of it, such as New Zealand, which appears to be intent on actually burning it out of their country via vigilant quarantine. As an island nation with easily controllable ports of entry, there’s a reasonable chance of achieving the dream, with infected visitors then becoming the threat. Will they put all visitors into quarantine until a mandatory medical test is passed?
A random picture of the moon.
But other parts of the world were slow off the mark. It is commonly accepted this happened in the United States, despite the protestations of the President. His record of comments as kept by the press and even by whitehouse.gov leave him condemned. As this WaPo article notes, those areas of the country that were slow to heed the warnings of the epidemiologists are beginning to own the results of their foolishness; contrariwise, as I noted here, Ohio, led by Governor Mike DeWine (R), responded early and effectively, and are now reaping the rewards. Slavish adherence to an incompetent leader inevitably leads to disaster, and paying attention to experts, instead, leads to creditable behavior.
So, in a year or two, what will be the resultant character of the United States? Suppose the epidemiologists’ predictions are roughly true, and the people who insisted on attending the beaches of Florida and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, who took the warnings lightly in the rural areas or because they were young, end up sick and, more importantly, infecting those to whom they visited before the symptoms manifested themselves.
Are we heading for a nation of introverts, stay-at-homes, avoiding gatherings? Will the pendulum, as it so often does, swing far to the other side as we begin to assess the damages wrought, in part, by the flaws in our behaviors, from a President who simply lives in his own little fantasy land, to the folks who couldn’t believe it might happen to them and their circle of important people, who thought that surely God wouldn’t hurt a worshiper, or was simply too self-centered to pay any attention? Is that good? Bad?
We’ll be off later today to buy some pies, as the Stockholm Pie and General Store (located in Stockhom, WI) is delivering pre-ordered pies to the Twin Cities area (think of it as a mercy run). As we pull up to the pickup station, we’ll pull on our masks, proffer our identification, pick up our pies at arm’s length, and take them home to gobble in the privacy of our own home. Apple for me!
That last bit about eating isolated from our fellow Americans won’t bother us, introverts that we are, but I’m sure there will be a lot of people mourning the loss of fellow gobblers, those who love munching on their pies while eyeing other patrons’ pies, stopping at other tables to ask how their pies are, going back to the counter to order another impulse pie. And another.
It’s a rush of endorphins, getting those impulse pies. I enjoy that part, too.
And will that be a thing of the past? Honestly, and without thinking of the environmental aspects, I hope not. Not as a medical necessity, but as a matter of societal perturbation. But it may happen, as a percentage of the population becomes paranoid about germs and pandemics, and >SIGH< governmental incompetence – and thinks it applies to all politicians. It’s the lazy man’s ploy, They’re all lazy and incompetent and corrupt … which is easier than actually evaluating them.
Will we figure out how to work together to get over this hump in the road? Or will the political polarization continue and strengthen as the subtle message Don’t trust your political opponents, they’re evil idiots! keeps floating through our communities? I see it on both sides; but the stress of a plague that threatens the most vulnerable members of our society may force us back together.
Times are interesting. Stay safe and healthy, everyone. And have a piece of pie.
