Some say crisis shapes individuals. Other say it simply brings out what was inside them already. I regret to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed what resides in the souls of many Americans, and it isn’t pretty stuff. While we are accustomed to accusing our political leaders with all manner of evil and malfeasance, what I am really concerned with is the gross self-interest, and the almost infantile selfishness of a significant portion of the US population.
I’ve been off work for six weeks now, and I’m beginning to get a bit restless. But restlessness isn’t exactly a critical health concern. Yet the reaction of a rather large portion of Americans to just such minor discomforts gives me great concern. It comprises the America that insists on the quarantine being lifted, because quite frankly, the corona virus just doesn’t threaten their age group. They’re out there protesting the situation, probably because they don’t care whether 7 million Americans die, as long as they don’t. (If each and every one of the approx. 350 million Americans was infected, 7 million dead would be the result of a 2% fatality rate). The quarantine is necessary, because minimizing the infection rate not only drastically reduces the number of deaths due to reduced exposure, but also increases the survival rate, due to several factors. Among these factors is keeping the hospitals from being overwhelmed, so that ventilators are available to save lives, plus giving the doctors more time to develop better treatments and maybe eventually come up with a vaccine. Yet these people don’t care. Their freedom is being impinged upon! Really? Our freedom is not absolute. Your freedom and mine ends where it negatively effects the well-being, the happiness, the freedom of another. Think about it. We’re not being drafted and forced to risk our lives in a war on foreign soil. We’re simply being asked to stay home and not spread the virus, to protect the more vulnerable individuals in our nation. And it’s not like we don’t have access in this sequestration to the best of food, and even endless entertainment and social media possibilities. Yesterday, on Facebook, I read of the most violent and extreme caricature of this heartless attitude. It seems a woman was stopped at the entrance to a dollar store somewhere in Michigan, and asked to put on a mask. She spit in the employee’s face, and later returned with her stepfather and stepbrother, one of whom shot and killed the employee. America the soulless, the spoiled beyond measure.
As for our recent policy of slackening some of the quarantine rules, I think it’s too early, especially without a government mandated policy requiring masks (if within 6 feet of another person). The masks are an important measure, one that can greatly inhibit the spread of the virus. To that point, about a month or two ago, I viewed a YouTube video from the Czech Republic. It showed how, very early in the pandemic, their government issued a lock-down and required masks whenever anyone was out in public. The result? The number of deaths there due to the virus is only one-tenth that of nearby Sweden, which has a similar population size. Yet here, almost violent demonstrations are being held protesting the lock-down. Only a few days ago, the Ohio governor backed off from requiring masks, probably due to public resistance, but nevertheless, a cowardly response. (Of course, the recent actions of Mike Pence at the Mayo Clinic displayed a horrific example of how Americans should behave in this crisis).
Finally, we need an administration that is going to create an intelligent and effective long-term policy towards this situation, not a short-term one, created with eyes on the fall election. Getting everyone back to work too soon might create another serious outbreak of the virus, with another extended period of downtime for the US economy. This might be a far worse scenario than sitting it out a little longer now. And, when finally going back to work, the government needs to require the wearing of mask. And they need to enforce it.
P.S. A lot of people are out there every day, risking exposure. Pray for the health care workers. As for the grocery store and drug store employees….how’s about leaving them a healthy tip? (If you are able).