Before I returned to the conversation we have begun on the
way forward, I feel it necessary to say a few words about the disaster
unfolding around me. I have nothing new, original, or particularly intelligent
to say about this disaster, but it would be grotesque of me to carry on without
acknowledging it. I am referring, of course, to the death, severe illness, and
economic catastrophe that this country is now experiencing. 135,000 people have
died according to the official estimates and that is in all likelihood an
undercount. No one is even keeping a public accounting of the people whose
health has been permanently damaged by the virus even after they recover from
it. Scores of millions of men and women are out of work, something appalling
like 1/3 of all renters will be unable to meet their monthly payments come
August, and there are uncounted numbers of families whose economic security,
already fragile, has been destroyed by the virus. I doubt that I can live long
enough to see this country fully recover from what has happened in just the
past five months. It is also worth remembering that the federal government will
be missing in action at least until the inauguration of a new president, which
is six months in the future.
In the past few days, I have been listening to the
horrifying projections of what will happen when children are sent back to
school in only a few weeks. The anecdotal evidence is enough to make one weep.
All of this will of course strengthen the election prospects
of the Democrats come November, and that is perhaps the only ray of sunshine in
this gloomy forecast. But even if the Democrats win the House and the Senate
and the presidency, eliminate the filibuster, and before the month of January
is out pass a series of daring bills to repair the damage, and even if at the
same time a vaccine is produced that works reasonably well, it will be months
after January before we see any improvement either in the health or in the
economic well-being of large segments of the American population.
If there is indeed a hell in which the damned souls suffer
for all eternity, I hope it is capacious enough to hold all those who have
earned a place in it.
It takes a good deal to turn a Tigger into an Eeyore, but I
have to confess my inner Tigger is sorely tried.
Unrelated to this post, but have you seen that you've been immortalised in a webcomic today? http://existentialcomics.com/comic/350
ReplyDeleteThere is no vaccines for coronaviruses. If there were, there would be some sort of inoculative remedy for the common cold. These viruses mutate too fast. Even the stable flu viruses work only about 60% at best. Even in the age of supercomputers and smartphones, a vicious pandemic is raging. And there is some speculation this virus is partly engineered and inadvertently escaped from a lab. In about 7 years it will be analogous to mad cow for the organs. Its not looking good folks. We could use a movie like miracle right about now.
ReplyDeleteI never thought much of Kant's postulate of immortality in the second Critique, but I now feel that practical reason demands that there be a hell for the likes of Pence, DeVos, Trump, and the other grotesque villains who are responsible for the needless deaths of thousands. The current administration has helped me see the virtues of retributive justice. They deserve to pay dearly for their crimes.
ReplyDeleteProf. Kaufman is arguing over on The Electric Agora for a return to some semblance of normality, especially for young people and college students.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that is a wise idea, but that is really neither here nor there. I will post here what I posted there:
I just came across this, which seems relevant: Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests. Today, [yesterday, now] Florida set a record amongst ALL 50 States for the most new cases recorded in a single day. Daily cases are rising in 46 States; there are 13 States which have seen greater than 50% increase in new daily cases compared to 2 weeks ago (and of those 13, 5 States have a more than 85% increase, including California at 86%). My home State of MN had seen a 54% increase, and the hospital for which I work is tightening visitor restrictions it had loosened less than a month ago. I don’t see the situation improving any time soon.
If the US had built a robust testing and tracing infrastructure over the past too many months, I would be a lot more sanguine about attempting to go back to some semblance of normality.
I predict that many colleges that are planning on having students on campus will end up going fully online before the end of fall semester, and also that some will end fall semester early.
I don’t even want to think about how strained our nation’s healthcare resources will be, come late fall and winter. Especially if it is a particularly bad flu season, or a more virulent strain of COVID-19 develops.
“And those who have chosen injustice and tyranny and robbery pass into the bodies of wolves and hawks and kites. Where else can we imagine that they go?”
ReplyDelete-- Phaedo, Plato
It is probably still too early to really be optimistic about anything going on, but some of the early studies indicating that the number of infections is much, much higher than currently reported (possibly 10x or more) could be cause for some hope, as that would imply that the rate of death and serious complications is actually much lower than it looks, and that we could be a lot closer to some level of burnout or 'herd immunity' than we think. But perhaps this is just wishful thinking...
ReplyDelete“And those who have chosen injustice and tyranny and robbery pass into the bodies of wolves and hawks and kites. Where else can we imagine that they go?”
ReplyDeleteRather then noble and useful non-human animals I would imagine they pass into the bodies of future Republicans.
Vox has an article by a California doctor who has a patient who has already come down with a second case of Covid-19. Herd immunity may be a fantasy.
Good post Dude. I find it disturbing that folks who should know better are pushing to reopen schools and pretend our way to "normality."
If we can only be immune from the virus for a few months, that seems like a very big deal and means that the way people have been talking about the future is way too optimistic. I don't even know how we should be thinking about the future or what how we should be planning, etc., if that's the case.
ReplyDelete"I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."
ReplyDelete