The Changes are Permanent
There are moments when things seem to occur to me in bunches. They are relatively small moments. We were told as soon as we got this virus under control then things would return to a sense of normalcy. It’s been nearly two years now and things haven’t gone back to normal.
It’s when you add all these moments up and realize that the world might never go back to the way things were. It’s similar to the taking off of shoes at the airport. It’s just a small change that serves as a reminder that things will never fully be the way they used to be. That’s a relatively small thing that only comes up in isolated and focused events. COVID seems to be effecting more than that. Beyond the death, illness, and economic devastation, it is the little things that seem to be the not so gentle reminder that life will never be the same ever again.
When I was a kid, I loved to read choose your own adventure books. I used to read them about sports. There was one in particular where you got to coach a team in the Super Bowl. So, I pulled the quarterback to see what would happen and then went back and didn’t. I’m sure every kid that had that particular book did the same thing. Kids are fascinated with the idea of seeing where things will go if you make a different decision.
Life doesn’t work that way. We don’t get many second opportunities to make a different decision. It’s looking more and more that COVID is not a thing that happened to us, but something that is happening to us. The distinction might seem like a fine one, but it is simply a reflection that the decisions made in December, January, and February of 2019 and 2020 are still impacting us today. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the decisions that were not made.
I had lied to myself and told myself there was no way of knowing how bad this would become, but it is a lie. As a nation, we saw how bad it got during the Spanish flu. Moreover, we saw how much grief and loss we avoided during H1N1 and Ebola. We’ve seen pandemics handled badly and we’ve seen them handled well. We know exactly what happens when you idly sit by and do nothing. We knew exactly what to do and our leaders did what they do best. They fumbled the ball and tried to tell you none of it really happened.
This wasn’t a bad hurricane the government failed to clean up afterwards. This wasn’t a tax cut gone awry. This wasn’t a war that seemingly went on forever for no reason. Those are bad enough and those impact entire generations or regions of the country. This impacted every region. This impacted every generation. This will continue to impact all of us. We aren’t going “back to normal” and the sooner we realize that the better.
In the backdrop of all of this, the man that did all of this won’t go away. Not only does he not have the sense of shame to hide in his isolated greenside bunker, he continues to say he won. He says he will win again. The architect of the single biggest health catastrophe in our nation’s history won’t go away. Like the societal changes due to COVID, I guess he can’t. Maybe nature will do us a favor on both counts.
If any of you happen to have access to a New Yorker of March 12, 2012, there is a horrifying article entitled “The Deadliest Flu”. It is about H5N1, bird flu, and believe me, it is déjà vu all over again. (I’ve been rereading some of the old ones.). There are even warnings from Anthony Fauci in it. It isn’t for the faint hearted, but (as JJ would say) boy howdy is it an eye opener!
1https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/03/12/the-deadliest-virus
2“Choose Your Own Adventure”
I subscribe to Curiosity Stream. I’ve been watching “The Butterfly Effect: To know the past is to anticipate the future.”
Many different subjects and many turning points.
One episode is about The Black Death (1346. Mongols are besieging the Genoese trading post of Caffa in the Crimea (Ukraine). Decimated by the mysterious disease that has pursued them from Central Asia, they give up hope of taking the town. However, before they withdraw, the hurl the bodies of several dead soldiers over the walls using giant catapults. Some of the Genoese defenders take to galleys to flee the epidemic that has stricken Caffa. They carry the disease to all the ports they put into. In a few months, the Black Death spreads throughout Europe before reaching North Africa and Asia…)
Can’t wait for an episode about COVID-19.
3I’ve been reading Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (mackay). This is about financial debacles over hundreds of years that affected many people and realize that people don’t change. We are always looking for the next best deal, something for nothing, etc. Financial schemes, just like diseases will come and go, and there will always be those who fall for it each time.
4Really scary. Voting rights are being curtailed in Red States. The legislatures in those states have no moral compass and will likely overturn the results of any election in which a Republican doesn’t win. We have less than 2 years to charge and remove him from the conversation. Constitutional or not, he will not leave office ever, he will place his dd on the throne when he is done. The end of the republic is near.
5from today: for several years now I have mentioned here that, IMO, the #1 bad guy of all the bad guys in the US is rupert murdoch because of the power he wields with his tv and newspapers. Here is Jim Acosta addressing this point.
6https://crooksandliars.com/2021/10/acosta-eviscerates-tucker-carlson-and
Tip of the hat to Santayana.
van heldorf @ 5, please in no way do we mean to detract or distract from the Murdoch Touch in destroying democracy. But before Murdoch and those who enabled his “rights” to citizenship and a media empire, there were the disciples of Morton C. Blackwell such as Moscow Mitch, et al in Congress paid to pave his way. https://www.leadershipinstitute.org/aboutus/morton.cfm
Ironic. Mort & Co. claim to be “non-partisan.”
7You’re right Nick, these changes are permanent until something worse happens. Like trumpf gets re-elected. Then it gets worse.
8I agree that Rupert Murdoch is a top tier bad guy but there are many others that are “bad”. The Koch’s come to mind and things that changed politics forever like the citizens united ruling by the supremes. That enabled so many other entities to corrupt politics permanently, and in a negative way.
I enjoy Nick’s comments, but he needs an editor for brevity. We all have a lot to read and his posts are a tad too self indulgent. I think they would have more impact if he would be more pithy.
9The Good Fight is never over. That’s why it’s important to pace ourselves. We must always be ready for the next round.
10Shucks! “Normal” has a huge well stocked closet but it can never decide what to wear or for what reason or for how long. Its fickle that way.We all just have to learn to roll with the coaster, just like our ancestors did.
11Nick, I agree with Ed LaV. You need a good editor.
12Good post Nick! AK Lynne, that New Yorker article is terrifying!
13Nick, I like your articles, so please keep them coming. I usually have to read them twice because I might miss the forest for the trees, but I find personal experience helpful in supporting the subject matter. That’s how we should all look at subjects before we respond (which I try to do). Just my opinion. Thanks
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