Dunkirk NY – We are now existing within the perfect shitstorm. Three elements have forcefully combined to turn an entire culture and nation into a distressed and dysfunctional mess. What we will become once we extricate ourselves from the ruins of the pandemic is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for certain: we will not be the same as we were.
Element #1 of this shitstorm is the novel coronavirus itself – SARS-CoV-2. It produces the disease known as COVID-19. There is little to be gained here in writing about this virus, as there are reams and reams of digital copy out there. It is a force of nature, with no concern at all about the human condition other than its attempt to replicate itself in its next host. Its absolute power lies in its complete indiscretion about who it infects, and the fact that we have no known defense against it.
Element #2 is a corrupt, inefficient government run by incompetent oligarchs who care nothing about the human beings placed in their care. The sheer size and scope of the incompetence is beyond anything one could imagine. We can only hope against hope that this shitstorm does not bring the whole apparatus crumbling to the ground. We are governed by people who will not hesitate to sacrifice human lives at the altar of their egos, power, and wealth. Of the few things you can count on these days, you can assuredly count on that.
Element #3 is a culture that emphasizes individual choice and liberty over the common welfare and safety. We are not the same society that fought WW2. Asking modern-day Americans to act in the common good, when throughout their whole lives they have been taught to value their personal freedoms and achieve their personal goals, is asking for a miracle. It is not surprising that people are hoarding supplies or traveling from hotspots to second homes. The virus is attacking us exactly where we are weakest as a society, and exposing the cultural rifts that will come to haunt us in the future. To be sure, the media is doing its best to tell stories of self-sacrifice and courage, but this is a virus that does not care if you sing on rooftops. The more the infection and death toll rises, the more you can be sure people will take action in their personal self-interest and survival.
What the wreckage from this shitstorm will lead to, I have no idea. Being an optimistic realist, my initial reaction is that the best we can hope for right now is for the virus to burn itself out and leave as little death in its wake as possible. I am uncertain we will be able to get in front of it until we get a respite from it. The human toll has been, and will be, pretty significant, but I am equally concerned about the economic toll. The fight over the aid package in the Senate tells me that the economic toll on human lives will be just as great over time as the biological toll. The struggle will be between those who want a society that protects the weakest among us against those who want to maintain their positions of power and privilege. Brace yourselves for a vicious fight. -twl