Say we go two more months of social distancing, confinement, shelter-in-place, business and restaurant closures, school closures, cancellation of sporting and cultural events, government distribution of checks to individuals and families, job losses, businesses shuttered.
And then the curve flattens, we breathe a sigh of relief, start to return to some semblance of normalcy.
And then, come fall, this virus returns.
What then? Lather, rinse, repeat?
You may say I’m a dreamer and you'd be correct. This is a nightmare.
Are we as a society really prepared to exist like this long-term? There will be another virus, then another. And now that our response to this one has been so fierce, I can’t imagine future responses being anything less. And our lives will never be the same.
Someone will chide. What choice did we have?
Does anyone think they know? Does anyone know for sure?
C.S. Lewis wrote in an essay called, “Is Success Possible? Willing Slaves of the Welfare State,” that a caged animal isn’t hungry. That’s the trade-off, I think. We’re so afraid. Terrified of this stalking monster. Cage me, and I’ll be safe.
I’ve offended some of you, I know. But someone somewhere among my friends
on Facebook said we should be writing our thoughts during this terrible time.
And so I have. And I'll continue.
Sorry in advance to all who will say, "Yeah but . . . "
I know the "Yeah, but . . . "
I already know who you are. And I'm among you saying it.
But have we really thought this through?
***
A few reads (sorry if they're behind a paywall).
"Is Our Fight Against Coronavirus Worse Than the Disease?" (David L. Katz, New York Times, March 20, 2020).
Comments:
The author is the founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center. I listened to an interview with him when the article appeared. He admits he writes against his own interest, having family members who are high risk. He also regrets taking a position that differs from his colleagues.
"Such is the collateral damage of this diffuse form of warfare, aimed at 'flattening' the epidemic curve generally rather than preferentially protecting the especially vulnerable. I believe we may be ineffectively fighting the contagion even as we are causing economic collapse."
He asks, "When does the society-wide disruption end?"
He answers: "We just don’t know. We could wait until there’s an effective treatment, a vaccine or transmission rates fall to undetectable levels. But what if those are a year or more away? Then we suffer the full extent of societal disruption the virus might cause for all those months. The costs, not just in money, are staggering to contemplate."
He answers: "We just don’t know. We could wait until there’s an effective treatment, a vaccine or transmission rates fall to undetectable levels. But what if those are a year or more away? Then we suffer the full extent of societal disruption the virus might cause for all those months. The costs, not just in money, are staggering to contemplate."
He has suggestions.
Is it too late to implement them?
This from the Wall Street Journal editorial board:
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