Imagining Society if the Covid 19 Pandemic Happened in the 90's

 Understanding Covid 19 as a Social Construct

Thoughts on Bari Weiss Interview with Dr. Vinay Prasad

"Social construct" is a term that I hear often but have not bothered to examine. I guess, in a way, that qualifies it as a cliché. Something you hear often, think you knew what it means, and then move on. 

In fact, I didn't quite know what it meant, so I looked it up. 

Warning: deep research dive ahead.

Here's a dictionary definition (Merriam-Webster) and a little explanation (yourdictionary.com): 

Social construct is an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society.

Social constructs develop within a society or group. They don't represent objective reality but instead are meaningful only because people within the society or group accept that they have meaning. Simply put, social constructs do not have inherent meaning. The only meaning they have is the meaning given to them by people.

So I'm thinking about this term because it came up in a Bari Weiss podcast interview with Dr. Vinay Prasad (link below). During the interview. Dr. Prasad referred to the pandemic as a social construct. 

One thing I like about Bari Weiss is she does bother to examine things. Her interviews are often sprinkled with things like, "What do you mean by that?" or, "Here's what I hear you saying." 

True to form, Bari asked him to explain what he mean. After listening to the podcast twice, I think I get his point. Here's how I understood what he said.

Dr. Prasad said that we should try to imagine the exact same scenario happening in the 1990's. In the 90's, there could not have been an option of shutting down the economy in order to stay safe. There was no Zoom. There was barely an Internet. We would have had to figure out a way to carry on, keep going to work, regardless of what kind of occupation we had. White collar, blue collar—what was true for one was true for the other.

In 2021, technology has permitted the kind of class division we’re seeing. I think that’s what he means by a “social construct.” Not the virus itself, but the societal reaction, the class division, us. vs. them. Us—those of us who can still bring in a paycheck while working from home, can order food or groceries to be delivered to our doorstep. Them—those who work in the kitchens (wearing masks!), or deliver the food to the rest of us, who stock the shelves, take our money at the grocery store. Us—we can shelter in place, recover from the virus if we get it (and still get paid). Them—what happens if they get sick? Or small business owners whose businesses had to close?

I think this is what Dr. Prasad means when he talks about the virus being a “social construct.” In both cases, the (hypothetical) 90’s and the 2020’s—the actual virus is the same. It infects us individually exactly the same way. But it infects society differently: because we have different survival options (economically speaking), it creates a class schism. So when he refers to "the poor” and the role of the government helping them, I don’t think he’s talking about the idea of giving handouts. Rather, I think he's wondering what more could have been done to protect those who didn’t benefit from the advances in technology that shielded the white-collar worker during a time of pandemic and shut down.

************

Vaccine Hesitant? A Doctor Responds 

September 22, 2021

 

Stupidity in the Time of Pandemic

I'm responding to a column that recently appeared in the Tampa Bay Times called, "I Will Not Die of Stupid," by a columnist named Leonard Pitts, Jr. A friend of mine posted the column on Facebook with the comment, "This is spot on." I could think of nothing he said that was spot on, and said as much to my friend. Here are my edited comments to her post. I linked Pitts' column at the end, as well as a link to a Commentary podcast that deeply troubled me, having to do with what we should really be afraid of--the disruption of the supply chain. 

I'm not sure I understand what Mr. Pitts wants. He closes this essay by saying, "I need to know sufficient testing has been conducted and that they [serious, credible people] feel the virus is no longer a threat." The virus is a threat today, tomorrow, and likely for years. It may always be a threat. What is he asking? What is he advocating?

I agree that he should stay inside, stay safe, stay away from restaurants and crowds. I don't agree if he's saying the same should apply to everyone. He says we should defer to Dr. Fauci. But Dr. Fauci's expertise is immunology, not the economy. What is Dr. Fauci saying about the supply chain? What will Mr. Pitts say when the entire country is facing not just toilet paper shortages, not just meat shortages, but store shelves that are empty of milk, bread, fresh vegetables, eggs, dairy.

I find it truly offensive that he derides the "MAGA-wearing halfwits." He shows his hand here. This is not about Trump followers. This is about people like my hairstylist who hasn't had a paying client since end of March and, if the governor of California has his way would not be able to cut hair for several months. Is Mr. Pitts fine with that?

Here's the thing. The world is not safe. Mr. Pitts is entitled to stay confined to his home, and if he's fortunate to have a job that will pay him to do so, then God bless him. But for him to deride others for being seriously worried about what will happen if people like him had their way and wanted everyone to stay sheltered until the virus was vanquished, regardless of what happens to the supply chain and the serious damage this will incur to our nation and to individuals—I’m thinking riots and violence and abject poverty.

Honestly, the arrogance.

Stupid? Yes, the rest of us will die of stupid because of stupid columns like this. But he'll be safe. He and these arrogant governors will still get their paychecks. This kind of thinking is what I call stupid.  

If Mr. Pitts lived on an island that was separated by a body of water that was swarming with crocodiles and the other side of the island had a fresh-water well, such that the only way one could survive would be to somehow cross the body of water and retrieve water, surely he would figure out how to cross that body of water. No, he would not step into the water. He would get eaten alive and would die a horrible death. But if he didn't want to die another type of horrible death—thirst, say—he would have to figure out how to navigate the unsafe world he inhabited. In other words, he would have to step outside his door.

That's what we need to do. It will never be safe. Never. Even if Covid19 is finally vanquished, either through vaccine or treatment, there will be another, and another, and another thing that will threaten us. We need to cross the crocodile-infested waters and start to live again. But figuring out how, that's the hard part.

Staying inside? That's stupid.

****

"I Will Not Die of Stupid," by Leonard Pitts, Jr. Tampa Bay Times, April 26, 2020 

Commentary Magazine Podcast "When is it Time to Panic?" (May 5, 2020)

Restaurants in the Time of Pandemic: Remembering Walt's Wharf

Many good memories of Walt’s Wharf. I first heard the gospel here, sitting in the fish market, on break, and became a Christian a year or so later. It was January 1979, around midnight, in a studio apartment where I lived by myself, down the street from Walt’s on 13th and Electric.

A few memories. My favorite lunch-break meal was mesquite-grilled salmon sandwiches, open-faced on sourdough, seasoned lightly with paprika and a squeeze of butter. I was hired first as a hostess, then graduated to waitress along with my friend Karen. We wore brown skirts with cute flowered aprons tied at the waist and gold puffed-sleeve peasant blouses. Karen and I housesat for another waitress one summer in an apartment on Main, down a ways from Walt’s. There were fleas and goldfish. There’s a story.

Karen has her own tales to tell.

So sad about the closure. This is going to be a very hard time for independently-owned restaurants.

There will be more.

Face Masks in the Time of Pandemic

I hate face masks. 

One of my girlfriends texted a picture of herself grocery shopping the other evening. She was wearing a green bandana over her face, and she said, "I thought of you as I hurriedly chose my produce." 

I replied, "Don't you just hate this?" and she said, "I thought you might hate it the most, taking away your greatest pleasure...squeezing produce." 

And I said, "And smiling at people."

That's the saddest part. When this whole thing started, I texted my kids this: "Don't forget to smile at strangers. And say good morning." 

That was before the face mask decree. 

I have always felt that making eye contact with strangers, smiling at them, was my small way of making this world a better place. Now, suffocating beneath a stupid mask, people have no idea if I'm friend or foe.

I guess we just take this thing one day at a time.

Tattling in the Time of Pandemic

I've been reading about Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti's recent announcement in which he encouraged residents to "snitch" (his word) on non-essential businesses that aren't complying with requirements to shut down during this Covid 19 crisis. The good mayor even said something about a reward for such snitching, though details are sketchy.

A cursory Google search on this story so far shows only "right wing" media reporting on this story (I use scare quotes because you never read about other media outlets being labeled as left-wing).

A closer look takes me to a Google Doc form provided by the City of Los Angeles which allows people to report so-called non-essential businesses who are violating the stay-at-home order. I don't see any such form for "snitches" to report regular people who, for example, are walking outside without a mask or something. Let's hope it doesn't get to that point.

Yes, we're scared. Most of us alive today have never experienced something so monumentally terrifying as this once-in-a-century global pandemic. So we're willing to temporarily suspend some--no, many--personal liberties.

But how far do we want to go, not just personally but societally? The fact that this story is apparently only alarming people on the right is telling. Let's hope that changes and more people--left and right--sound the alarm.

Like the opening of Pandora's Box, something like this--"snitching" on our fellow citizens, even for a supposedly good cause--once it's accepted by the community, could easily mutate into a society of real "snitches." This is apparently happening today in parts of Europe: they're called "Corona-Snitches" (link in comments).

Free societies who accept such policies do so at their peril.

******

For Further Reading

"Corona-Snitches Thrive in Lockdown Europe" (Politico)