As the world around us crumbles into a dissonant sphere of chaos, we must seek perspective while maintaining vigilance. To balance all the perilous extremes our society now faces, we need to look within ourselves to find meaning. As it stands now, that may be our only choice.
Misinformation explodes around us, infecting us each with the shrapnel of dismay. Rumors abound. While the severity of the coronavirus pandemic cannot be understated, I believe many people overstating the crisis. After all, isn’t it best to overprepare in the face of a disease that is capable of killing many?
Coronaviruses have been around longer than most of us realize. We recognize one of them as the common cold. While the COVID-19 disease is far deadlier, the symptoms are somewhat similar. Testing for the virus is beginning to ramp up in many areas of the United States as clinics set up temporary, drive-up testing stations for those who have exhibited the symptoms.
This virus also spreads in similar fashion to the common cold. While it is possible to contract the virus by walking through a person’s exhale, the virus mostly spreads through droplets of water expulsed via coughs or sneezes. You are unlikely to get the virus by bumping elbows with someone on the street.
With this information, one wonders whether the disease warrants basically shutting down our entire economy or voluntarily giving up so many of the personal freedoms we enjoy on a temporary basis. Is it really necessary to hoard items like soap, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper? The experts have warned against doing this, as it makes these supplies scarcer for vulnerable people who need them more.
I want to mention a case that truly made me angry last week when news broke that a man in Tennessee had rented a trailer and driven all over the state buying out every store’s supply of hand sanitizer. He collected some 17,700 bottles and planned to sell them on Amazon for up to twenty times what he paid. Amazon promptly canceled his account for price gouging and the man then complained about having nowhere to sell his stock. Days later, after being flooded with messages, some kind and some not so, the man finally donated his entire stash to his church, which redistributed it to medical clinics and senior centers. The man made the right choice and should be lauded for it, even though we remain critical of his earlier motives.
This has been happening all over our country as emergencies have been declared.
While this virus is serious, I do believe too much is being made of it. I am not one of those media-hating conspiracy theorist types. Largely, the media is reporting on facts even as news related to the coronavirus dominates feeds everywhere. The public at large has made the choice to join in the frenzy.
Be prepared, but don’t panic. Wash your hands with soap and water frequently, especially after touching things that many others have touched.
As social distancing becomes part of our lexicon, some have chosen to laugh at the state of things. Comics and memes have been sprouting up for weeks. In reality social-distancing is a polite way of saying “I don’t trust you.” It is as if we expect that person behind us in line has contracted the disease, coughed all over his or her hands, and then proceeded to touch everything in sight. We expect him or her to sneeze on the back of our heads so that when we launder our clothes, we get their disease. Millions of people have gone into isolation, afraid to go out for any reason. Afraid to socialize with our neighbor down the street, mortified of shaking hands with a realtor or car salesman. Petrified of a new normal. Or as I call it in my house, Tuesday.
Governments across the nation have taken varying steps of preventing the spread of the disease. Most of these tactics are designed to promote public health indeed. But watching the news, one has to wonder how deep it really needs to go. We see states like California adopt strict guidelines to stay at home unless you absolutely have to go out. Does it really have to go that far? Are we really agreeing to give away our personal freedom so easily? And what happens if, when the tide abates, these orders remain in effect? At what point did we agree to dictatorship over the promise of safety?
Benjamin Franklin famously noted that “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
This stark warning should be remembered as much today as at any other moment in our history. When the dust finally settles, it is easy to imagine a chilling, dystopian world where society has collapsed, buildings are shuttered, and chaos reigns. We must stay vigilant and weather this storm.
In the face of all that has transpired, I hope that our leaders—political, religious, business, etc.—are taking notes on what to expect and how to prepare in the inevitable event that another virulent disease upends life as we know it. We, the people should also remember what we are living through today so that we can prevent disorder next time. Publicly, we tend to have short memories, but we must remember this one. Truly, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”—George Santayana.
Let us remain cautious and hope to return to sanity in the near future. In the meantime, keep yourselves and your loved-ones safe.