different kind of war
march 23, 2020
an official stay-at-home order has been issued by the governor of Pennsylvania, because not enough business were closing to protect people from the spread of Covid-19, the coronavirus making its rounds across the globe.
one of the memes going around facebook reminds people my age: your grandparents were called to war. you're being called to your couch. you can do this.
it's a little tongue-in-cheek, with a serious message. but it got me thinking about the comparison between the deathtoll from war versus the deathtoll from a novel virus that scientists worldwide are working to develop a cure for before more of the world's population is reduced from the increase in deaths.
this epidemic has brought a lot of issues up. I feel like for anyone paying attention, they are the same issues we've been upset about since we first had the ability to think critically. so I am curious about what the deniers, what the pro-lifers, what the zealouts think, and also the anarchists. we couldn't follow the recommendation to stay home. we're probably going to require police enforcement to get more people who can comply to comply. this is why we can't have nice things, like smaller government.
but I digress.
this novel virus is taking lives daily. it has been since December of last year. but it only reached our shores more recently, and plenty of people have already demonstrated we don't do well with scary news. I keep thinking about the people who still have to work. who still have to interact with other people. who still have to make deliveries. and potentially expose themselves every day to infection. they will be the first wave of people who get sick en masse. and I just pray that we have flattened the curve enough that our healthcare system can handle the onslaught of sick people that is coming.
this virus cares not for our country of origin, or how much money we make, or the color of our skin, or the religion we practice, or our political stance. it kills without discrimination. it is trying to survive, and siezed the opportunity to flourish after jumping from a bat as a host to a human. it wants to conquer as much as it can, to thrive as much as it can.
we are defending ourselves to the best of our abilities (though right now our abilities seem to be greatly lacking), and attempting, not to stop this enemy, but simply to reduce the number of people sick at the same time, while scientists hurriedly search for a way to destroy the enemy once and for all.
people are staying home. and a great many people are still going to work, because they must to keep all of us in supply of food, gas, energy--the basic necessities. companies are offering to defer payments. well, some. not as many as we need to prevent workforce economic collapse.
it is a time we could be coming together, but the same people in power are making the same kinds of decisions to protect the people in power most and the working class and poor last.
the people who don't know how to decipher legitimate information are contributing to the spreading not only of misinformation, but potentially of the virus itself. our stupidity and our laziness will be the death of so many. and I do feel partly responsible. though I can't do much to change things (besides what I already am).
i'm worrying, because how can I not? but i'm only allowing myself brief windows of worry, and trying to stay focused and occupied with other thoughts the majority of the time. that's my battle, but it's been an ongoing one...since the day I could think critically about the state of the world and what has led us to this point in history.
places in china have finally reached the point of not having any new cases of the virus. if this is true, it took 3 months of lockdown to achieve it. we haven't even decided upon lockdown as a country yet. some places have started to, where the cases have already multiplied. we haven't had the test, so there was no way of tracking. and I guess a lot of people need concrete data to take practical advice at the threat of, you know, a potentially life-threatening, highly contagious virus. go fig.
so i'm finishing out the day of working from home. going to make some food, watch some Netflix. put off exercising another day (i'll need it more in the weeks to come). monitoring my thoughts and being kind to myself while I wait out the war against covid-19.
an official stay-at-home order has been issued by the governor of Pennsylvania, because not enough business were closing to protect people from the spread of Covid-19, the coronavirus making its rounds across the globe.
one of the memes going around facebook reminds people my age: your grandparents were called to war. you're being called to your couch. you can do this.
it's a little tongue-in-cheek, with a serious message. but it got me thinking about the comparison between the deathtoll from war versus the deathtoll from a novel virus that scientists worldwide are working to develop a cure for before more of the world's population is reduced from the increase in deaths.
this epidemic has brought a lot of issues up. I feel like for anyone paying attention, they are the same issues we've been upset about since we first had the ability to think critically. so I am curious about what the deniers, what the pro-lifers, what the zealouts think, and also the anarchists. we couldn't follow the recommendation to stay home. we're probably going to require police enforcement to get more people who can comply to comply. this is why we can't have nice things, like smaller government.
but I digress.
this novel virus is taking lives daily. it has been since December of last year. but it only reached our shores more recently, and plenty of people have already demonstrated we don't do well with scary news. I keep thinking about the people who still have to work. who still have to interact with other people. who still have to make deliveries. and potentially expose themselves every day to infection. they will be the first wave of people who get sick en masse. and I just pray that we have flattened the curve enough that our healthcare system can handle the onslaught of sick people that is coming.
this virus cares not for our country of origin, or how much money we make, or the color of our skin, or the religion we practice, or our political stance. it kills without discrimination. it is trying to survive, and siezed the opportunity to flourish after jumping from a bat as a host to a human. it wants to conquer as much as it can, to thrive as much as it can.
we are defending ourselves to the best of our abilities (though right now our abilities seem to be greatly lacking), and attempting, not to stop this enemy, but simply to reduce the number of people sick at the same time, while scientists hurriedly search for a way to destroy the enemy once and for all.
people are staying home. and a great many people are still going to work, because they must to keep all of us in supply of food, gas, energy--the basic necessities. companies are offering to defer payments. well, some. not as many as we need to prevent workforce economic collapse.
it is a time we could be coming together, but the same people in power are making the same kinds of decisions to protect the people in power most and the working class and poor last.
the people who don't know how to decipher legitimate information are contributing to the spreading not only of misinformation, but potentially of the virus itself. our stupidity and our laziness will be the death of so many. and I do feel partly responsible. though I can't do much to change things (besides what I already am).
i'm worrying, because how can I not? but i'm only allowing myself brief windows of worry, and trying to stay focused and occupied with other thoughts the majority of the time. that's my battle, but it's been an ongoing one...since the day I could think critically about the state of the world and what has led us to this point in history.
places in china have finally reached the point of not having any new cases of the virus. if this is true, it took 3 months of lockdown to achieve it. we haven't even decided upon lockdown as a country yet. some places have started to, where the cases have already multiplied. we haven't had the test, so there was no way of tracking. and I guess a lot of people need concrete data to take practical advice at the threat of, you know, a potentially life-threatening, highly contagious virus. go fig.
so i'm finishing out the day of working from home. going to make some food, watch some Netflix. put off exercising another day (i'll need it more in the weeks to come). monitoring my thoughts and being kind to myself while I wait out the war against covid-19.
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