Or is it Corona virus all day every day, 24 hours a day?
The News is Grim
It seems that the world now revolves around the virus. The Earth seemingly revolves around the Corona virus now instead of the Sun. The news is all the Corona Virus Show, and the statistics on infections and deaths being broadcast and discussed daily, like box scores in baseball. Except now it is life and death. Strange times we live in.
For those afflicted with the virus, there is nothing left of the world except the virus and its affects. For family of those afflicted, there is an infinite amount of grief and sorrow. For everyone else, it becomes a matter of time: will we become afflicted or will we be able to wait it out.
History And Its Discontents
How different things seemed until recently. How “normal” everything seemed before the onslaught. In retrospect, how unprepared it seems we all have been, both as individuals and as a society. But it is not like no one ever knew or considered a pandemic. Of course, some in the government wanted to prepare. Here is George W. Bush in 2005. Here is Barack Obama in 2014. Now consider the current administration’s response. It’s a sad world we live in.
And so, even if we want to talk about something else, we still need to think about Covid-19. The current situation is about survival. Will we survive? On an individual level, there have been many fatalities. As a society, things have and will be immensely changed.
The effects on what have happened will be felt for a long time, much longer than the virus itself. Civil liberties will be affected, and not all for the good. The money that has been allocated by Congress… just think the fights that will occur when the question comes up later how to pay for it.
And while we are all focussed on the virus, many governments are quietly implementing other policies and agenda. When the dust clears, we will no longer be in the world we once inhabited.
Finances and Gratitude
The food we have at home is not infinite, and we have taken steps to acquire more if and as needed. I am infinitely grateful to be retired, and have prepared for retirement by having saved, invested and having paid off the mortgage. I can only imagine how stressful it is for those who need to concern themselves in how they will be able to pay their bills and if they are still employed or employable. Consider this: A nurse revealed the tragic last words of his coronavirus patient: ‘Who’s going to pay for it?‘
As a nation it is our a deep shame and a tragedy of infinite proportions that health care is determined by one’s employment. We are alone in the civilized world. Most advanced nations provide healthcare for its citizens because they are citizens. But here, if you do not have insurance, you do not qualify for healthcare.
Is There Hope?
Yes, there is hope. Not just for things to be done for us or to be given to us. There is hope because we can do things to help this world. Here are a few.
How are you coping? Are you coping? Comment here.
The illustration of a proposed pneumatic passenger car, from 1872, was published by the Beach Pneumatic Transit Co. Courtesy The New York Public Library.
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