It's times like this that often brings out the best of humanity.
Yes, there is bad behavior as well -
- a President who has been slow to respond, inconsistent in his rhetoric, dismissive and self-centered, and one who seems to be determined to bring back the Articles of Confederation
- a handful of Governors who hold out in protecting their state, or it has only occurred to them in the last 48 hours that asymptomatic people could spread the disease
- idiots who party on like they're immortal, and disregard the spread and harm they could do to others
- preachers who stubbornly hold services, even in the face of reports of how this has helped spread the virus
- and worst of all, we have the profiteers and gougers who are inflating prices and getting states and other entities who direly need medical supplies to bid against each other.
But we have many more stories of goodness and caring and sacrifice.
- medical staff who are taking considerable risks in caring for those the rest of us can't even go near
- police and firefighters who are putting themselves on the line to protect our communities. In my hometown, the police are delivering meals to the needy and elderly.
- grocery store clerks and retail workers that expose themselves to make sure our supply of essential supplies is interrupted as little as possible. There are also fast-food workers staffing drive-thru and curbside service, delivery people, and postal workers bringing what we need to our door, people who work at banks or CPA offices to keep out financial accounts moving.
-social networking done on the internet or through e-mails, phones, or other outreach. We show we care by reaching out to others in the ways that are left available to us.
-the people who are trying to provide us with news, the officials and bureaucrats that are struggling to keep us safe and informed.
Even as we are kept apart from each other, we are re-discovering our greatest power - the power of we.
We, the people. We, a society that works to take care of each other.
All the things that have been dissed by some in this country have been proven to be absolutely vital.
We need a stronger social safety net.
Healthcare should be a right, tied to our birthright as citizens, not to who our employer is, or our ability to pay. It is has shown the utter irresponsibility of having a healthcare system tied to who our employer is. Because when you lose your job in a crisis like this...you have no healthcare coverage at all.
We are networked globally, like it or not. You can't build walls large enough to keep out everyone, and you shouldn't want to. We are one people. One human race. Self-isolation is a global concept, not an "each nation to themselves" concept.
Our politics have for too long centered on greed and selfishness. It's too long promoted wealth and power concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.
It's not about buzzwords: capitalism, socialism, Ayn Randian style libertarianism, oligarchy, fascism* ...
It's about the power of we.
It's about building a society that maximizes the good we can do for each other - as individuals, as community members, as participants in our churches and synagogues and temples and mosques, as citizens of a state and a nation, and as part of an increasingly intertwined global network.
I pray we come out of this finally done with Reagan Era politics of greed. I hope we turn our backs on the narcissism and self-centeredness of the Trump Period.
It's the disease of ME FIRST versus the power of WE.
Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, COVID-19 will be defeated, and our social distancing can end. And with it vanquished, I pray we set permanently aside our ME FIRST politics and move to the power of WE.
I fear that if we don't, then the eventual destruction caused by keeping that kind of politics will be more devastating than even the horrible COVID-19.
Much, much more devastating.
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