This Year of our Lord, 2020, is now in the history books. It has been one filled with events not seen in our Republic’s 244 years of existence. Have we, personally, or as a nation, learned any lessons of value for the future?
On a personal note, these six months have been difficult. A serious illness, followed by weeks and months of recovery have left me with a couple of lessons not easily dismissed. First is the power of prayer. Not only that, but the many people who did pray for me was truly humbling. You must believe that others do love you and want the best for you; do not dismiss the spiritual side of life.
But the onset of COVID-19, the Chinese virus, the coronavirus, brought life as we know it radically changed. Orders to stay at home, socially distancing from others, shuttering businesses, losing jobs — these became the norms, beginning in March and much of this is still ongoing. What has America learned from our experiences of the first half of 2020?
First, those who claimed (and were proclaimed) to be “experts” were often wrong in their predictions. Initial projections about the lethality of the virus looked at a possibility of as many as 2.2 million deaths in the United States. By this time, even with inflated counting of deaths as COVID-19 caused, we have yet to reach one tenth of that amount. Models were changed or discarded with regularity, so when we are told (again) about the coming wave of another attack of the virus, many are very skeptical of those expert voices. What we do know is that other flu strains in the past were also deadly and infected more people, but we did not disrupt life for them.
We also learned that politicians reacted to the crisis with opening the nation’s checkbook. No dollar has (so far) been left untouched as we try to mitigate the effects of the sickness. Stimulus checks went out to most Americans, and businesses were propped up with money to keep them afloat and their employees at least partially paid. Unemployment checks were augmented for those who lost jobs and programs were created to lessen the fallout from the virus. All this effort has left the United States with a massive debt, for almost all of that cash had to be borrowed, some of it from foreign nations.
Another lesson learned was that some elected officials used the problem to unleash their inner tyrant. Draconian measures were seen in New York (belatedly), California, New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, Illinois, Oregon and Washington, with other states not far behind. Only one state, South Dakota, refused to handcuff its citizens with shutdowns and stay at home orders. We will not soon forget some of those who enacted the strictest rules for the average citizens — Governors Cuomo, Murphy, Inslee, Newsome, Pritzker, Whitmer among others.
Also learned were the incomprehensible distinctions about which businesses were “essential” and allowed to stay open and those which were “non-essential” and ordered shuttered. So we saw the spectacle of marijuana shops open, but churches closed. Planned Parenthood could continue with abortions, but retail clothes business had to quit business. We got our two dogs groomed, but could not get our hair cut, for the salons were not open. A business that catered to parties stayed in business, but gyms were not allowed to serve customers. Sometimes it seemed as if some of those who made up the rules just used darts at a business dartboard and whatever was hit was out of luck!
Another lesson learned was the hypocrisy of both the experts and the political class. The public was told that mass gatherings would only spread the virus, so those where forbidden. Yet, in reaction to the illegal killing of a black man by a policeman in Minneapolis, many cities were hit with large protests, and those same experts and politicians claimed that that was okay; such crowds were fine with them. Now, at least one such expert is admitting that mass demonstrations in her city did affect the rise in the rate of infections.
Wearing of masks has also been ordered although at first it was said said to have little effect on controlling the spread of the illness. When we arise each morning, we are unsure which order is valid concerning the masks and which are not.
This past month has also seen rioting and looting in the wake of the protests about the
police-related death. Such has been seen in Baltimore, Chicago, New York and other urban areas, with Seattle even seeing protesters taking over a part of the city for several weeks, justified by the “systemic” racism of America.
Those who are paying attention learn that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is very selective in which black lives deserve their attention. Deaths in Minneapolis and Atlanta got much press from the BLM people, but no demonstrations were seen in Chicago over the killings of children, also black, or black retired policeman David Dorn who was murdered as he tried to protect his friend’s business from looters in St. Louis, or the black Trump supporter, Bernell Trammel who was murdered in Milwaukee.
Politicians also taught us some lessons. Many were willing to pander to the mobs rather than take a stand for decency and justice for all. When statues of important historical figures were being defaced, destroyed and demeaned, many in positions of authority refused to demand peace in the streets and respect for the past.
Each of us is an individual, so lessons learned will be personal for us. Ask yourself the question — what have I (we) learned from these past few months of turmoil and trouble? Do we just sit back and accept what we see as all right or just a fringe part of the nation? Or do we realize that our way of life has been threatened with being altered beyond recognition? If the latter, have we expressed our outrage to our elected leaders and demanded responsible actions from them? If we do not, we are complicit in the havoc wreaked upon the America we know and love.