Have a Corona

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

John Lennon 1971

Today's Blog will discuss the dreaded "coronavirus"  and some random thoughts on my own personal feelings about how we as a country and particularly how our "leaders" are dealing with this crises.

I picked today's song, which I received by a text or email from a good friend.  It was a video put together by well intentioned celebrities in an effort to "make people feel better" during their shelter in place orders now stuck in their homes.  I admit Lennon’s melodies can be “soothing”, however the lyrics of this song I always found disturbing on many levels.

Well John Lennon guess what you got your wish!  Somebody in China caught a "Virus" from some "Bat Crap" in their dinner and now the world is as “one”.  No borders, but we still have governments trying to deal with it all.  As to religions, yes churches have been shut down as well!  Sorry John but I still pray, not only for my friends and loved ones to be safe, not only from the virus, but from he economic consequences of shutting down people’s lives.

  I wonder if my barber (who I saw yesterday about an hour before our Governor shut his business down) cares what some elite celebrities sing. He had already decided to handle by appointment only one customer in shop at a time. He was telling me before the shutdown how he could not figure out where his income to buy food was going to come from.....and that was just from lack of voluntary customers due to his attempt to be responsible.  The $2,500 one time check he may get will likely be a little late, and a little light, to pay his monthly shop lease.  As to actually feeding his kids, ah yes just a minor detail to be worked out.

Along this same vein last Monday my faithful and Obedient Companion and I went out to dinner (we have been actually been trying to do that a lot...given how bad things have been here after the shutdown of the Ski Area). Unfortunately  we arrived 10 minutes after the Governor's shut down restaurants  statewide.  We bid some tearful farewells to some very nice people who have become friends over the past few years.  I wonder if the Governor will live on $2,500 next month?

OK I vented but logic would dictate this question be asked of me.  So Jim what on earth do you expect our leaders to do??

Well first I understand they need to talk to experts who in this case have carefully modeled out likely scenarios given our current knowledge.

With that thought  I am reminded of a line of Bill Murry’s, no not from Groundhog Day,but another classic, Ghostbuster’s:

         The Ghostbusters try to convince New York's Mayor to let them go and face the ghost threat all over the Big Apple]

Peter Venkman:
Well, you can believe Mr. Pecker...

Walter Peck:
My name is "Peck."

Venkman:
Or you can accept the fact that this city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Mayor:
What do you mean, "biblical"?

Ray Stantz:
What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff!

Venkman:
Exactly.

Stantz:
Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!

Spengler:
Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes!

Winston Zeddemore:
The dead rising from the grave!

Venkman:
Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!

Mayor:
Enough, I get the point! And what if you're wrong?

Venkman:
If we're wrong, then nothing happens! We go to jail; peacefully, quietly. We'll enjoy it! But if we're right, and we can stop this thing... Lenny, you will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters.

Walter Peck:
I don't believe you're seriously considering listening to these men!

Mayor:
[to officers while pointing at Peck] Get him outta here.

In other words driven by the media, general panic and a potential nightmare of dying patients without hospital facilities they must do something.

We the electorate have boxed our leaders into listening to “experts”.  In general MOST politicians have good intentions, eyed at placating their constituents call to action.   Why? To get re-elected.  Let's hope the experts are correct.

 But I wonder about the models.  Now while I am no expert on Pandemics, I do understand modeling.  I “get” the curve.  I also know that there is a real desire by experts to alleviate potential suffering.  However, have they “modeled” the long term damage to the future of millions of “non-elite” hardworking people and their kids who are faced with no work, and left to fend for themselves?   What if in the middle of these mass quarantines we have a natural disaster like Hurricanes, tornadoes, or even a west coast tsunami that causes mass evacuations of the sick and healthy?  What happens to those models then?  Prayer and religion comes to mind.

Observation 1

Politicians and “experts” like to think we are “in control”. In reality we are never “in control”.  Call it fate, call it acts of “God” call it what you want, we never can control all life on earth.  If we think we can we are on a fool’s quest.

A while ago I wrote a blog about Medicare and the cost of keeping alive a friend who is over 80 with expensive drugs.  It is an extremely “tough” issue.  I see many parallels to the cost of fighting his epidemic, to spare us the misery of watching fellow citizens die without enough medical care.  This leads me to my final observation.  Which I acknowledge could negatively impact several of my blog followers and myself.

Observation 2.

I can only hope that the long term costs to our society being pushed upon us by experts are ultimately worth the costs.to our kids and grandkids.  I have bigtime nagging doubts about that.  Personally I think the cost of saving the most vulnerable seem very high.  Given my little blog will likely not impact the current situation one iota, I am left with only a couple of personal options:

A.   Supporting my community’s businesses (like arranging a haircut in defiance of “orders”) and supporting local food banks and charities. 

B.   Helping friends and relatives with emotional and financial support where needed.

C.   Praying we as a country wade through this Pandemic without mortgaging our future..

D.  Prayers for minimal suffering to those who ultimately are infected , selfishly I will even pray specifically for those I love, and maybe a prayer for myself and my own thoughts.

With that I bid you adieu

PS I welcome any and all suggestions, comments and criticisms of my Observations!!

Postscript

A couple of comments after blog was finished.

I got a letter from my Stonybrook Vermont HOA whose directors unilaterally decided I could not rent my unit due to Corona.  Never mind my HOA has no legal authority to do so.  I suggested they could shutdown the staff and support in aggregate but not to just my lawfull renters.   The point perceived power can make people trample legal rights.

I was told Pennsylvania shut down golf courses...even to just walking by "order of the Governor.  Despite walking and social distance being no particular danger.  The exercise was doing some good in my opinion.    
Bye Bye groundskeepers get in line for your one time government check.  What expert decided that??