So, it’s March 18, 2020. In America, we’re just under eight months from a presidential election that will probably be the most important of our lifetime. And we are in the midst of possibly the worst crisis any of us will ever witness. For many of us, just saying that seems crazy—after all, we easily remember the days and weeks following the 9/11 attacks. I was pretty sure that was going to be the most pivotal moment in my life.
What changed between then and now? Not many of us would have imagined that our lives may be in greater danger from an enemy we can’t see—a virus that jumped from animals to humans, then mutated to spread like wildfire, and became so virulent that millions will contract it, and possibly millions will die from it.
For the last few years, Americans have been at war with each other over so many things. The interesting thing is that with a few exceptions, we’re fighting for and about many of the same worries. How do we make sure people don’t die due to lack of healthcare or go bankrupt trying to pay for it? How do we prevent the destruction of the middle class as the wealthier become obscenely more wealthy, and the poor are written off as lazy and worthless? What do we do about a generation of young people who were told their future depended on a higher education, but after graduating, they cannot depend on the career or wages they were promised, so they’re drowning in education debt and unable to be sure of their futures? How do we reconcile our differences of faith—especially when individual rights and liberties are becoming increasingly more threatened within a framework that was never intended to be based on one specific faith? How is it that so many of us believed we were moving in a more inclusive and less discriminatory direction, but we now find ourselves living in a time when racism, bigotry, homophobia, and xenophobia have reached a fever pitch?
There are a lot of questions. Everyone has a different answer. Few people are willing to meet anywhere in the middle. And most of us believe terrible things about the people with whom we disagree. Even when facing an unseen enemy that may kill a fair number of us, we see it through different eyes.
Even if we can’t agree on answers, one thing is true—a killer virus doesn’t give a damn about our agreements or disagreements. It will come for us no matter who we vote for, no matter what party we belong to, and whether we believe in tough love capitalism or help your fellow man “socialism.”
COVID-19 is one organism that doesn’t discriminate.
We are all under the same threat. We all face a health care crisis that will max out our system’s capacity. We all face the repercussions of a possible economic disaster. As businesses are forced to shut down with the hopes of saving lives, many are losing their livelihoods. Those among us who were already barely scraping by will be the hardest hit. We all wonder if people we care about will be victims of this indiscriminate killer.
The reality is that many Americans have been in pain for a long time. The crunch of an ever increasing cost of living, and wages that have been outpaced for decades mean that many of us aren’t certain about the future. Sadly, the pain we feel also makes us retreat to our respective ideological corners, where we seethe and point fingers of blame.
It’s the undocumented immigrants sneaking into the country from our southern border. It’s the wealth hoarding fat cats of business. It’s the young mom who is struggling to care for a child on her own, and getting food stamps. There are plenty of directions for our fingers to point.
That’s one thing we do have in common with COVID-19–it’s infecting and killing people in every direction.
A couple of months ago, a lot of us were in denial about this common enemy. We believed it to be overblown—just another random virus from Asia that was supposed to be deadly, but would eventually peter out like the annual influenza strains. Some of us believe our president either lied about the seriousness of the disease, or that he just wasn’t willing to listen to, and act upon the threat before it was on the cusp of being uncontainable. Others still believe that this is the equivalent of Chicken Little running around, telling everyone the sky is falling when all they can see are fluffy white clouds.
COVID-19 will infect and kill people from both camps. It really doesn’t care.
As we all begin to realize either the potential of millions dying, or a complete economic collapse, we all are starting to agree that we can’t survive this situation without our government’s help. Small businesses are being crushed by social distancing and no customers. Big business is feeling the pressure to do something many of us have been clamoring for forever—step up and behave like good citizens instead of just throwing money at politicians to maintain their profits at the expense of the workers who support them.
Funny how a couple of people in the current presidential race were just saying that the pain we have been feeling for so long was a giant, gaping wound that had been left to fester for too long. They were just telling us that our government needed to serve the people who elected them, and needed to make big business and the very wealthy step up and at least contribute their fair share.
We all know that job creators are one of the arteries supplying life blood to the economy. Business—both big and small are a substantial contributor to the flow. But in recent days, as we walk the aisles of our local supermarkets, it’s not big or small business making sure the shelves have been sanitized and that the limited supply of critical items has been restocked. That would be the store employee who doesn’t even earn a living wage. They are working their shifts, and taking the risk of being exposed to an unseen killer, carried by an unknowing shopper.
Will this be the moment when we finally understand that every job done is as valuable as the person doing it, instead of the number of years in school, degrees, or type of work—that anyone working full time should make enough to do more than scrape by or survive?
We have argued about the human impact on climate. Some of us believe the destruction of our environment is outpacing our ability to turn the tide. Others believe that climate has been changing throughout time, and there’s little that humans do that impacts it either way. And yet, in the face of COVID-19, social distancing and lockdowns have revealed cleaner air quality in China and fish swimming in Venice where the waters were previously too dirty for them.
Is COVID-19 and our efforts to combat it going to be the event that persuades people to understand that scientific facts are true, even if we don’t want to believe them?
Our children are at home, their schools being shut down for weeks to months. Teachers are providing education via computers, and parents are getting the opportunity to see just how much we rely on our schools—especially those teachers. We’re getting a crash course in how much stability our schools provide for children in the form of meals they otherwise may not be getting at home, and coincidental childcare that allows us to go out into the world and work for our livings. We’re also getting to see just how much our teachers and our children are expected to complete in a seven-hour day. Our teachers—many of whom have their own children that they must help with their schoolwork—are putting our children first, as they make videos in their basements, garages and kitchens to provide instruction and structure.
Will COVID-19 finally teach us what is important and valuable about our schools and teachers? And will we finally focus on meaningful learning, pay our teachers what they’re worth, and never expect them to pay for supplies out of their own budgets again?
As our children have been sent home, parents working in jobs that can’t be done in home offices are faced with difficult child care scenarios. School was there plan A, and Grandma and Grandpa we’re plan B. Now even paid daycare—some people’s only plan is either unavailable, or operating at great personal risk to keep these workers afloat.
Will we finally understand how vital affordable child care is for everyone, and that the people providing it deserve our respect and a living wage?
We live in a culture that has become increasingly more 24/7–everything and everyone must be available and running at all times. We have 24-hour department and grocery stores, fast food and gyms. When we feel an ache, pain or cough hit us, we push right through—both because we are expected to, and because we have no paid sick leave or rainy day savings. But the demands of COVID-19 have forced stores and other businesses to adjust their normal hours. Walmart now closes shortly after my six-year-old’s bedtime. Who would have thought? And in the face of a killer, health care experts are pleading with us to stay home when we’re sick.
Will this be the moment when we understand life is more important than dollars, and that there are some safety nets that are not only intended to protect the individual receiving help, but the rest of as well?
There are so many questions. And I remember right after the 9/11 attacks, we talked a big game about pulling together, and taking on the threat of the moment. Many of us believed the event would change us forever—or at least for a long time? Is this how it is with every disaster—you pull together in the immediate aftermath, but scatter when the threat is no longer in your face every moment of the 24-hour news cycle? Do we really never change?
I’ve been seeing all the social media posts about shopping for people who are at higher risk if they become infected. Whole groups are virtually pooling information and resources to support people who aren’t getting paid to be off, and small businesses that will go under without customers. I’ve read the stories of people handing over a roll or two of toilet paper to people they run into who got to the store too late to get a pack before it was sucked into the panic vortex.
It’s all very heartwarming. It gives you the feeling that if we can do this because a “gun” is at the back of our heads, we could surely do it when there isn’t one. I don’t in any way mean to discount any of these positive things. I’m just wondering what it would take for these changes of the moment to become changes that last a lifetime?
