Day 21: Thursday. Recriminations.
The streets were quiet this morning, as before. I forget the exact count, but something like two cyclists, one dog, and two or three walkers. I saw many cars, but only because I crossed a main road. Somebody actually honked at me for jaywalking. I should seriously consider getting the bicycle out this weekend, or perhaps tomorrow. Lack of car traffic should make an early ride much more pleasant.
The charts make dispiriting reading. Both the US and UK are doubling their caseloads every three days, even now. Spain is doing better than this and Italy much better. In this county, after two and half weeks locked down, cases continue to rise at the rate of perhaps 10% each day, though the counts are certainly inaccurate.
Locally, I see more complaints about shortages of basic supplies, violations of social distancing, and so on. On the Web, cudgels and daggers are being raised against politicians who refused to see this coming. I too am past being kind, past mincing words about such a procession of failure by the rulers and stubbornness by a minority -- I do think it is a minority -- of the ruled, who seem to think they can ignore rules they find inconvenient, ditto for facts, and get away with it. Not that I feel any more charitably disposed towards people who ... I must think of a snappy put-down for them ... hope to use this pandemic, and the changes it will lead to, as levers to bring about whatever other changes they have long been pushing for. Highly paid CEOs and bankers did not create SARS-CoV-2, nor transgender people, nor Google. Oh, and have I mentioned how sick I am of hearing that this or that country is at war? A virus cannot sign a treaty, cannot surrender to you, cannot be bought off with land or disarmament, does not care how brave or determined you are.
This may be a good time to re-read The Rational Optimist. It encourages a historical perspective that we need. The pandemic of 1918-19 was, proportionately, as bad as this one is likely to get. The next global pandemic virus may very well be more lethal, but most countries will be better prepared for it, and the rest will find no audience for their excuses.
For now, I'll keep washing my hands and try to find things to laugh about. So far, Die, Corona! isn't too bad. If you don't mind four-letter words, Stay The **** At Home.
The charts make dispiriting reading. Both the US and UK are doubling their caseloads every three days, even now. Spain is doing better than this and Italy much better. In this county, after two and half weeks locked down, cases continue to rise at the rate of perhaps 10% each day, though the counts are certainly inaccurate.
Locally, I see more complaints about shortages of basic supplies, violations of social distancing, and so on. On the Web, cudgels and daggers are being raised against politicians who refused to see this coming. I too am past being kind, past mincing words about such a procession of failure by the rulers and stubbornness by a minority -- I do think it is a minority -- of the ruled, who seem to think they can ignore rules they find inconvenient, ditto for facts, and get away with it. Not that I feel any more charitably disposed towards people who ... I must think of a snappy put-down for them ... hope to use this pandemic, and the changes it will lead to, as levers to bring about whatever other changes they have long been pushing for. Highly paid CEOs and bankers did not create SARS-CoV-2, nor transgender people, nor Google. Oh, and have I mentioned how sick I am of hearing that this or that country is at war? A virus cannot sign a treaty, cannot surrender to you, cannot be bought off with land or disarmament, does not care how brave or determined you are.
This may be a good time to re-read The Rational Optimist. It encourages a historical perspective that we need. The pandemic of 1918-19 was, proportionately, as bad as this one is likely to get. The next global pandemic virus may very well be more lethal, but most countries will be better prepared for it, and the rest will find no audience for their excuses.
For now, I'll keep washing my hands and try to find things to laugh about. So far, Die, Corona! isn't too bad. If you don't mind four-letter words, Stay The **** At Home.
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