#MOC19: We Can Write

the Footnotes for 2020 Right Now

 

It's been almost three weeks since I cocooned myself in the house, heeding the CDC's coronavirus warnings for self isolation among people over 60 and staying true to the Connecticut governor's state-wide edict, "Stay Home, Stay Safe." I try to get a grip on the human and financial toll of the coronavirus, so much of which could have been mitigated if the U.S. had a leader with compassion and integrity.

• Last week 3.3 million people filed unemployment claims in the U.S., five times greater than the worst week in U.S. history and 3 million claims higher than the previous week. 
• In a March 26 survey by Pew Research Center, nine out of ten people in the US population believe coronavirus threatens the economy and two out of three say it poses a major threat to the health of Americans. 
• Those people are horribly correct: Financial markets plunged 12% in March and 20% since the start of 2020 -- trillions of dollars gone, with more declines anticipated -- nearly 200,000 people contracted the virus in the U.S. and nearly 4000 people died. Worldwide, coronavirus sickened almost 900,000 people and killed more than 43,000. We still have weeks to go in isolation.  

• Landmarks are shuttered -- Eiffel Tower, Trafalgar Square, beloved Broadway, St Peter's Basilica, Sydney Opera House -- as we live out this world of an apocalyptic novel. Peeved as I once was at the crowds in those locations, I long for them now: Come back, people, but this time wear masks.
• Financial scarcity emerges. I watch in dismay as my life holdings shrink by ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent. I have funds, but the falling balance keeps me up at night and makes me wonder whether I will need to go back to work after being retired for three years.
• I watch news obsessively and pore through the New York Times as I wake up. This week I added a new ritual, reading obituaries daily to witness the scale and scope of COVID-19. For every name I recognize -- actors, musicians, entertainers, artists, sociologists, doctors -- hundreds, maybe thousands die in anonymity, many surrounded by grieving families, many others alone.
• Pro-corporation pressure groups whisper into the ears of our self-centered president, urging him to reopen business quickly and in defiance of the scientists and healthcare experts in the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Yes, the president extended the stay-at-home edict to April 30, 2020, but I don't trust him. He puts on a costume called Sensible Man and then rips it off as he leaves the podium and returns to his carnival-barker Twitter rants.
• Most disturbing is the twisted algorithm I can see through the scrim. Unlike the painful triage that doctors and nurses face to ration medical care, in 2020 we have financial gurus, profiteers and actuaries betting that corporations are worth more than human lives. Go back to work, they say. Go into stores, they say. Build up the economy, they say. If you contract COVID-19? Well, thanks for taking one for the team.

News stories, history lessons, almanacs, trade reports -- all will attach asterisks to the year 2020. And as we wait for the virus to wreak its havoc and go away, I am writing out the footnotes of those asterisks.

• Let's write the first footnote now. "In 2020, humankind, the economy and human spirit were brought to their knees, ravaged by an invisible virus, the response to which, at least in the U.S., was systematically weakened and dismantled by an intellectually incompetent president and his band of science-hating sycophants." Harsh, but true. 
• Let's add another footnote for good kharma. "In 2020, the indomitable human spirit and untapped store of human ingenuity took hold and unleashed the greatest wave of innovation, social advances and compassion ever seen. Universal health care, public safety nets, reinvestment in science, medical discoveries and overflowing donations, volunteerism and kindness brought the world back from the brink." Yasss! 
• And I can hope for my favorite footnote. "In 2020, Donald Trump was defeated in his bid for re-election in a landslide ouster by a country buoyed by human bravery, compassion and innovation, proving through their votes that they would not stake their lives or their country on the judgment of a grifter and his band of thieves." Good riddance.

Look, I am a risk-averse gal, always have been, and I am not willing to expose myself or my loved ones to the threat of coronavirus. Three weeks ago I went to the grocery store at 6:30am, and by the time I returned to the car, I was panicky about whether I had exposed myself to the virus. Last week my husband assumed the shopping trip and reported half the senior shoppers were wearing masks and gloves. Today, when he went to the grocery store at dawn -- which is, by the way, the new "happy hour" for seniors -- he wore mask and protective gloves.

Locked down inside, I feel the yearning build -- the yearning to walk around the beach, visit the community garden, spend time with my family, shop at the grocery store. For now, I will stick it out at home, socially distancing myself, using videoconferencing to contact friends and protecting myself and others by staying six to ten feet away from other human beings.