Current Events

COVID-19 and our future

We don’t know what the future holds, but we can begin to plan it now. This is the time for us to think about what we want our world to look like when COVID-19 has become history. Our society is already being transformed by this crisis. Here’s how we can seize this moment as an opportunity for positive change.

A GREEN NEW DEAL

FDR got America back to work during the Great Depression with the New Deal. With millions out of work, and undoubtedly  more to come, we can give workers the skills and training they need to work in one of the most promising growth fields in our country – Green Power. American factories can be retooled to produce solar panels, greener vehicles, and all of the supporting manufacturing behind components for these and other energy initiatives. Federal support, vision and initiative will be key to making this transformation.

INFRASTRUCTURE UPKEEP

Growth in Green Power also requires that America’s infrastructure – so long neglected – receive urgent attention. Parts, panels, and other outputs of a green economy will still require safe and effective road, rail, waterway, and utility networks. Aging water pipes and treatment plants, failing bridges, and neglected dams all need to receive priority attention. Putting Americans back to work on these urgently needed projects can get our economy going again, and aid us all by making our transportation and utility systems ready for the 21st century.

INTERNET AS A UTILITY

Continuing public education during the pandemic was stymied by the lack of internet access by many of its students. As thousands of teachers and other adults working from home discovered, home internet bandwidth is often insufficient for simultaneous needs of the entire family.

The pandemic made it necessary for all to have access to telehealth, online banking, and online shopping tools, as well as access to computers to file unemployment or other forms of aid. Those without access to these tools found themselves delaying seeking medical assistance, unable to pay bills, and unable to file for critically needed unemployment benefits.

If everyone had equal access to the internet at speeds which would support such activities, many in our nation might still be able to work, have their children engaged in school, and provide for their families, even if only by filing for government aid.

WORKING FROM HOME

Industries and governments that never thought they would have need for remote worksites or telecommuting found that was the only way they could continue business operations during the prolonged closures of the pandemic. Meetings took place via Zoom, cloud computing became imperative, and thousands learned new online collaborative tools.

One of the real-world benefits of the mass work-from-home effort included deserted roadways. Overnight, traffic congestion and hour-long daily commutes vanished. In about a month, emissions in much of the continental United States decreased by around twenty percent. With this kind of immediate improvement in emissions, imagine what could be possible if most Americans continued to work from home on a regular basis. The coronavirus epidemic could mark the beginning of a sudden, active, and impactful way for us to begin to turn the corner on climate change.

A LIVING WAGE

More than one worker pointed out the irony of being deemed part of the “essential” workforce, while making minimum wage. Those individuals working in non-medical fields but who were nevertheless dubbed “front-line workers” during the crisis included custodians, clerks, fast-food workers, delivery drivers, and grocery store employees. Their “essential” jobs also put them at greater risk for contracting and spreading the virus. One dedicated grocery store worker, Leilani Jordan, of Largo, Maryland, died at age 27 after contracting the virus. She resisted her mother’s pleas to stop working, insisting that her work was an urgent imperative to help others in her community, especially the elderly and disabled. Surely these workers who have provided needed services to us all, and are working in the one area of our economy that has remained open for business, have proven that they deserve a better wage for the important services they provide.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Perhaps no other need is as obvious as universal health care. Early in the pandemic, some Americans did not seek testing or treatment, because they had no insurance, or faced expensive deductibles or co-pays. In fact, many had financial incentives to both remain sick – and remain at work, a risk to themselves and others. Universal health care could have aided in a quick response to the pandemic, and would support health rather than profiting off of illness like our current system of private insurance, which creates financial incentives to encourage and delay treatment. The best way for us to position ourselves as a nation to respond to the next public health crisis is to ensure that all Americans have easy and affordable access to quality health care at every stage of their lives.

ELIMINATING HEALTH DISPARITIES

As the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths grew, an alarming trend became apparent: African Americans were more likely to die from COVID-19 than their white counterparts. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although blacks make up 26% of the city’s population, 81% of the COVID-19 deaths were among African Americans. Milwaukee, unlike other cities, had already explicitly called-out and identified racism as a public health risk in 2019, and they took the initiative in documenting coronavirus cases by race, something that remains missing from the national numbers.

VOTING REFORM

The recent debacle in Wisconsin – where citizens literally risked their lives to vote, with the blessing and encouragement of the United States Supreme Court – points out the urgent necessity to modernize our elections. We must seize this moment to broaden the electorate and eliminate the increased barriers to voting that have been erected in recent years. In the midst of a pandemic, legitimate alternative methods of voting must be implemented, protected, and welcomed. Most states have such measures already in place, but options such as voting by mail, paper ballots, and absentee ballots are held in disfavor. No one’s vote should go uncounted, just because the method by which it is cast is inconvenient for the state. Full participation by all eligible voters is the foundation of our democracy.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Planning and preparing for a disaster is never a popular subject, and it is easy to defer action. “We’ll get to it later;” “we can’t afford it right now;” “it’s not urgent at this time” are common refrains. COVID-19 shows that the time to prepare for a disaster is before one happens. Planning is critical. Granted, the scale of COVID-19 is unprecedented in our lifetimes – but effective planning – from medical stockpiles to response – is critical to enabling a swift and nimble response to a national crisis.

FUND WHO, NIH, CDC

Likewise, consistently, reliably, and responsibly funding national and international health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) should never be questioned. Understaffing, underfunding, and undersupply have the capacity to create a crisis where there is none – and will have catastrophic consequences when there is an urgent, sudden need demanding immediate action.

A GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS

The mechanisms of the Federal government exist to serve the people, not the politicians. The so-called safety net will be strained, and likely broken. Government will find it necessary to shed employees just like other sectors of the economy – just when its services are most needed. The long wait times for unemployment, for instance, will only get worse, and government employees are needed to make the system work. Shrinking the government at this time is like asking a starving man to cinch up his belt while asking him win a weightlifting competition. This is no time to cut back; there is heavy lifting ahead. Government aid programs will be needed by our citizenry more than ever, and we need to support these programs with finances and personnel.

MAKE AMERICA KIND AGAIN

The politicians in Washington, DC may not have recognized this yet, but many Americans have. Ordinary Americans are finding new ways to connect, support each other, and find hope, laughter and joy in the midst of this pandemic. All of us have learned in new ways that we are all connected, and we are all in this together. COVID-19 doesn’t care about my patriotism or my political party. It doesn’t care if I’m liberal or conservative, immigrant or native-born. There is a deep recognition that we all must come together to do our part, and it is only through togetherness – our shared responsibility and commitment to each other as friends, neighbors, and community members – that we can keep each other safe, encouraged, and comforted.

LOOKING BACK, FROM THE FUTURE

To be sure, these are “uncertain times.” COVID-19 has brought disruption to every aspect of our lives. Daily life has already become vastly different than what it was only a few months ago. Undoubtedly this is a transformative moment in our history. Moving forward, we can choose what the future looks like. Let’s choose wisely, and make this world, our country, and our communities better places for all who call it home.

Seeking solace in History

It times of national crisis, my immediate personal reaction is always to look back to history for strength, comfort, and confidence.

When September 11, 2001 happened, I immediately thought, “This must be what Pearl Harbor was like.” Peace, routine life – then suddenly attack, death, catastrophe, shock, anger, grief, and overwhelming uncertainty, all in the space of less than an hour.

At the time, I was living in Kansas, and I thought, too, of the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas, on August 1, 1862. People had begun their early morning chores, when gunfire and hoofbeats were heard at the edge of town, rapidly coming closer. Fire erupted at the Eldridge House hotel, and businesses and homes were likewise quickly engulfed in flames. Guerilla leader William Quantrill and his raiders had arrived, seeking vengeance on the town that had served as the epicenter of the Free-State movement in Kansas. I vividly recall reading an account by a woman who saved her husband from fire and execution by hiding him in a rolled-up carpet, hauled out of her burning home and tossed in with some of her evacuated belongings. In just a few hours, over 150 men and boys of the town had been executed, and community was in flames. The population of widows and orphans, many of them now homeless as well, swelled dramatically in just a space of a couple of hours. What had begun as an ordinary day quickly transformed into one of unimaginable loss and grief for this small community. The survivors were devastated.

Contemplating Pearl Harbor and the Lawrence Massacre helped me know that people of the past had been through similar catastrophes and shock like our nation was experiencing on September 11. Like them, in the moment of the time, all that lay ahead was unclear and uncertain. But collectively, we came through it.

It is easy when looking back at history to think that the outcome was secure. We all know how the story ends. Like reading the last chapter in a book or seeing the final episode of a TV series, and knowing everything will work out in the end. But history is important because it teaches me that all of these crises moments of the past were never certain or sure for the people who lived through them. Would Lawrence rebuild? Would the US Navy recover? Could we even successfully fight a war, when equipment, manufacturing, supplies, and personnel were not yet on a fully-operational wartime footing? Now we know the answers. Then, they did not.

Which brings me to today’s historic moment, as we are living it. Full of uncertainty, grief, and sorrow. What gives me comfort and strength is knowing that others before me endured similar circumstances, that seemed equally uncertain at the time. Front of mind for me is the tragedy of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, which bears many similarities to today.

I also think of the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tennessee. It was short-lived but deadly. In two months, over 5,000 people died, and in the space of two weeks, 25,000 residents had fled the city. The financial and population impacts were so great, the City of Memphis had its charter revoked in 1879.

The story of the epidemic is told in great detail by John McLead Keating, in a book published just a year after the tragedy. The cause of yellow fever was not medically understood at the time, and mosquitoes rapidly transmitted the disease from one infected person to another. Memphians were fighting a vicious but unidentifiable and ill-understood enemy. Numerous medical doctors, nurses, and family members stayed behind to care for the sick, and many of them died. The yellow fever epidemic impacted Memphis dramatically for years to come, but then, as now, fear of this unknown disease and its enormous human toll set the population on edge.

What history teaches me is that although this moment may feel unique – it is not. I take comfort in knowing that Others Before Me have encountered similar experiences, with just as much fear and uncertainty. Somehow, some way, they made it through, despite grief, loss, fear and sadness. Despite economic hardship, food insecurity, and powerless politicians. Collectively, they made it through. And so will we.

Related posts:

We’ve Been Here Before, Folks – reflections on COVID-19 and the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.

We’ve been here before, folks

In times of major national crises, I turn to history to bring me comfort.

When Sept. 11 happened, I immediately thought of events of the past that must have been equally catastrophic and unbelievable to those who lived through them. And yet, when all seemed uncertain, when the losses and chaos and catastrophe seemed just too much to bear, somehow, the people of the past and our nation endured.

So I find myself at the same place, today. Reflecting on history, considering what it must have been like for those who lived through it, and taking solace, hope, and comfort from that fact. Two events are front of mind for me these days, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, I’ll write about the first, the great influenza pandemic of 1918.

Flu epidemic of 1918

First, of course, is the influenza epidemic of 1918, also known as the “Spanish flu”. Like COVID-19, it was a worldwide pandemic which spread rapidly, overwhelmed medical resources, and killed thousands. It came on suddenly, raged fiercely, then abated.

To get a closer look at what this must have been like in one American city, I looked at newspapers from Nashville, Tennessee, where my grandparents and great-grandparents were living at the time. What I learned was that what we are experiencing today is nothing new. It is only new in our own lifetimes.

On October 1, 1918, the Nashville newspapers were reporting on cases throughout the state, particularly in the military camps. Especially noteworthy was news from Fort Oglethorpe, near Chattanooga, just over the border in Georgia, where many Tennesseans were sent for their basic training. The director of the Tennessee Board of Health urged the public to take precautions, including not using pencils handled by others, avoiding kissing of the “nonessential type”, avoiding crowds, and urging strict isolation for those who were ill. (Tennessean, Oct. 1, 1918)

Concerns among the public began to grow, as rumors about an outbreak and quarantine at the Old Hickory Powder Plant spread throughout the city. Health authorities countered that this was just a rumor, and besides, the flu spread so rapidly that a quarantine, at this point, would be useless. The work at the powder plant must continue, and needless panic caused by unsubstantiated rumors helped no one. (Tennessean, Oct. 4, 1918)

Nevertheless, by October 8, Nashville hospitals were nearing capacity, and city and state health authorities closed theaters, parks, schools and churches. Ten days later, the number of cases entering hospitals had slowed, and by November 3, life in Nashville had almost returned to normal. Bans on public gatherings were lifted, and movie theaters and playhouses were back to capacity crowds.

In slightly more than a month, influenza deaths in Nashville proper neared 400, out of an estimated 40,000 cases.Another 10,000 cases were reported at the Old Hickory Powder Plant, with a little over 250 deaths. The epidemic had come, raged, and abated, in scarcely less than 45 days.

Learn more:


Influenza 1918, documentary from American Experience

Influenza Encyclopedia: The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: A Digital Encyclopedia from the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine. Includes entries on 50 American cities, and much more.

The Deadly Virus: The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 from the National Archives.