When we heard the first news about covid-19, then called “corona virus”, coming from Wuhan province, my sweetie turned to me and said, “It’s the sixth extinction,” and then he turned back to the TV to hear about the latest polls in the Democratic race. And” while I couldn’t name the first five extinctions, I know that the sixth comes after “Reptiles,” and it’s “Mammals” and that’s us. Interesting to look at ourselves as the next failed experiment.
And maybe he’s right and maybe he’s wrong about extinction, but this epidemic is going to stick around as one of those times we’ll remember where we were when we heard about it. Where were you when Apollo 11 landed on the moon? When Obama was elected? When the Kansas City Chiefs won the SuperBowl? It’s one of those times.
Over the next days, and even now, it feels like there’s a tide coming in, each little wave a little closer, lapping at the boundaries of our safety. Our continent, our region, the borders of the state, then our county, then our farm. Little waves of virus lapping closer. And we can’t help but think, well, this might not be the big one but there’s another wave behind it.
But it’s not little waves creeping out from an epicenter. Instead, diseases now can ride on cruise ships. They arrive on airlines. They hop entire oceans. A virus that might have wiped out a tribe along a river now can move through an entire population. And how to stop it? At this point, we’re just guessing.
But, here’s an idea: Let’s treat this disease like an opportunity. By studying its movement, from the victims it selects to the way it spreads from continent to continent, we can learn how to handle the next outbreak. Like, do people who wash their hands for 20 seconds really have a better chance to repel it than those who wash for 10?
And, if it’s really going to cause financial calamity in the stock market, let’s see if the slowdown affects something that counts, like the emission of carbon into the atmosphere that causes climate change. And, if it does, might we re-think our addiction to travel?
Maybe the spread of disease will give us a chance to address the great American addictions. Travel. Spending. Extracting ores and building pollution-creating machines. Isn’t it interesting that this epidemic is being reported in terms of the economy rather than in terms of human suffering? And that POTUS’s most meaningful action has been to demand a lower interest rate?
Since the beginning, Rural Routes has suggested that true security comes in building communities. Buying local, supporting local media, knowing your neighbors, following your home town politics as much as the world’s. It only makes sense to know your own issues and pay attention to what is happening in your town, county and state. Now, stuck at home, we can figure out what resources we have, what’s missing, what to work on.
In Europe, especially northern Europe, an awareness of the carbon footprint for flight has become a thing. Called “Flygskam”, meaning “flight shame,” it has become something like the movement toward meatless meals in US schools. Corporations have sold their fleet of airplanes, are insisting that people find other ways to meet.
Not that driving is better. In fact, the airlines have been putting their minds to efficiency and are giving automobiles a run for their per-mile travel carbon output. Railroads are still the most efficient, but in the US, getting from here to there by train is hard to do. It’s easier, in Europe, to travel by train.
Most efficient is not traveling at all. And that’s what we should be considering. Our nation was built by pioneers, conquering one ecosystem after another. How can we change our deep habit?
As to how the epidemic started, conspiracy theories abound. There’s the it-started-in-a-lab-that-creates-chemical-weapons theory. And there’s the mutant-virus-evolved-in-a-peasant’s-chicken theory. And there’s the how-to-cool-an overheated-economy theory that almost makes sense. In fact, the media started talking about the disease in earnest when it started to affect the stock market. As if the world’s money means more than the world’s health. Well, to our materialistic culture, it does!
A couple of my young friends, being ecosystem-minded, think new diseases like corona, SARS, MERS and the like might be Earth’s way of healing itself from overpopulation. Since elders are the most at risk of death from this particular disease, the kids argue, nature has found a way to de-populate from the least-useful group, the elders.
Pardon me?
As I write this, tourist attractions are shutting down. It looks like the French are taking it seriously, even closing the Louvre. Corporations worldwide are denying international travel for sure and domestic travel for all but emergencies. Conventions have been postponed. Meetings are being skyped instead of traveled to. What if half the flights in the world are canceled? Will it make a difference in the carbon in the atmosphere? We have a chance to see.
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2020
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