Just about anything we say, Tweet, Facebook, Instagram or write these days is obsolete as soon as the letters hit the screen. So it’s a dilemma when it comes to writing a column: Will coronavirus even be a thing by the time you read this? Will the Democrats be done with nominations and the nominee have a female running mate? Will this gloomy weather have cleared, the ozone hole closed, climate change solved?
It’s more important than ever to avoid predictions, so let’s just go with what we’ve learned. First of all, we’ve learned to take a contagious disease seriously. COVID-19 is getting more attention than any of the flus, which kill more people, but spread more slowly, and it’s gotten more attention than the common cold which, again, kills more people when it morphs from “common” to something like pneumonia. The act of following COVID-19 internationally and putting all the world’s medical systems in touch with each other has probably saved more lives than anything else we’ve done. Maybe we’re learning things we can use in fighting future, and inevitable, epidemics. Hope so.
Next lesson: When there’s a test available, use it! There was a German test that the World Health Organization (WHO) distributed within a few weeks of the first outbreak. A little cumbersome, not as accurate as what would follow, but, hey, it was ready to ramp up. In the US, nothing was ready to make a better test, so we waited. POTUS, of course, didn’t (and still may not) believe in the virus, so he didn’t use his well-honed tweeting practice to put a fire under the Center for Disease Control (CDC). And the virus had time to spread.
Good news: We’re learning to look at the victims of disease as fellow travelers on an increasingly small planet. Finally, our lawmakers are beginning to pay attention to the inequalities and lack of care for the poor. If the homeless population gets sick, where can they go for testing? How can they pay for cures? Where can they wash their hands? And if poor kids are getting their meals at school, and the schools close, then what? Are American kids starving? Are soup kitchen volunteers at risk?
Other good news: While the WHO has no doubt followed the spread of diseases globally, this is the first time most of the public has been aware of any organized tracking system. Could we generate the same excitement, tracking climate change on a global scale? Could we generate the same excitement, tracking carbon emissions? Or migration from one war-torn or disease-ridden area to another?
And, we’re learning about the economy. OK, like you, I’m disgusted when POTUS gets in the TV set with a little counter in the bottom corner of the screen that shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average going up as he speaks. What a moronic symbol of power! As businesses crash in our towns, and the working poor, just hanging on by their fingernails, lose their grip, it doesn’t matter what the Dow does.
But the economy is important, and even the DJIA has an impact on ordinary lives. Retirement accounts are affected. College savings programs. Church endowments. Funding for non-profits. And, for our everyday lives: If we can’t buy something, or get rid of something, because supply chains are disrupted somewhere, like China, we become more interested in how transportation works. And, how it affects the planet. And what’s necessary or not.
It has become abundantly clear that America needs our own sources of important supplies. I’m talking toilet paper, and lumber, and blankets, and tires, and potatoes. And whatever else is on your shopping list, whether for the week or the year. We’re learning (or re-learning) the importance of local production and local systems. Where does your town’s recycling go? Where does the garbage go?
And, where, I must ask, does your food come from? If this pandemic seriously makes us think about something, it should be the food supply because whether you avoid the sickness or not, you and your family and friends will eat. If you shop at your farmers’ market, you know how to stock up in season. You have a freezer full of meat and vegetables, some prepared and some raw ingredients. If you keep a garden, or even a few hens, you’re even luckier.
Here’s the best lesson: We’ve acquired the courage to tell people it’s OK to stay home. As one young friend said, “Our grandparents were called to war. We’re called to sit on the couch. We can do this.” As you’ve seen appointments and meetings canceled one after another, you’ve perhaps had a little rush of relief, even though you miss your friends. Free time! Time to read a book! Find some Henry David Thoreau: “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” And, yes, that goes for women also. And, “Nature is as well adapted to our weakness as to our strength.”
So, read something, and learn from this event. And, help our communities be strong.
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 15, 2020
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