CORONAVIRUS: WHEN THE DUST SETTLES

JAZZMAN CHRONICLES:  CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

WHEN THE DUST SETTLES

By Jack Random

When the dust settles, if the dust settles, there will be time for recriminations.  There will be time for blame-seeking and there are plenty of villains in this story who richly deserve their portion of blame.  So much so that anyone remaining in the current administration should face criminal prosecution for their culpability in this deadly coronavirus crisis. 

As important as accountability may seem, however, it is not the first order of business after we bury the dead and mourn their passing.  It is not the second or third order of business.  In fact, after the dust settles it will almost seem irrelevant.  Let the historians grapple with the question of blame.  Let the history books draw the obvious conclusion that this American president was grossly and deliberately negligent in the execution of his fundamental duty to protect the American people. 

The more pressing matter once the dust settles and the dead are placed in their final resting places will be:  How do we reorder society?  How do we restore the social bond?  How do we redefine the relationship between society and government?  How do we rebuild our institutions so that they function in a global crisis?  How do we reinforce those institutions so that no elected president can dismantle them at a whim? 

It is a daunting task that lies before us.  Those who believe we can safely go back to normal have not appreciated the critical nature of this crisis.  More than a game changer, this event is an earth changer.  It fundamentally changes the lives of all human inhabitants on the planet.  Because humans are the dominant species, it alters the lives of all inhabitants from domestic pets to farm animals to wildlife.  In the wake of the coronavirus nothing on earth remains the same. 

I do not pretend to be an expert on social change though I am certainly as qualified as our president.  I offer these concepts not as prescriptions but as topics for discussion.  We will need a great deal of discussion to reach consensus and avoid the kind of deep divisions that could tear the nation apart.  Regardless, whether it comes by peaceful means or by violent eruption, whether it is for better or for worse, change is coming and it will transform every aspect of society. 

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS

The one thing we should be able to agree on is the one thing we cannot agree on due to the political divide.  If we are to begin to reach consensus on the path ahead it must begin here:  The administration of Donald Trump was desperately unprepared for a global pandemic.  The New York Times has chronicled and documented the inadequacies of our national response.  [1]  If you’re a supporter of the president, you may not like the Times but it remains the best and most objective journalism left on the planet after years of bloodletting reporters. 

The president wants us to remember one thing and one thing only:  That he cut off travel to and from China at the end of January.  Had that action been more aggressive (it was compromised) and the first in a series of aggressive actions, we would be witnessing a different story. The story we have is obvious:  The president was more concerned with the stock market, his pending trade deal with China and his reelection campaign than he was with the pandemic. 

Was he warned?  Yes.  Repeatedly.  How did he respond?  He threw a fit and attacked anyone who expressed a different opinion or in any way criticized his actions. 

Our government was deliberately and forcefully unprepared.  This administration fired the agency charged specifically with pandemic preparedness.  This administration cut funding to all health related agencies, including the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization (WHO).  It was not an oversight that allowed our emergency supplies of critical materials, including masks, gloves and respirators, to be depleted; it was the result of deliberate action or willful neglect. 

That the president has announced his decision to cut all funding of the WHO in the midst of an ongoing pandemic is beyond appalling.  It is a crime against humanity. 

The Trump administration’s actions and inactions are derelict of duty and those responsible must be held to account.  In the future, even if it takes a constitutional amendment, we must be fully prepared for such critical events.  We must not allow any administration to attack or diminish that preparedness. 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Traditionally, we have defined the limits of free speech with the example of crying “Fire!” in a cinema.  Americans prize free speech as well we should but too many on the worldwide web as well as Fox News, One America News and other media outlets have abused that freedom to a dangerous degree.  They denied the science behind the danger of the coronavirus.  They presented false evidence that it was nothing more than the common flu.  They encouraged their viewers and/or readers to assert their independence by gathering in large groups, discarding social distancing recommendations and refusing to wear masks or shelter at home.  How many lives have been sacrificed in the name of free speech?  We can be sure it was a significant number.  We can also be sure that there will be and should be great pressure to reign in the dissemination of false and dangerous information at a time of pandemic. 

No American can be pleased with any curtailment of free speech but the irresponsibility of these corporate media entertainment entities masquerading as journalism must have consequences. 

THE END OF PRIVACY

The right to privacy is also a dearly important value in American life.  We have witnessed a constant attack on this right in proportion to the advancement of technology.  Facebook and other social media outlets know more about us than we know about ourselves.  Aldous Huxley warned us about a Brave New World.  Now we are witnessing the transformation of a society that values convenience over all privacy concerns. 

The coronavirus has added a new and critical layer to the assault on privacy.  Once the pandemic took hold, it became necessary to track the person-to-person contacts of all individuals afflicted with the virus.  South Korea developed a program or application to be installed on an individual’s mobile phone.  If all individuals are required to install and activate the app, it is a simple matter to trace all contacts by a given individual. 

There is great pressure to use such an app in America.  Google and Apple are engaged in a joint effort to develop contact tracing technology for mass use.  It would enable us to resume our normal economic activities much sooner.  It is a tradeoff most Americans would make.  The catch is that once the application is installed and used, it will be difficult to disable it when the pandemic threat is over.  We must make every effort to limit such a bold invasion of our privacy and potentially our freedom of movement to the duration of an emergency event. 

ZERO RESET: DEBT CANCELLATION

Nations, individuals, businesses and civic organizations will be confronted with debt levels beyond any we have seen since the Great Depression.  If nations allocate funds to pay down the extraordinary debt it would simply transfer the harm and extend the crippling effect for decades. 

I propose a new approach.  This is an extraordinary event at a time when the planet can least afford it.  We need extraordinary measures to address it.  It will require accepting that fundamentally our global economy is an abstract concept, the invention of brilliant minds but an invention nevertheless.  There was a time when our monetary units were based on the concrete values of gold or silver.  That time is long past.  Now our money is based on a promise, an implied contract governed by a complex set of rules and overseen by institutions that determine monetary policy. 

If all parties agree, we can reset the debt of all nations, all businesses and all individuals at zero.  We can achieve this by simply moving the decimal point in all accounts.  Those with less debt or no debt would be given credit accordingly.  Under the circumstances created by this crisis debt will be so pervasive that nearly all parties should readily agree to comprehensive debt cancellation.  The world economy must be empowered to start over. 

END OF MONEY

This has been coming for a very long time.  Money is dirty.  It is exchanged from person to person.  It is a carrier of disease.  It enables those who operate under or beyond the law.  Even criminals now have an option in crypto currencies on the dark web.  Under normal circumstances advocates of privacy and civil liberties would fight back hard against such measures.  It enables government and financial institutions to know and regulate everything individuals do with their money.  However, these are not normal circumstances.  Money spreads disease.  It must come to an end. 

CONTROL OF THE NET

As a corollary to limits on free speech, the internet is the most prominent disseminator of false information.  We have long resisted all efforts to curtail regulation of content on the worldwide web.  We have always known that false and misguided messages and information have the power to do great harm.  For example, the use of false information from bad actors on the international stage may well have placed the most incompetent individual ever to rise to power in the White House.  During the pandemic the web has hosted rumors that the coronavirus is a hoax created by the Chinese and propagated by the Democrats to damage the president and that the coronavirus is no more dangerous than the common flu.  During a global health crisis there must be a way to eliminate false messages that result in a significant loss of life. 

ROBOTIC WORK FORCE

As presidential candidate Andrew Yang warned us, the robots are coming for our jobs.  After the pandemic it is coming far faster than even he imagined.  Robots do not get and cannot transfer a virus to others.  Robots can continue to produce essential goods and services when humans can no longer safely do so.  Society must find jobs that humans can do at home or in safe working environments.  In the meantime, a guaranteed sustaining income is an excellent idea. 

GLOBAL PROTOCOLS

The American government was not the only government to respond poorly in the early stages of the pandemic when it mattered most.  The Chinese seemed more concerned with their own trade and economic interests than alarming the world that a deadly disease was headed their way.  There were early reports of a strange new coronavirus in Wuhan province but they abruptly ended when the alarm should have been sounded.  Indications are the Chinese government ordered their epidemiologists to cut off communications to their colleagues around the world. [2]

This should never happen again.  We cannot trust an authoritarian government to place its own interests above the interests of the world on matters of global health.  There must be stern and punishing consequences for such unconscionable behavior. 

SHARED SCIENCE

When medical research and development is placed in the hands of private profit-motivated corporations the only incentive is to protect useful knowledge and innovation, including medicines and vaccinations, from all others.  While the profit motive may be powerful in pushing research forward, withholding critical information from general knowledge in a time of pandemic is deadly.  It is supremely unethical.  When lives are at stake, knowledge must be shared in the interest of the human race. 

NURSING HOMES

With this deadly virus victimizing so many nursing homes and senior facilities, it is time to rethink how we treat our elders.  There is no easy solution here.  As an elder, I would rather be in my own home or the home of my loved ones for as long as humanly possible.  In light of what has happened in our old folks homes, we must ask ourselves:  Is it really wise to concentrate the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens in relatively confined and restricted spaces?  We must find a new way. 

HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

One of the first things I noticed as the pandemic guidelines began to take effect is that the emergency rooms at the local hospital had fewer visitors.  The last place you want to be with a highly contagious virus on the loose is anyplace where sick people gather.  I’ve heard reports that the local clinics and urgent care centers were turning down people and sending anyone with flu symptoms straight to the hospital. 

It has become clear that neither our clinics nor our hospitals are designed to respond effectively to a pandemic.  Hospitals have made adjustments as we go along.  They need to be able to separate those who might be infectious from those who have other health concerns.  Clearly, the entire system needs to be rethought and redesigned.  This will require massive funding. 

REMOTE VOTING

Enabled by a Supreme Court decision, Republicans in the Badger state of Wisconsin gave their citizens a grim choice:  Participate in democracy and risk your life or stay home and stay safe.  No one should ever have to face this choice again.  All elections must be by mail only until technology is sufficiently developed to protect the ballot in online voting. 

WORKING AT HOME

Many Americans who work in non-essential jobs have continued working at home during this pandemic.  Many have become familiar with online tools for communicating with their fellow workers.  This trend is compelling and will continue. 

FARMWORKERS

During an epidemic it is critical to maintain essential services.  Beyond the healthcare industry and the traditional first responders, the food chain begins not only with farmers but with farmworkers.  It is time to recognize that we need farmworkers especially in a time of crisis.  We need to protect them from illness by providing gloves, masks and sanitizers.  We need to value them by granting them citizenship and paying them decent wages.  During a pandemic they deserve hazard pay. 

VIRTUAL SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

In the wake of the pandemic, the viability of large-audience events, including concerts, plays, cinema, dance and sporting events, is in question.  It will certainly be a long time before such events are allowed again.  If they are allowed, they will have to be phased in and those who wish to attend will have to be warned of the experimental nature of large-group gatherings.  It may well be that such events will not be permitted until an effective vaccine has been developed. 

In the long run I believe that large gatherings will give way to smaller venues.  Eventually, as technology advances, sports and entertainment may become virtual events.  We will still need actors and athletes as the basis of virtual recreations but the events themselves will be virtual.  Art museums and galleries may also become virtual.  The phenomena of virtual viewing is already in process and is becoming more realistic all the time.  The development of virtual gathering and audience participation will come soon. 

These are but a handful of the changes that are coming.  We are in the beginning stages of what Huxley called a Brave New World.  It is up to us to engage the process of transformation so that the changes are not as destructive of individual freedom and civil liberties as Huxley and fellow visionary George Orwell foresaw. [3, 4]

We have not yet defeated the coronavirus.  All efforts must now be concentrated at slowing its deadly spread and mitigating the harm.  We must all do our part in this battle.  We must maintain social distancing, wear face coverings and honor the call to stay at home as much as humanly possible not only for our own health and well-being but for the safety of all.  Indeed, we must do what we can for the survival of our species. 

When an effective vaccine is developed and disseminated to the world, we must be ready for the changes to come. 

1. “He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus.”  By Eric Lipton, David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman, Michael D. Shear, Mark Mazzetti and Julian E. Barnes.  New York Times, April 11, 2020. 

2.  “China is Avoiding Blame by Trolling the World.”  By Shadi Hamid.  The Atlantic, March 19, 2020. 

3.  Brave New World.  Aldous Huxley.  Chatto & Windus 1932.

4.  1984.  George Orwell.  Secker & Warburg 1949. 

JACK RANDOM (AKA, RAY MILLER) IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES, A SERIES OF COMMENTARIES ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS.  HE HAS WRITTEN NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, POETRY, ESSAYS AND CHILDREN’S STORIES.