Yesterday, March 4, Leslie went to see her hairdresser for the first time in months. She has received her first shot of the Moderna vaccine and is scheduled for the second on March 14. The hairdresser, whom I’ll call Jane, had gotten both. She is fully inoculated, so when she phoned this afternoon with the news that she had tested positive for COVID19, Leslie was unpleasantly surprised. So was I. She will now have to be tested, but because the test isn’t accurate immediately after exposure, she must wait till Tuesday or Wednesday to have it done. Meanwhile, she has to quarantine herself, wear a mask even inside the house, and keep at least six feet away from me, although I, too, am fully inoculated — for whatever that’s worth. Apparently not as much as we had thought.
I relate this domestic anecdote to underline, italicize, and emphasize that for a long while yet vaccinations are not going to catapult all of us back to normality. This disease is called the Novel Corona Virus not because it’s an extended prose narrative but because it hadn’t been seen before its appearance in, roughly, January, 2019. Scientists and medical experts have learned a lot about it since then, but by no means everything. It’s full of nasty surprises, mutating into variants that spread more rapidly and severely than the original, infecting people, like Jane, who think that vaccination has made them bullet-proof.
I ponder this as I read and hear about the governors of Texas and Mississippi lifting all restrictions in their states, including mask mandates and requirements to maintain social distancing. The war’s over! These moves, which, count on it, will be copied by other state governments, have been cheered by the nation’s ignoramus faction — generally the same people who still believe that the 2020 election was stolen by the Democrats — and lauded in the conservative media. The Wall Street Journal, whose editorial and oped pages are to unbridled capitalism as Pravda and Izvestia were to Soviet communism, ran an editorial in this morning’s edition scorning President Biden’s characterization of the above governors as “Neanderthals.” The paper’s argument is that Democrats want the COVID crisis to be perpetual, using it to “expand the welfare state.” Public Health experts have warned that the vaccine rollout ought not to be an excuse to lower our guard until the pandemic is fully contained. But these experts are the despised elite, part of the cabal seeking to cripple the economy so the welfare state can emerge triumphant.
This is nonsense, of course. But in a country where millions believe that liberals drink the blood of children, among other atrocities, it is too much to expect common sense to prevail. Nevertheless, I’ll throw out this idea: mandating that masks be worn in public and that people practice social distancing does not force restaurants, bars, stores, and other businesses to shut their doors. Those sorts of restrictions, as opposed to lockdowns, do not gravely effect economic activity; but if they are not followed, you may be assured that infection rates will surge, ICU’s will become overcrowded, and medical staffs extended to the breaking point, all of which will result in lockdowns. In so many words, the governors of Texas and Mississippi, among other state leaders, aren’t lifting restrictions for economic reasons; their motives are political. As Paul Krugman phrased it in the New York Times, “Refusing to wear a mask has become a badge of political identity, a barefaced declaration that you reject liberal values like civic responsibility and belief in science.”
Are we becoming, if we’re not there already, an ungovernable country?
Logic dictates (some would say common sense), that one ought not call a politician if you need emergency dental work.
Except my friend, “police powers” were specifically reserved for the States. Oh, I know, this is a pandemic, special circumstances, etc., but once the precedent is established, it becomes a slippery slope. I’m waiting to see how those people refusing to be vaccinated are going to be delt with..
For a guy who was on the dirty end of the Vietnam War, you are surprisingly accepting of big government. Stay safe.
Phil: Don’t you even catch a little bit of condescension in the liberal line, i.e.: we know better than you what is best for your wellbeing . . . you Neanderthal, and don’t you think some of the negative reaction is borne out of this arrogance?
If a passenger in my car refuses to fasten his or her seatbelt, and I say, fasten it, you’re risking your life, am I being a snooty liberal who knows better than my passenger what is best for his/her well-being? Regarding the virus, my logic is as follows: When virtually every public health expert in the country presents evidence that wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and observing basic hygiene like hand washing reduces the transmission rate, and that eliminating these restrictions increases it, I take them at their word. I did not go to medical school, I have no experience with treating communicable diseases, no expertise in public health; common sense therefore tells me that I should listen to the advice of those with the training and knowledge. I see no condescension, no arrogance in expecting others do likewise. When people like Gov. Abbott of Texas blithely and prematurely reopen their states to make a political point, their thinking can be fairly characterized as Neanderthal, not to mention irresponsible.
Hello ,I enjoyed the wisdom of column.its too bad many who oppose masking, vaccines, are rightb out of a joseph wambaugh novel, with big doses of harlan ellison characters mixed in.Both,one a crime fiction,the other (deceased ) a memorable horror,and crime writer, are very worth looking into,if you don’t know of them !!
I am so sorry Phil. Will this never end?
Thank you for this. Passed on to friends.
The upside of the Neanderthal mentality is that every time one dies, the average national IQ goes up a tick.
As Leslie observed, calling these people Neanderthals does a disservice to Neanderthals.
To your suggestion that we may have become an ungovernable country, it would seem Chris Hedges struck the nail squarely in this observance of cyclical evolution of civil unrest and social conflict:
https://youtu.be/7z2Gns6G0LM
Leslie shall make it. She has seen bears in wilderness.
Wishing the best for Leslie and you LT. Is’n’t life strange? Your post was good food for thought ,and certainly highlights the need for any sensible people left that the Neanderthals must be corralled!