Thoughtless Patriot?

I have to be honest. I used to go to work when I had the flu. I never stayed home unless I was really ill—which was seldom. I’d load up on an OTC medication and gut it out on the job. I had ample sick leave, yet I’d infrequently use it. Sick leave was for the really ill people.

I never gave any thought to the numbers of people I might have infected. I don’t know if any of them became seriously ill, required hospitalization, or died. I’ve thought about that a lot lately.

When I was in K-12, we never stayed home unless we were seriously ill. Flu shots didn’t exist. We had aspirin, Tylenol, and cough medicines. If we were really sick, we might—might—get a Hot Toddy (here). My parents weren’t too thrilled about giving us whiskey in any form.

Being honest, again, I never realized the connection between my personal liberty and public health authorities who recommended staying home if you were sick with the flu. Then again, I was never ordered by the government to stay at home. And I never had to choose between honoring a government stay at home order and the loss of my economic livelihood.

Now that I’m retired, staying at home is not a big deal. I do that a lot, even when I’m not ill. Being honest, yet again, staying at home for weeks and months borders on the painful. I’ve come to understand and detest cabin fever.

Pre-COVID-19, I never wore a mask. I only wore gloves if I wanted to avoid dirty hands when detailing my car or working with a septic system—gross. I make a determined effort to socially distance, but not everyone I’m near does likewise. Now, I wear a mask when I leave the house. I used to wear gloves too, but more recent advice from public health authorities advises frequent hand washing as an alternative.

I can’t find N95 masks. I don’t wear goggles. I don’t even own a face shield. I realize when I wear a mask it’s to protect others from me rather than the other way around. In fact, we’re convinced we had COVID-19 between November 24^th and January 15^th. We had all of the symptoms. We couldn’t get rid of the thing. It really knocked us on our collective rear. If we’re right, and if we now have immunity, I’m uncertain why I wear a mask or socially distance. A test might help here. Especially one with a small error rate. Having the public health authorities confirm that there is COVID-19 immunity would be good. The lack of testing and information is a serious problem.

We have a financial planner. We have Social Security, a small pension, and 401-Ks. Most of my adult life, Social Security has been in trouble with dire long-term forecasts of insolvency. Our 401-K is largely, but not entirely, invested in the stock market which is a yo-yo these days. We do face some threat to our financial security, but until our financial planner screams “fire,” we’re coping. It helps that we’re holding off on withdrawals from our 401-K until circumstances improve.

I guess what I’m saying is this: I’ve survived all prior public health warnings and emergencies, although nothing on the scale of the Spanish Flu. I’m as secure financially as a person who’s not a billionaire could be these days. There are many who face greater danger and uncertainty. I often ask myself how I would feel, how I would conduct myself if this were not the case for us.

This past December, I read a newspaper article about the plight of our dairy farmers. One farmer’s plight in particular broke my heart. Things have not improved for dairy farmers with school and restaurant closures. The possibility of losing a multi-generation family business must be a frightening prospect. To be the generation that lost it all must be gut wrenching. What could be worse, or more humbling, than not being able to meet your family’s food security needs? Try as I may to walk in their shoes, it really is a less than real-life simulation.

Starting in January, we started to help this dairy farmer family. Our effort is modest—$100 each month. It could be argued that our own financial circumstances make this effort unwise. We think otherwise. We’ll continue.

There’s the old aphorism about a chicken, a pig, and their respective contribution to breakfast: For the chicken, the egg for breakfast is a best effort. For the pig it’s a commitment. It’s not lost on me that I’m only the chicken.

As foreign as the demonstrations to break state stay at home orders are to me, I do understand this act of civil disobedience for anyone whose economic livelihood is at risk. Let me cite the one example I return to time and again: Civil disobedience to obtain a haircut or nail job originally seemed extreme, maybe unjustifiable. HOWEVER, on the other side of a haircut or a nail job is a service worker for whom an income is everything. Same thing for tour bus drivers. Same thing for casino workers. The list is very long.

History is always instructive. Historians tell us that to ignore history is to repeat the failures of the past.

The Spanish Flu of 1918 came in two waves. In the first, public health officials issued stay at home orders. If you couldn’t earn, you didn’t eat. Maybe okay for you, but certainly not your spouse or children. Then, too, civil disobedience won the day. Restrictions levied in the best interest of public health were dismantled. By the second wave in the fall of 1918, public health authorities tried to reimpose stay at home orders and wearing of masks. They failed. State and local government authorities simply didn’t have the stomach to go through this exercise a second time.

We will repeat this failure of the past—and for many of the same reasons. Most U.S. citizens didn’t perish due to the Spanish Flu. It is estimated 1% to 2% of population succumbed. For the U.S. that would be one to two million U.S. citizens. A similar outcome today? Three to six million citizens. But if COVID-19 is more transmissible, more deadly, the numbers will certainly be higher.

I might have COVID-19 antibodies. I might not. I might have immunity. I might not. Even if I do, I’m not comfortable re-establishing my now diminished lifestyle. And, I’m not alone. Yes, some will party hard, because that’s their right. Some businesses will be there to welcome them, because that’s their right.

History tells us what might happen. Yet, like 1918, we are helpless, maybe unwilling, and maybe unable to provide everyone food and economic security until vaccines are available and therapeutics are really effective—especially for the really young and the really elderly. 

The late Winston Churchill once observed about us, to paraphrase: As Americans we will try everything else before finally doing the right thing. “Everything else” may mean a disastrous autumn with COVID-19.

Copyright 2020, Howard D. Weiner