What I find most incredible is all the concessions the ruling class are making out of nowhere. No more rent, no more evictions, no more debt! It's happening everywhere. I read that Spain has nationalised the all of its private hospitals. I read that the State of California is buying up hotels and motels just to get homeless people off the streets to stop them from spreading this. Sick pay for everyone. Even US Republicans are calling for universal basic income! Everyone can work from home. Or even just not work at all.
I don't think people are going to forget about all these "temporary" measures when it the time does come to go back to normal. All the things we've been told are impossible, it turned out they were possible at the drop of a hat all along. I mean, we've been talking about housing crises for years - now we see that the state could end that overnight if it wanted? It was that easy to just get rid of rent and buy up all the hotels for homeless people? Even look at how much emissions have fallen in this time. We've been screaming about a climate emergency for decades and the powers that be have acted like there's nothing we can do. Nobody will be able to believe that anymore.
To be fair, if the government tried any of this stuff without a pandemic hanging over us, there would be a revolt. Ordinary people want to be busy, and they want people who don't want to be busy to have a low standard of living. When this is over, there will be more homeless people than ever, and emissions might be a bit lower than they were, because some people keep working from home.
When the quarantines came down, I was thinking, when the infection rate drops, life will go back to normal, and the virus will rise again. Where I was wrong was thinking of this as a failure. This article on New Zealand's strategy explains how it's actually a good way to manage the pandemic, by breaking it into smaller waves. As long as hospitals are not overwhelmed, we should call it a win.
On a personal note, this reddit thread on mental health under quarantine is full of self-identified introverts who suddenly crave going out and doing things. I have not reached the bottom of my introversion, and don't ever expect to. I used to fantasize about solitary confinement, but one thing I've learned from this is that I need to walk in nature, so now I fantasize about living at the edge of some wilderness, and having everything I need delivered, so walking in nature is the only reason I go outside.
]]>I have two teenagers and life pre-March 2020 was feeling a little out of control, like we were speeding to the end of parenthood at a million miles an hour. Most of my life lately has been driving everyone everywhere and the lack of quality time was starting to feel like a real loss. So having this pause has been really nice, to spend time playing card games, watching old favorite movies, etc. Watching them trying to find the positive when they're facing significant teenage losses of prom, grad ceremonies, AP exams, etc. As they've moved from their own self-absorbed losses to concern for their community, friends and family - it's like watching them grow up in a significant and profound way.
The death rate depends heavily on availability of fairly sophisticated medical care. 10-20% of patients get very sick and need medical support. 5% are critically ill and need ICU care in order to pull through. So if the virus is allowed to "pass through us" without social distancing, quarantines and lockdowns, what you naturally end up with is a huge number of severe cases hitting the hospitals in a short period. Where those medical systems are strained to breaking, you can assume the death rate would be at least 5% and could potentially get as high as 10-15%
I saw a study, among Americans, that my "let it ride" attitude is typical among Republicans, while Democrats want to make any sacrifice to save any life. Which is ironic, because it's mostly old people, who mostly vote Republican, who are in danger.
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