So much is going on right now that is depressing, negative, and downright awful. We are on something like day 63 of this shutdown period. Over 2 full months-it went by so fast! At the same time though it sure feels to me like everything has slowed down.
Here are some observations I've had over the past 63 or so days:
- The government has made some fast, good decisions. Getting money into the hands of citizens was good, restrictions on activity to curb the spread was probably good, and being prominent in the news to keep people cognizant of the situation was good.
- The government has made some horrifically inept decisions. Take nursing homes as an example. Nursing homes don't exist in a bubble. Workers are coming and going and no matter how careful they are, the virus was going to get inside the homes. Preventing loved ones from seeing the residents was cruel and inhumane; those residents feed off companionship, knowing their family is there for them, and having their minds eased knowing they, the people least capable of taking care of themselves, are not isolated from humanity.
- The world is a socialistic experiment. You can compare the United States to Sweden in the approach to the virus. Sweden's position is essentially that we trust our citizens to be respectful and careful to limit the spread of the disease, so we are not closing anything. In the United States, the citizens are not trusted enough to act similarly so government forces closures. Even within the United States, and regardless of which perspective you think is correct, different states are taking different approaches to the virus. It is a wonderful display of independence, critical thinking, and invocation of the personal liberties we are afforded under the United States Constitution.
- People are slowing down. This shutdown period has caused people to slow down. In reflection, there has been an appreciation that we were running at a frenetic, crazy pace previously. I don't think slowing down is bad at all and hopefully, we achieve a better balance when things are restored to whatever normal will be.
- There's a better appreciation for who is important. Or, stated a better way, more people are understanding that pop culture people are clowns who are not very important. Actors and athletes are rich. That doesn't make them important and it doesn't make them smart. They're rich because they create significant revenue for their employers through fake storytelling and physical ability. Those qualities are the last qualities I look for in determining whether to lend credibility to a person's opinion. There are private-sector geniuses who should have a more prominent presence in the media, but they don't look sexy and they don't have chiseled physiques that let them throw a football 60 yards or hit a baseball out of the park. Listen to people with brains!
That's my take on the state of affairs. I'm just one guy with an opinion and a perspective. If nothing else, reading this may facilitate you critically assessing your take on where thing are at, and if that happens, then I'd say something good came of this post.
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