Nature’s Masterpiece Has Exposed Every American Flaw
There are so many unique, incredible parts of nature that it gets dizzying trying to think of them all. From the fact that more than 80% of our oceans are unexplored to realizing we have only an elementary knowledge of our own brains, it’s hard to wrap our minds around how large and complex our world is. Despite all of that, the coronavirus has bested them all. Nature’s evolutionary masterpiece, and something beyond the wildest dreams of Darwin himself, has served humans the biggest slice of humble pie imaginable.
Before going much further, I want to make it exceedingly clear that I am NOT a fan of this monstrosity, nor do I believe we should say “may the best man win” and let it spread wildly through the population. However, once we finally have it under control, either through vaccines or treatments, and can take a moment to look back, I believe our jaws will drop in horrified awe.
Let’s first go back to the origin of the virus itself. I personally do not believe that COVID is a bioweapon (and all that scientists know so far reinforces that belief), but the astounding coincidence that the lab in Wuhan (which is one of a few dozen in the entire world) is a leading authority in bat coronaviruses makes me pause. I could understand if it accidentally got out of the lab since there are so many asymptomatic cases and it transmits so easily, but that is significantly different than engineering a “killer virus”. That being said, there is no scientific evidence of this, and there are many rare traits that the virus has, such as: a lack of any known RNA backbone to use when studying the virus, the fact that all analysis shows it should not be able to bind to receptors in human cells as well as it should, and that it may enter the bloodstream when it damages the lungs (normal coronaviruses, even those as extreme as SARS, do not enter the blood). Nonetheless, that’s a very technical description, and people have clung to this belief like a security blanket. People want a scapegoat, and, sadly, they will stoop to referring to the virus with racist nicknames to try find one. If you add in China’s secrecy and President Trump’s lies about how it started, you get the first flaw that COVID exposed: loss of trust in authority.
The second flaw stems from America’s response (or lack thereof) that was directed by Donald Trump. While no administration official will ever admit to this, and you can say it’s just my opinion, the preponderance of the evidence suggests that Trump’s original goal was to completely cover up the danger of the virus and to artificially keep the case numbers low by not providing adequate amounts of testing. Why would he do this? Well, at the time of this all happening, the economy was still strong. This was practically the only thing he had going for himself and his re-election chances, so he certainly did not want to do anything to jeopardize the stock market (which is pathetically skittish and overdramatic to the tiniest bit of bad news in a good economy) or economy as a whole. But, like they always say in those cop shows on TV, tell the truth up front, even if it’s uncomfortable, because it’ll make your life easier in the long run. Had Trump acknowledged the danger early on and formed a response plan (well, someone on his team; we all know plans aren’t really Trump’s style), I’m sure the markets would have dipped initially but rebounded quickly since there would have been a light at the end of the tunnel. However, as I said in an earlier article I wrote, Trump and his gang could not lie away all the bodies that quickly began to pile up. Seeing this and realizing that there was no plan whatsoever, the markets panicked and suffered multiple losses akin to those of 1929. The failure to contain coronavirus started a monumental chain of events that led to the crash of the economy, skyrocketing unemployment, and quarantines that forced many people to remain at home. This increase of time spent at home presumably allowed increased viewing of TV and the George Floyd video, which then paired with a sense of being stuck inside all the time, ultimately leading to a cultural movement not seen since the days of Dr. King. Trump tried to put out a fire with gasoline, and as a result, our seconds flaw of electing someone devoid of empathy, amoral, and wholly unprepared for the task ahead as our leader was exposed.
The third flaw deals with the racial reckoning that has spread like a wildfire since Memorial Day. After their 2012 defeat, and the atrocious performance by Romney among minority voters, the Republican party’s grand plan was to start a significant outreach program to Hispanic voters. If that was the case, how is it remotely possible that they would nominate and elect a man whose fame was built upon accusing Obama of being born in Kenya, who decried Mexicans as “rapists” and “murderers” during the announcement of his campaign, who just completely made up “we’re going to build the wall and Mexico will pay for it”, and who fought all the way to the Supreme Court to ban Muslims from coming to America? The Republicans did so for the same reason that insults and fake outrage (foreign to any other president) were regularly hurled at President Obama: the racists wanted revenge. In the words of Van Jones on election night in 2016, Trump’s election was a “whitelash”. People who look like me were getting scared that the power structure, which has essentially existed since the beginning of man, was changing. They were starting to realize that one day, America will not be a majority-white country. People don’t like change, especially when it decreases their power and is of that magnitude, so they naturally flocked to someone with the coded slogan of “Make America Great Again”. Now you can say I’m playing the race card and being too hyperbolic, but news flash: I’m as white as a blank Microsoft Word document, and I know coded language when I see it. The society that the MAGA crowd yearns for is the stereotypical “American Dream” of the 1950s, and, in reality, that timeframe was only idyllic for one demographic (I’ll let you guess which one).
The fourth flaw exposed by COVID-19 chipped away at all of what we thought was correct in terms of skilled vs. unskilled workers. Seemingly overnight, many of the jobs that were not taken very seriously (cashiers, shelf stockers, fast food workers, pharmacy techs, etc.) were suddenly the only glue keeping lives together. These jobs were not only deemed “essential” to keeping the economy and our lives going, but they were also putting themselves, their family, and/or their roommates in danger medically (often without hazard pay in return). These workers, who had previously been treated as greedy and ungrateful when they asked for a living wage, immediately gained more bargaining power than they could have imagined. While it is too early to tell if that power will hold, they will certainly be viewed in a much different light from this point forward.
Another flaw pertaining to how we view the workers who make up the economy was exposed as a result of the first few stimulus packages passed by Congress. At first, priority was given to businesses large and small. Whether it was through small business loans (which large companies still managed to exploit) or bailout funds, it was clear that these entities were given priority over the average person (who was expected to cover at least one month’s worth of expenses with $1,200). With Joe Biden’s luckiest five days in the history of politics, culminating in a rout on Super Tuesday, happening only 1–2 weeks before everything went on lockdown, the big takeaway seemed to be that America was not yet ready for Bernie Sanders’ democratic socialism. However, as soon as the travel, tourism, and restaurant industries (among others) had their revenue dip to, or near, zero, lobbyists and executives for these industries stampeded toward lawmakers like it was feeding time at a dog kennel. The lobbyists’ success in the first few versions of the stimulus package broadcasted the worst-kept secret in America for all to see: socialism is for the wealthy, not the average person. I have never felt like I lived in an oligarchy more than I do now. Make no mistake, I understand the cause and effect of these companies’ health and workers staying employed, but the optics were atrocious, and the divide between our classes grew to a new high. So, with that, the seed for our fifth flaw was planted: we are a proud capitalist country with the greatest economy…until we aren’t.
But the attack on our institutions and ideals was not finished yet. A virus is unthinking, unfeeling, and without care for its host’s creed, race, or place in society. The implication of this is that everyone is a link in a chain that is comprised of the 7+ billion people who inhabit planet earth. That sounds almost good enough to be printed on one of those motivational posters you find in elementary school classrooms, but as we become wiser to the world around us, we begin to think that that’s not necessarily the truth. The truth is that those essential workers, now straight in harm’s way, do not have a fair amount of sick days, so when they have a cough that they suspect is allergies (but could really be something more sinister), they do not have the funds stored away to self-quarantine for 14 days, unlike all of our favorite celebrities, business people, and athletes in the Hollywood hills. Even if their symptoms worsen, they may still avoid going to the doctor for fear of their co-pay or cost of medications. As a result, they continue to go to work, where they breathe the same air we do, potentially exposing anyone who goes into these establishments. Thus, we are all connected, even though some see their privilege and wealth as a shield against COVID. If you mentioned this to a Canadian or Englishman, a look of confusion would set in after the word “co-pay”. Then, when you fully explain it to them, they’d be angry for us since the notion that healthcare is an earned privilege, as opposed to a right, is completely foreign to them (and generally amoral and inhumane). Now, I do believe that the private insurance system is an abomination that needs to be changed, but I also recognize that countries with universal healthcare (specifically Great Britain and Italy) also fared poorly. While I believe that cultural and geographical factors provide some of the explanation for this, the fact remains that a first-world country like the U.S. should not be the leader of number of cases or deaths, and certainly not both, yet here we are. I think the sixth flaw exposed is clearly our healthcare system, as privatized healthcare is almost certainly not the way forward. At the same time, some countries with universal healthcare did not fare much better, so we must ask: have we found the best system yet?
As an aside, I think we may be talking about a different election matchup in November if the coronavirus struck (or at least, we were aware it struck) 3–5 weeks earlier. One can imagine that after wins (sort of) in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Bernie Sanders’ case becomes even stronger after this corporate socialism is passed and a glaring need for healthcare availability for all emerges. Honestly, it’d take more self-restraint than I have to not name these relief bills the “I TOLD YOU SO!” package if I was in Bernie’s position. One can’t help but wonder what life would be like if Sanders’ vision was implemented before all this started.
Now, back to the virus’ shock and awe campaign against our ideals. The seventh and eighth flaws haves come as a package deal to cause the resurgence of the first wave/start of the second wave that we are seeing as I write this. First, our ability to stay focused on a singular, potentially devastating problem was depleted after approximately the first week. We barely gave it the “ol’ college try” before Fox News viewers were having a “mission accomplished’ moment after going one week without a haircut or visiting the local tavern (I know the haircut example is overused at this point, but there were way too many protesters with signs talking about that to ignore). It was truly a surreal feeling to watch this group of people, who regularly chide my age group for being entitled and ham-fistedly remind us what our grandparents went through in WWII, completely exhaust their willingness to sacrifice after approximately the same samount of time a race with Usain Bolt lasts. And I’m the one who wouldn’t have survived rationing?
To our collective detriment, this exhaustion was egged on by Fox News, who decided to start playing the hits like “don’t tread on me” and “it’s my right to run my business how I want”. While it’s not hard to believe that this quickly caught on with the same crowd who was appalled at making a wedding cake for, or giving marriage licenses to, gay couples, it was equally unsurprising when this group said police had the right to beat and teargas peaceful protesters when they were violating curfew because the protesters “didn’t listen to the government and follow orders”. I just want the historical record to show that this was literally less than two weeks after they took the fight over the stay-at-home order to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Honestly, it would be laughable if it weren’t so deadly. Out of all this mess, photos of the screaming white men, cosplaying as a militia with ARs, thoroughly invading the personal space of law enforcement were born, and will go down in history as a disgraceful chapter (interestingly enough, approximately zero riot shields or tear gas canisters were used. I wonder why?). As you may have guessed, the seventh and eighth flaws exemplified in this circus are a short attention span due to the information overload that happens to us every day, and a misplaced sense of entitlement of “freedom” or “liberty” or whatever other colonial, patriotic words these protesters used to justify their unjustifiable, hazardous ignorance.
Seeing as I’ve beaten the dead horse enough when it comes to the mental and philosophical fallout from the virus, the last two flaws will be strictly biological and observable. In pure Darwinian, survival-of-the-fittest terms, humans could not have crafted a more effective pathogen if we tried. Looking first at the age groups it attacks, its main targets seem to be the elderly, or perhaps more broadly, anyone not of military age. Essentially, everyone over 50 is clearly being hit hardest in terms of mortality, though the occasional cluster of seemingly young and healthy people falling ill does pop up. However, the astonishing thing is that it also appears to protect pregnant mothers and their babies, as shown in the admittedly small study that revealed that nearly all mothers in the sample who had the virus were asymptomatic and faced no issues (though recent studies may indicate otherwise). Speaking of health, COVID also targets those of all ages with pre-existing conditions. This group, of which I am a part of, would be considered “weaker” in nature, but through modern medicine, most can live totally normal lives. But, if the virus was released in a hypothetical group with no medicine, I have no doubt it would create a result that Darwin imagined when formulating his Theory of Evolution. So, inevitably, the flaws in our genetics that create physical weakness and aging are the ninth flaw exposed.
Our tenth and final flaw continues to deal with health (in a way), and it is perhaps the most sobering and humbling for us. As the picture shows below, when goods production, and the power it takes to do so, is reduced, the earth begins to heal. Packs of wild animals roam city streets that used to be their habitat, and canals become clear in the absence of disruptive water traffic. I have no doubt that the decreased need to commute to work, especially in the U.S. where mass transit is not utilized as much, will greatly reduce fossil fuel emissions. Of course, there is always a tradeoff (more power needed to maintain internet availability, and for homes since we are in them more often), but I would certainly make that deal permanent if I could. Also, just in terms of human nature, if you can literally do the same job with similar or better quality at home, why would you ever go back to 4+ hour round-trip commutes? And why would companies waste money on pricey real estate and associated overhead costs?
Finishing on the climate impact, I sincerely hope that we take climate change seriously from now on, as the crisis created by the virus will look like a tea party compared to an ignored climate. When our greed and wasteful use of resources were, for a short time, quelled during the lockdowns, the earth began to heal itself, showing that humans may be more of a parasite than a symbiote. In other words, COVID-19 revealed that in our relationship with earth, we are the coronavirus, and the earth takes our place as the victim.
From ideologies, to policies, to government systems, to our own mental and physical health, this virus has successfully attacked everything we thought we knew. Much like the Great Recession caused people to lose faith in big companies, a comparable seed of doubt has been planted by the coronavirus. As they say in Sherlock, “you can’t kill a thought, can you?” While we don’t know for certain what the long-term effects of this will be, the one thing we can be sure of is that, for better or worse, nothing will be the same. Even if evolution’s masterpiece (to date) is eradicated like polio, there will always be a more dangerous pathogen ahead of us. Knowing this, a wise way to being preparation for such an event would be to address these ten flaws exposed by the coronavirus.
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Originally published at https://www.quicknewsdaily.com on July 4, 2020.
