This is the second of two posts on what I learned during the pandemic. You can read about the first five in Part 1 of this blog post.
6.Racism continues to be a central issue for America
W. E. B. Du Bois
In 1903 W. E. B. DuBois wrote in The Souls of Black Folk, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis remind all of us that this statement is also true of 21st Century America. The infection and death rates of Covid-19 are disproportionally high for black and brown communities. This is not because of any inherent characteristics of these communities and people but because of the disproportionate rate of poverty of these groups. The pandemic has brought into shocking visibility the lethal combination of racism and poverty in this country. In biology a specimen is often stained with dye so the structure and features show up more clearly under a microscope. The pandemic has been such a dye for the social, economic and health disparities in our country.
The murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer was captured in a chilling video. It has left indelible impressions in our minds and hearts. We white people can see unmistakably what our fellow black and brown citizens have been telling us for decades, even centuries. We now can understand that all those previous instances of black people dying at the hands of police were not exaggerations. In fact, all those separate incidents are not separate at all but expressions of systemic issues with our policing agencies reflecting the systemic issues in our communities. This time, perhaps, enough is enough.
7.National leadership is abominable while state leaders shine.
I have developed a new appreciation for the leadership at state and local levels. Given the disarray at the federal level, I along with most others have turned to our local and state leaders for information and guidance as we live during this pandemic. I am fortunate to live in New York where Governor Cuomo has risen to the occasion. His daily news briefings have been consistent, coherent, and based on information. He has also been more self-disclosive than I have ever experienced him. His reflections on his family and his personal feelings have helped me connect with him as a person not just as a political official. This has been repeated in many other states as governors have stepped into the leadership void. I have also experienced this at the local county level. Governors and county executives care about us in ways that the national leadership does not appear to.
8.Solitude is not all bad.
It turns out that I have never been a big fan of constant social interaction. My professional life was spent interacting with people constantly. However, my leisure activities were all solitary: photography (capturing, developing and printing images), reading, writing, hiking, walking/running, and web site development. With the pandemic, I have more time to do these very things and do not miss social interaction as much as others.
9.I have upped my cooking game with Ninja Foodi Deluxe
Typically, I cook dinner. I got into that habit when I had retired, and Marilyn was still working. It was a way of lightening her load a bit but also allowed me to set the time for dinner rather than have it vary depending on Marilyn. I like to eat between 6 and 6:30 and cooking, which I like, was not any price at all to pay to ensure that. Once Marilyn retired, she began to do some more cooking but I probably did more than she did. My meals have been pretty basic and prepared quickly. With the Ninja Foodi Deluxe, I have been doing more complicated recipes that often include sauces. So far I have done the following: several salmon dinners with tasty sauces, braised short ribs, jambalaya, pineapple upside-down cake, berry upside-down cake, seared scallops and pearled couscous, chicken and fried rice, chicken and dirty rice and more. So far I am having a lot of fun and Marilyn is enjoying the food. Come to think of it, this reminds me of a certain fence getting whitewashed in Hannibal Missouri.
10.My sleep has improved
In some ways, this has been the most surprising. Ove a year ago I decided to focus on getting at least seven and a half hours of sleep a night. That means that I would need to be in bed for at least eight and a half hours since I typically am awake about an hour a night, according to Fitbit. The key is going to bed at the same time every night and getting up at the same time. Before the pandemic, that would work for most nights but if we went out for the evening, I was rarely able to get back home in time to hit my target of between nine and nine-thirty. Now I can because we are not going out. If I go to bed between nine and nine-thirty and get up around six, I can routinely get my goal. In addition, the Fitbit gives me all sorts of information on the quality of that sleep. This encourages me to stick to my routine so I get a “good grade” in the morning when I sync with the app.
11.Zoom, zoom
I have joined most Americans and have spent a lot of time on Zoom. It was novel at first but now has settled into a routine. I have regularly scheduled zoom calls with friends, my siblings, and my children. The pandemic has meant that the interaction has increased with my siblings and children. Plus interacting with both as groups has added an element that would otherwise never be the case. The conversations cover all sorts of topics. There is natural storytelling and reminiscing about our times together. But we also talk about current issues. It is a constant pleasure for me to listen to my children expressing their views about what is going on in their worlds. Each of the seven is a fully developed individual with their own ideas, experiences and families. They don't necessarily agree on issues but they express affection and respect for their brothers and sisters.
I have learned or come to an awareness of many other things as well but these are the ones that are the most significant.
In the over three months that I have restricted my life because of the pandemic, I have learned a lot about myself and others. Here are the first five things I learned. There are another six in Part 2 of this blog.
1.The clown car national administration is incapable of keeping us safe.
This was not that much of a surprise, but still. Specifically I mean the top political leadership. This ramshackle collection of politically correct top leadership is supported by a honeycomb of acting deputies. None of these are particularly adept at their jobs but they understand their audience and their clientele. And it’s not us! They are in their jobs because they tell Trump what he wants to hear. Ideologically most of them are hell-bent on reducing or destroying the civilian agencies they lead. Of course, it made no sense to them to continue the work of the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense. This office was established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to marshal the resources of the federal government to be ready for the next epidemic or pandemic. It was as if the captain of the Titanic was hobnobbing with wealthy passengers with no one on the bridge. “We haven’t hit an iceberg yet and besides this ship is unsinkable.”
When we did hit the inevitable iceberg, no one was in charge. Valuable time was lost while rookies tried to understand what was going on. They were getting briefed by “experts”—the very people they had spent three years belittling and undercutting. Once they understood the danger, they lost even more time trying to convince the captain to leave the lights and adulation of the ballroom and focus on a clear and present danger. Once he began to grasp what had happened and what was about to happen, he began to make sure that no one blamed him. Famously, he finally said that “I am not responsible for anything.” Stirring words as we began to sink into the frigid North Atlantic. If he had been the captain of the Titanic, we all know that he would not have gone down with his ship but would have found a way to bully his way into a lifeboat and leave most of us behind.
It is sad that we have a president who is incapable of leadership, especially sad when we need leadership desperately. More about that later.
2.Epidemiology
I have learned a lot about epidemiology. Here is a list of the terms I now know but of which I had been unaware two months ago.
SARS CoV 2: The name of the virus that is spreading throughout the world. Full name: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
COVID-19: The disease caused by SARS CoV-2
R₀: Infection rate: How many people single infected person in turn infects. “Epidemiological studies estimate each infection results in 1.4 to 3.9 new ones when no members of the community are immune and no preventive measures are taken.” (Wikipedia) Public health measures (social distancing, masks, and handwashing) attempt to reduce R₀ to less than 1.
Semi log graph: Not sure I actually understand this but it gives a better picture of the rate of infection.
Ventilators: Breathing machines required when a patient cannot provide enough oxygen on his or her own.
Face masks: These are worn to protect others by reducing the free flow of water particles with normal breathing and especially coughing.
N95: These facemasks are worn by health care workers and other front line workers to protect themselves from infected people.
PPE: Personal protective equipment
Social distancing: Staying at least six feet away from other people except those with whom you share a home.
Herd immunity: a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune. It appears that 60-70 percent of a population is required for herd immunity which effectively stops the spread of the infection. As of June 16, the CDC reports 2.1 million cases or less than one percent of U. S. population. With the public health measures in place to flatten the curve, it will take years rather than months to reach herd immunity.
Vaccine: A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. While there has been extensive research to develop a vaccine against other coronaviruses—SARS and MERS—none of these were able to successfully emerge from clinical trials and gain licensing. The World Health Organization said early on that it would take at least 18 months to have a vaccine ready for deployment. That, of course, assumes that some of those under development will be successful in the clinical trials required for licensing. 18 months would be a record given that the average for vaccine development is more like four years. This also leaves unanswered how one or possibly two injections will be made available to the global population of 7.8 billion.
In the early 1970s, I began regular aerobic exercises. The exact exercise has varied: running, rope jumping and race walking. More recently I have been walking four miles a day in an average week at a rapid but not racewalking pace. During pleasant weather, I would walk outside, sometimes substituting hiking or biking for walking. If the weather was inclement, I would walk indoors at our local recreation center, YMCA or mall. The definition of inclement was beginning to expand to include light rain or even coolish weather. Once the pandemic hit us, the rec center and the YMCA closed and I ventured outside to walk on days when I would normally go inside. Guess what? I found that being outdoors was great even if it seemed a little cool even cold or was raining a bit. There was something about being in the fresh air especially feeling a breeze that really turns on my endorphins. Now as the Y and the rec center are beginning to open, I find them much less appealing. Whenever possible I try to do my walking outside as long as the footing is safe.
4.Exercise bands are not as good as machines at the YMCA.
Weight lifting was the other part of my regular workouts. Nothing extreme but just enough to keep what muscles I had functioning. Our YMCA has a full set of E-Gym equipment and I quickly became addicted to them. I made sure that I worked out on the machines three times a week. Their technology ensures I am doing the exercise correctly and gradually increases the weight as I get stronger. The real kicker was an estimate of my biological age based on muscle strength. I was able to get mine down to 50! You can see why I was addicted. That is all in the past and I probably won’t be using them for some months more. Two months into the shutdown, I bought a set of exercise bands and began to use them but it as just not the same. I keep asking them what my biological age is but get no response. Without that kind of re-enforcement, I just can’t tolerate the boredom of using them.
5.There is even more to watch on TV than I thought.
Other than the occasional national network news, we haven’t watched network television for months. Before we left for Florida, I got a great deal from Spectrum and we decided to try cable again. We added HBO Go to our other services: Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix. We can also stream PBS shows. We were avid moviegoers and will be again but television and streaming are more than enough for us right now. We are using a Roku so no wires. Here are some of the shows we have been watching, both series and movies:
a.A Hidden Life
b.Tiger King
c.Dead to Me
d.Succession
e.Westworld
f.My Brilliant Friend
g.Veep
h.Silicon Valley
i.Ozark
j.Bosch
k. Unorthodox
I learned a lot more during the pandemic and you can read about those in Part 2 of this blog.
The tragedy of the homicide of George Floyd has triggered demonstrations throughout the United States and indeed the world. There have been similar moments during my 80 years of life but somehow this time it feels different. We may be witnessing the beginning of a significant change in American life. I hope so. I think most Americans feel that enough is enough and now is the time to begin to make changes. Not just in policing but in other areas as well. Today I heard Governor Cuomo say essentially that. This is the time to "carpe momentum," to seize the moment.
Marilyn and I spent the weekend working out our feelings and ideas about this moment. We did not feel comfortable going to any demonstration so we decided to express our view directly to our elected officials on the town, county, state and federal levels. We did not waste paper or postage sending anything to the President which is sad but realistic. Here is that letter.
As an about to be 80-year-old male and 69-year-old female, we have not been participating in the demonstrations occasioned by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. However, we do not want our absence from these demonstrations to silence our voices. And so we write to you as one of our elected officials to ask you, what actions are you going to take to address four issues: police violence, guns, racism and economic inequality?
The video of an officer sworn to protect and serve almost casually killing a citizen who posed no threat to himself, the officer or bystanders lives vividly and disturbingly in our memories. When the EMT crew arrived, they dragged Floyd’s lifeless body as though he was roadkill. They acted with the assurance and arrogance of impunity. Because of a 17-year-old girl and her cell phone, the entire world has been able to witness this tragic interaction between police and citizen in a country which most of the world sees as a beacon of liberty. We were horrified at what we saw, not because it has not happened before but because this time it was blatant, out in the open, and undeniable. We do not want this done in our name, not ever.
We also know that this has happened too often in the past several years to view it as an isolated incident; there is a systemic problem that goes well beyond individual police officers. We want to believe that most police officers would condemn this and other instances of excessive force but this abuse of power may be more common than we know. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive and transparent information on police use of force makes it difficult to know for sure. We do know that as the interaction between militarized police and demonstrators increased, the acts of violence also increased and have made things worse, not better.
We believe this is not just about individual police officers who have acted illegally. We ask those sworn to serve and protect us to do so in a society awash with guns of all kinds so that even a simple traffic stop can erupt into deadly gun fire. We ask them to serve in a society with endemic racism which has become more visible in the last three years. We ask them to protect us in a society riven by polarizing political differences which our political leaders have exacerbated rather than diminished. We ask them to provide public safety in a society in which social and economic inequality has increased and predictably resulted in social and health disfunctions. Beyond the need for justice in the Floyd case, we must begin to deal with these systemic problems
The fact that George Floyd was a black man has underscored the racial issues involved in policing. As a white couple, we have never experienced what it is like to view police as dangerous protagonists. However, we have no doubt that what our few black friends say about their experience is valid and true. We have never had to have “the talk” with our children but if we or they were black, it would be irresponsible not to. This is a deeply sad situation.
All this has happened during a pandemic which has impacted black and brown people and communities more severely than white people and communities. Clearly income and economic inequality drives much of this impact, but that inequality is also driven by racism against people of color. To be poor is one thing but to be poor because of your race is a death sentence.
Police violence, gun ownership and control, racism and economic inequality are the foremost issues confronting our community. Our national administration is incapable of providing any leadership—let alone “mature” leadership as General Mattis termed it. As with the coronavirus, it is up to others to step forward and provide that leadership.
I ask that you publicly acknowledge these issues and describe the actions you will take to begin to address them. Please do not suggest that we need to study these issues before we begin to change things. There have been more than enough commissions and reports on these topics. Recommendations have been made but rarely has there been the follow through required to change cultures and outcomes. We ask you along with other elected officials to commit to concrete steps to begin the address these core issues.
Governor Walz of Minnesota said, “I don’t think we get another chance to fix this. I really don’t.” This time must be the last time and you must step forward to provide the leadership we all need. You will have our support in whatever way we can as you do this.
There are already initiatives underway in New York with state legislation to address some of the policing issues but more needs to be done in other areas. The governor has publicly spoken of these issues and we look forward to actions to match his words. At the federal level, Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that will address some of the policing issues. But again, much more remains to be addressed. And simply introducing legislation, while a good step, does not change anything. We intend to keep ourselves informed about these developments and to communicate our thoughts directly to our representatives. Little or nothing has been done at the local level to recognize these issues and to respond with actions. Again we will keep ourselves informed.
I encourage you to examine your own views on these issues of police violence, guns, racism and inequality. I also encourage you to write those ideas down so you can communicate them to others. To do that, however, you will need to do more than Tweets or Facebook posts. It takes time and thought to work out your thoughts in a longer form but the exercise can help you think more clearly about what you really want to say. I encourage you not to get caught in the trap of responding to others. Focus on how you really feel and think about these issues. It will be a rewarding process even if you never share the results. But finally I encourage you to do exactly that.
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