Endgame Vision

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." ~ Proverbs 29:18

In many versions of that passage it says with prophetic vision people cast off restraint, but I think vision works as well on its own and is more inclusive, and perish gives a clearer image of the end result. It doesn't mean we'll all be free without a vision guiding us, but that we'll all go haywire. The proverb actually goes on to say that we'll all still be happier if we follow the law - or moral restraint - despite a lack of vision, but I'm dubious about that part of it. It can be better for everyone if we're moral, but I'm not convinced it makes us all happier. All of Proverbs 29 is about turning away from evil motives and doing the right thing, but something that jumps out to me as vital is our need for a sense of where we're headed, especially during times of chaos, even while we pretend everything is normal.

This reddit post is making the rounds. It expresses the experiences many of us are having and asks some good questions about where we go from here:

Practical issue first: I'm not sure how living with minimal Covid risk is dwindling their savings away. Five N95s can last a month (rotate them, one/day of the week) for $10, and there are several organizations that provide them for free for people in need. So I wonder if they're not going in to work or quit their job or if they're taking cabs instead of the subway or something like that. If they lost their job just for wearing a mask, that's a different issue specific to a few states in the US and a few places outside there. 

On the Mind of the Masses:

The virus is unlikely to go away when so many don't take it seriously, absolutely. A recent NYTimes podcast suggested, at the very outset, that Covid is over because death rates have gone down, and then later they questioned the efficacy of masks because people don't wear them perfectly. I commented there,

I'm not convinced it's over. Death rates are not the only marker to look at. Many mild acute cases lead to longterm illness, and there are many people disabled by this virus. We appear to be at the start of another wave based on rising hospitalization rates, and, when people hear it said with confidence that it all ended, it might convince them to drop any precautions they had been using. Well-fitting, good quality masks (N95s or KN94) worn correctly and all the time when inside public buildings do work to prevent Covid transmission. It's not that complicated to wear them "perfectly." What's the end game of sowing seeds of doubt about masks? Reducing viral load can also reduce the chances of Long Covid. We need the NYTimes' articles and podcasts to remove the stigma and end this "tribalism" by clarifying that masks work and are really no big deal to wear.

I also commented on the targetted protection another article promoted: just mask if over 65 or have an underlying condition. 

"Thanks for this, but advocating targeted protection--masking based on risk to self (over 65, etc.)--is like telling only drivers in black cars to wear seatbelts because they are in far more accidents, so they're at greater risk. *Everybody* is affected, so everyone needs to mask and wear seatbelts!"

Trying to get others on board at this point feels pretty fruitless until they know someone who has died or become disabled from it. Then they start masking again. And getting organizations on board feels like it won't happen until more are tied up in litigation, like this German judge who was penalized for trying to legislate against mask mandates (although various states got away with that). 

However, high-end places (like Davos) are recognizing the benefits of ensuring they have clean air, which really helps, and eventually that could trickle down to every public building. There are some gains being met on new kinds of vaccinations. And there are researchers working on treatments for Long Covid - some using similar treatments as used by people with HIV. Those solutions could be years away, though. 

AND some people are coming to realize the recklessness of our governments, and are starting to organize together to work for change of some sort. This is where a vision really matters! It can feel good to do something to try to affect the situation. I choose to write obsessively about it all!

So how do we live with the virus in a way that continues to keep us safe from it? Mask and relax! (And get vaxed every six months.) Solo masking isn't perfect, but, according to Fortune, 

"One-way masking substantially reduces risk of contracting Covid regardless of what others are doing--as long as your mask is high quality, like an N95 that fits snugly. (Surgical masks with gaps that let air in from the sides are not, and were never, ideal.)"

On Harassment:

There are some that approach harassment with snappy comebacks, like Guiness_Pig. Here's a sample:

Why are your wearing a mask?

• I'm going to a costume party as a human being whose self-preservation instincts are still intact.
• It says I have to in Leviticus 13:45: Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, 'Unclean!' Which is why my hair looks like shit too.
• Wow, that's a really personal question; don't you think we should get to know each other better first before we start talking about medical stuff?
• To block the smell of pumpkin spice; it's everywhere.

I'm not that brave. What works for me is to say, "I think I have Covid and don't want to get anyone sick." People - even anti-maskers - almost always thank me for taking precautions to protect them! The more of us who just continue to exist with a mask on, hopefully, the less harassment we'll face.  

We've got to be like Brad Pitt in The Big Short nodding at one another in solidarity:

On Isolation and Connection:

There are many online forums for the Covid Cautious, that people can use to start a local sub-group. It does make a difference. At the very least, we're so lucky the pandemic hit us after we got wifi and the internet! Beyond that, I've learned to trust my mask (a well-fitting N95 that stays on my face whenever I leave the house). I've gotten to know many masked healthcare workers online who have never gotten Covid despite working in hospitals. Even if I do get Covid, I'm likely to have a low viral load because of my mask, which makes a difference. If I need to be around a crowd of unmasked people for a length of time, I also use nasal spray (Betadine) before and after. If it's really crowded or if I had my mask slip or for any other reason think I could have opened myself to pathogens in the air, I mask around my family for a week as well just in case. 

For me, absolutely nothing would be worse than getting my kids sick because I wanted to eat at a restaurant with friends.

Let your friends know of your concerns and hopefully they'll accommodate any mitigations. The only thing a mask prevents you from doing is eating and drinking with others indoors, which is a huge part of socializing in most cultures, but people can get used to those of us who don't partake. We're a cheap date! And there's always the option of take-out and a picnic when the weather cooperates.

Covid has shown us who people are, for better or worse. Almost thirty years ago, when I had my first baby, I was short of cash and time and stopped going to clubs, and I soon realized how many fairweather friends I had. It's harsh to find out, but it's also pretty useful information. Covid is similar. Some stay the course, but others drift away, and we just have to say good-bye to them and find other ways to connect with new people.

On Concerts and Conventions 

I think it's possible to go to a concert or sporting event with a mask on without catching Covid. Conferences are trickier unless you're comfortable bringing meals to your room. But many people manage to do that. 

The reality is that we can never go back to 2019-normal. Some things are just gone to us. More things will stop being an option as climate change progresses, and I've been writing about the end times for at least ten years! We happen to be born at the time with incredible feats of human ingenuity on display and incredible depths of inanity and corruption! 

Philosophy Can Help!

We have to learn to adapt to these changes, and we can do that part by changing our perspective:

So many philosophers, Epicurus, Epictetus, Plato, Lao Tzu, Jesus, said we will have greater pleasure in life if we reduce our desires for things instead of getting sucked into an endless battle to fulfill every desire, and then end up full of grief if we fail. Sometimes even when we succeed and it doesn't meet our expectations. Do we really need to go to a concert to be happy? It is possible to be happy without concerts? If we relinquish the desire for them, we'll save money too - and save the environment when we don't take trips!! 

Like Proverbs, Epicurus tells us to measure desires more carefully:

"Men suffer the worst evils for the sake of the most alien desires. . . . It is impossible to live pleasurably . . . without living prudently and honourable and justly."

We need to measure each situation with prudence, figuring out the long term gains and losses. Is it worth it to go to a concert if you might end up getting sick and making your family sick, potentially with a longterm illness? If you feel healthy right this moment, then don't waste the moment worried about becoming sick. Enjoy the day with the least amount of effort needed to reap the most joy. It helps to delight in more simple pleasures, like a walk in the park.

Stoics go down a different path: compare yourself to those worse off. We're lamenting the loss of concerts and clubs while others are languishing in the hallways of overfull hospitals. It's not that these little things we've become accustomed to aren't important, but that it's necessary to have some perspective on them.

Seneca has us take a long view: "Place before your mind's eye the vast spread of time's abyss, and consider the universe; and then contrast our so-called human life with infinity." In other words, "Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour..."

In good Stoic fashion, he also advises to avoid letting events affect our mood, whether good or bad: "The man who is not puffed up in good times does not collapse either when they change. His fortitude is already tested and he maintains a mind unconquered in the face of either condition."

Many of us have had it very good for a very very long time. The winds of fate have shifted.