There's nothing normal about our lives right now. Simple precautions could change the rate of illness, disability, or death, but that would mean leaders opening themselves to lawsuits if they admit any error.
The term "fog of war" refers to how much is unknown and unknowable - the uncertainty of things - when planning or executing a battle. In war, predictable norms of behaviours are gone, and people have to walk into a situation without a clear sense of what might be about to unfold, and others have to make decisions to guide their choices on the ground. How do you make proper decisions when everything is topsy-turvy, and there's barely a modicum of possibility that the path you choose is the right one?
We're living in a scenario of normlessness and absurdity no matter how much effort people put towards the big return to normal. It's chaos, not because we don't know how to stop this virus - we really do - but because officials won't make the hard choices because of uncertainty around the level of vitriol and riots and lawsuits that could be the result of implementing any precautions anywhere. The right path leads to health and safety for the many, but potential trouble for the few who are in charge. We are being led by some of the weakest leaders imaginable. (The darker conspiracy-level concern is it's all an intentional way to reduce the population in order to better cope with the famines we'll have in the throes of climate change.)
Nothing will be "normal" again - not the way it was for those of us in these parts, the way it was when we celebrated Christmas back in 2019. Some people have been acting like it's normal, packing the malls and bars and school assemblies as if nothing has changed, but people are missing. And more will be missing after this current surge of hospitalizations. We're not shown rooms of children in iron lungs, but Long Covid affects a far greater percentage of people than post-polio syndrome: at least 10-20% of Covid cases vs less that 1% of polio cases become disabling. Polio was completely asymptomatic for 70% of people (but still very contagious) and mild for 25%. Similarly, there's no record I can find of anyone dying of the initial acute stage of HIV infection; that one only kills later on, after years of hibernating. Covid has spread far and wide - much more than HIV because it's airborne, and causes long term damage far more than polio, which should force us to be more forward thinking than we're accustomed to being for the sake of our very own survival over the next few years. But, we're just not doing that.
The compelling and disturbing film, Fog of War, directed by Errol Morris 20 years ago, has some potentially useful lessons for our current fight against Covid. Here are 7 of the 11 lessons that Robert McNamara learned as Secretary of Defence during the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam War. He does a lot of rationalizing in the film, though, and we need to stop doing that! At one point, he says of all the deaths from American bombs: "I was part of a mechanism that essentially recommended it." We're still hearing that excuse from public health leaders today who keep advising hand washing instead of N95s, and from school administrators who have some absolutely unjustifiable reason why teachers can't bring in CR boxes to help protect the children, and from governments who can't advise protections because it's against freedom, despite children dying as a result.
Anyway, some relevant tips from McNamara:
#3 - We need to look beyond ourselves to develop values and a sense of responsibility to society, not just ourselves and our families, but all of society.
#4 - We need to get efficient about this fight. We need to streamline our efforts. Except, we are the soldiers at the front lines. Some of those who have followed the most foolish orders from many of the leaders out there, who insist that Covid is mild and safe for children, have gotten themselves and loved ones killed. The Covid cautious are the conscientious objectors who have taken on the task of trying to re-teach the world that N95s and air filters are necessary parts of our daily lives now and might be right to the very end.
#6 - Get the data. All cases, disabilities, and deaths must be tracked and recorded when related to Covid. Nobody can make informed decisions without data. How many heart attacks, dementia, falls, and traffic accidents have Covid as the catalyst? How many deaths from smallpox and tuberculosis wouldn't have happened without weakening the immune systems of an entire generation of children?
#8 - Be prepared to re-examine your reasoning!!! Now, after four years of this, surely the leaders can see errors they've made. Some have turned a corner and started encouraging respirators again, but some are digging in their heels continuing to send kids into a situation that many won't survive.
#9 - To do good, you may have to engage in evil. With Covid, the BIG EVIL that must be engages in is telling people they have to wear N95s in public places. People will retaliate and be upset and rage against these precautions, and the powers that be have to be ready to stand firm against the vitriol.
#10 - Never say never. Who knows what will happen next! We have to be ready for any eventuality. Currently, with Pirola, we're seeing the virus mutate wildly before our eyes, quickly evading all the vaccinations we've been able to develop. We can't outrun this with meds. Not yet, anyway. We need to wear N95s in the meantime.
#11 - You can't change human nature. Like war, this situation is so complex "it's beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend all the variables. Our judgment, our understanding, are not adequate. And we will kill people unnecessarily." We can't eliminate pathogens anytime soon. So we need some mandated protections to stop us from killing ourselves and anyone else in the path of our unfiltered exhalations.
If it's a matter that we'll be damned if we do or damned if we don't, when it comes to ignoring Covid and just letting it rip so people can continue to pretend it's all so bloodly normal, wouldn't it be better to be damned if we don't!?!
Be wise with N95s.
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