[Monday: 2 miles; Wednesday: 3 miles; Yesterday: 7 miles (Galena River trail)]
After some weeks now of enforced lock down due to the Corona virus, various states are opening things back up, each at their own pace.
Today’s briefing email from the NY Times has this item about former Democratic President Obama:
A few items further down the NY Times briefing says that the Democratic Party response will be to go big in their response to the Corona Virus:
The combination of the two seems to indicate that having all of our political eggs in one basket is a great idea as long as you have the right basket. And if you always pick the winning horse you could make a living at the track.
Of course the NY Times doesn’t draw a line from item 4 to item 7. They tend toward the It-would-all-be-well-if-only-we-had-the-right-people-in-power school.
The beauty of a federation of states is that different places can form their own policies. And some localities have done better than others.
Democratic strongholds on the east and west coasts have had differing results. In NYC the local authorities encouraged people to continue riding the subway and the buses and generally go on as usual. And the current speculation seems to think that was the wrong basket.
** Update: this article about the difference between response in San Francisco and in NYC.
On the west coast the outcome has been much better, which is a happy thing whether you are a Democrat or a Republican… or so one would hope.
At the same time I’ve taken to being more reactive on Facebook as my right leaning acquaintances post memes about the evils of government at all levels even attempting to slow the virus spread. After all, the predicted worst case doom didn’t happen, so “They” must have been mistaken and maybe even intentionally trying to bankrupt the middle class.
No, they aren’t happy with the better outcome. And I can see their point in some ways because a steady diet of “we’re all gonna’ die and it’s all your fault” has been on their plate for quite awhile, including strident chastisement from Scandinavian children for destroying the future by heating the house and having lights on in the dark.
Reportedly some left-wards folks aren’t happy that early-opening Georgia has not seemed to pay a penalty in higher deaths. After all, things would all be OK if people just did what they were told and those who don’t deserve to be punished.
Personally, I’m really tired of the demi-god President theory of operation, not least because I can’t stand to hear the same person’s voice over and over for 4 or 8 years, saying the same things and ignoring his/her own failings.
But these days it comes down to the more important issue: whether I can trust my immediate neighbors to do good toward each other and at least attempt to live a safe and peaceable life. Which is actually where the virus response starts to make some difference.