Hello my dear readers. Apologies for the intentionally over the top click-bait headline. This post has nothing to do with that. I need all the readers I can get and I am not opposed to underhanded tactics.
I know most of you are here for programming content and JavaScript tutorials, and that’s what I try to consistently deliver on a haphazard, irregular basis. However, since we currently find ourselves in the midst of the apocalypse, it seems appropriate to talk about it. I’m sure historians will love to have first hand accounts of this event, so if nothing else, consider this post my contribution to the betterment of humanity. Lofty goals, I know.
I have to admit, I was hoping for more zombies and shotguns. This has to be the most boring of all doomsday scenarios. Overall though, it hasn’t affected me personally too much. I’ve been fortunate to keep my job (for now), and have been working from home the last few months. I know many have not been so lucky.
In some ways the change in routine has been good for me. I’ve been better about eating healthy and staying active each day. And for some reason, everybody is coming out of the woodwork to jump on a video call to catch up and play video games.
It’s an interesting phenomenon because nothing was stopping them from doing this before. I think we are appreciating our relationships more now that restrictions have been placed on them. I’ll be happy if that trend continues once this crisis is over.
I don’t claim to know exactly what the best course of action is. Any policy decision will have benefits and drawbacks, and it is frustrating to see politicians and media outlets pretend this is not the case.
My biggest disappointment in all this is this feeling I get that so many of the same petty divisions remain unresolved. I remember how the United States came to together as a nation in the weeks following 9/11. It didn’t last, but it was a good moment. It seems like we have bypassed that phase and went straight to assuming the worst intentions of those we disagree with.
I may be a bit too harsh with that analysis though. People act differently on social media than they do in real life. I’ve seen people making masks, donating to food banks, picking up groceries for the elderly, and using their talents to help their neighbors. That gives me hope and reminds me that the craziest people are often the most vocal. If you start feeling pessimistic about people it’s probably a good idea to get off social media and start interracting with people in your local community.
I’ll leave playing the blame game to the masochists who like dealing with angry commenters. Now that we’re in this mess, how do we get out of it? I’m sure people with more expertise can tell you all about testing, contact tracing, social distancing, flattening the curve, and all the rest. Like I said before, I don’t know exactly what the best course of action is. But I think there is a general approach that all reasonable people can agree with. Let’s look at three options:
- Remain fully locked down indefinitely for months on end until a vaccine is (hopefully) developed while supply chains crumble, currency becomes worthless, and millions are forced into abject poverty.
- Immediately release everyone to frolic around in Myrtle Beach while kissing everyone in sight.
- Allow businesses to open responsibly and trust people to take appropriate measures to protect the most vulnerable.
To me, option three, while an imperfect solution, seems like the only viable one. I don’t think option one can be sustained, and option two is a bad idea under normal circumstances.
Once we can be confident that hospitals will not be overrun, we need to start getting people back to work. The timelines should look different for different geographical areas, but I think that’s the direction they need to be heading in.
And that’s about as controversial as I care to be in this post. The picture above sums up my position fairly well. I hope you all are staying safe and taking the appropriate precautions. Thanks for reading. If you want to hear more from me, you can subscribe to receive an email every time I post. That happens less often than I’d like, so you won’t have to worry about being bombarded with emails.