Though Uncertainty Remains; It is Time for Common Sense to Prevail

Every person in a position of authority, each trustee of the public trust, all of our elected officials….they have each tried their best to deal effectively with the coronavirus pandemic.  That includes Cuomo of New York, Newsom of California, Whitmer of Michigan, Beshear of Kentucky, Inslee of Washington, DeSantis of Florida, Kemp of Georgia, and of course Trump of America.  This was an onslaught unlike any challenge faced by any of these leaders and there was no precedent available to offer guidance or advice.  They did the best they could with the resources they had in the situation that faced them.  All of these should be given wide latitude of support and appreciation.  Mistakes were made, words were misspoken, and wrong turns were taken.  But in the blistering heat of battle, it is difficult to think clearly and few of us are up to that task.  These people were not only in the arena; they were at the head of the column facing an unknown and fearsome enemy.

To date (May 6, 2020), nearly 74 thousand American lives have reportedly been lost due to this deadly virus.  Once the grim reality of this horror fully manifested itself on the consciousness of the United States, it was already too late to take pre-emptive actions to head off its terrible consequences.  In the dead of night, this awful calamity crept into our population and obtained a foothold in the citizens of our nation.  While remaining anonymous inside of those who were asymptomatic, it silently spread from coast to coast.  And then, once its presence became obvious; it had already begun its grim harvest of human life.  

As they had never before done in my lifetime of 67 years, Americans willingly subverted their personal rights and liberties in an effort to maintain the health and welfare of the masses.  They supported their elected officials even as their jobs were eliminated, their children’s schools were shut down, and they were barred from their houses of worship.  Why did we all give up our individual freedoms in this fashion?  Because of the uncertainty; no one really knew how bad it could be.  Although the uncertainty remains, we are now approximately 45 days into this ordeal and a few things have become obvious. It is time to reassess the situation.

2,813,503 souls perished in the United States for year 2017.  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) charts diseases of the heart as the No. 1 cause of death that year.  To gain that top ranking, heart disease was the cause of 647,457 American deaths.  Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumors) claimed 599,108 lives that year.  169,936 people died in accidents and 160,201 passed away due to chronic lower respiratory disease.  Alzheimer’s disease took 121,404 people from us in 2017.   That same year, diabetes was blamed for 83,564 deaths.  It is tragic, it is heart-wrenching, it is painful, and it is emotionally draining; but as human beings, we all must realize that dying is part of living.  A little perspective can be very clarifying.

The best efforts of our leaders and our populace could not prevent the coronavirus from taking far too many lives.  And in spite of all best efforts and utmost concerns, more lives will be lost to this ravaging monster.  But it is now time for our national attention, for our state and county control efforts, to change their focus from the many to the few.  There are today 1.26 million known cases of coronavirus in our country and that number will grow rapidly as testing becomes more prevalent.  It is becoming more obvious with each passing day that the virus was here amongst us far earlier than anyone suspected.  It is equally obvious that in most cases, the effects to those who contracted the pandemic ranged from mild to asymptomatic. 

We now largely understand the characteristics of those who are most vulnerable to this malady and how they might be protected.  As time has passed, we have also come to better terms with recognizing those who might feel fairly secure from the viral threat.  And as the frantic race for an effective vaccine continues, we are beginning to appreciate that while we must acknowledge the terrible wages demanded by this pandemic; it is time to move on with our lives.  A prevailing concern for the overall health must now be supplanted by a concern for the individual health, buttressed by individual accountability.  Within practical parameters and civil protections for all, individuals must be permitted to re-engage with society if they so choose.  And if they have legitimate concerns for their own safety; they must be permitted to continue their personal practices of prevention.  Personal health must revert back to personal decisions.

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We grieve for our dead.  We mourn with their survivors.  We honor their lives with our thoughts and our prayers.  But as has always been the case in the cycle of life, our concerns must return to the living and the time that lies before us.  While respecting those we have lost in a dignified fashion, our leaders must look ahead to a time of healing and recovery.  A page must be turned and a new chapter must be started.  If we pause unceasingly to fixate on death and loss, the journey of life can never be completed.  Just as leadership helped us withstand the ill winds of sorrow; it must now help to lead us into a new day of promise.  Mayors, Governors, President…you have led through the darkness; now lead into the light.

Using common sense, compassion, and while doing all we can within reason to cushion the personal non-health related costs involved with this episode; we must begin to restore some semblance of normalcy to our society and culture.  We must begin to heal those parts of our world that have been scarred and damaged by this attack.  We can do this while responsibly protecting our friends and neighbors who might remain at risk.   We should no longer demand a terrible economic levy on our nation and its people in a futile effort to save every life that is threatened by this wave of misery.  That cannot be accomplished.  Common sense compels us to cautiously and thoughtfully open our schools, exercise our rights in a free marketplace, attend recreational events with family and friends, to resume the pursuit of our dreams through employment and fiscal management, and most important of all…to sit once again in the Houses of God and Pray for His Love and Understanding as we struggle to regain our footing.