There is No Line To Cross

 It is Sunday, and tomorrow we will cross the 200,000 dead from the virus...and it is not what everyone is talking about.

In The Plague, Camus sets up a town that is run by a functioning local government and a stable central government. While there is a severe problem with the living conditions of the Arab population, as is stated when Rieux talks to the reporter for the first time, the town in presented as stable. The chaos of the plague grind against the stability of the city. That is to say, the reference point of sanity can be returned to when the plague is over, a return to the political and culture stability that runs beneath the crisis.

Here is the United States, we don't have that option. This pandemic is running within the chaos of a political crisis that is beyond what we have ever experienced. As this is woven into the 24 hour news cycle which itself is polarized, there is no way to stay stable. The point beneath or feet is changing so fast that is has made us blind to it. There is no point of reference from the past, only the next crisis that seems to hit us each day.

But this is different than in The Plague. It is reported that the main thing people cared about during the raging of the plague was the amount of dead reported, each week at first, and then every day. While the people of Oran seemed to even grow numb to this after a time, there was still a singular point of reference for the level of the crisis. Not so here this time around. We just lost a Supreme Court Justice whose presence was deeply needed to maintain a sense of equality of political voice. There now seems to be a full court press to get a new Justice into place with an opposite political view from its deceased predecessor. This will have an effect on the laws of the land for decades to come.

Tomorrow, the number of dead from the pandemic will reach over 200,000 and, while it will be noted with harsh voices, there will be many more problems, new and recurring, that will be focused on. This huge number of dead should cause a pause, a moment of silence, political outrage and screams for change. But that will not happen. Things will continue to roll onward as they have.

While I am on the topic, people think that once there will be a vaccine introduced, all will return back to normal. This imaginary line seems rather dangerous. While a vaccine would be amazing and a blessing to be sure, it is not going to be an immediate panacea. The efficacy and safety of the vaccine needs to be shown and, with a mass treatment, problems are bound to show up, not to mention a rather long process of getting the majority of the population treated. There is no insane return to the old life. At best, this will take years and by then society will have started being rebuilt upon memories of the old and the habits of the plague years. Economic reasons and cost cutting measures will change the way people work. More and more people will now work from home, at least part time. Most small concert venues will close and the ones that remain will have to figure out a new business structure. The habits of being insulated and singular at home will remain in one way or the other in some degree and the value of outside entertainment/diversion will have to be recalibrated. To put it exactly, the life before this past March is gone without our expectation. Our lives have been changed forever overnight and hopefully we will remember that is always possible every time we wake up in the morning when this is over.

The line in the sand happens everyday and I hope we never forget that when this is over.