We are NOT in This Together
Call it a shutdown, a stay at home order, or a quarantine. Call it whatever you want. I’m calling it a spotlight. A sudden blast of light that exposed a scary reality about our country. We already knew that we are polarized. These last few months have shown us that it is much worse than that.
It is hard to drive through a neighborhood or watch television without seeing the slogan “We’re in this Together” on a sign or an ad. I really wish that slogan was even remotely close to being true. We are not in this together. We need to be…but clearly, we are not. We are not working together to get through this. In fact, I would say we are more polarized now than at any point in my adult lifetime. In fact, “polarized” is not a strong enough word. We are shattered. While every splinter of society may gravitate towards one of two poles (some with a higher affinity than others), we are shattered.
The fact is that we are all dealing with a combination of fear, frustration, stress, anxiety, and uncertainty, with uncertainty possibly being the worst part. People are understandably uncertain about their ability to keep putting food on their tables and about how to stay safe from the virus. We are uncertain about how to pay the rent or what our job will be like when we can return to work. Many Americans are uncertain about the validity of the pandemic that we are now immersed in. People in this camp spread misinformation and conspiracy theories all over their social media pages, which only fans the flames of division. While I am (at times) a conspiracy theorist and a skeptic, I trust the scientists and the various other medical specialists that have clearly told us that we are facing a potential global disaster. I trust the stories that I have heard in the media and from friends with personal knowledge of the dangers of COVID-19. I also believe that the drastic actions taken by the government have probably saved tens of thousands of lives (or more). I am truly baffled by those who claim that this pandemic is a deep state government plot to control us. While these theories don’t have any more depth than this vague illogical statement, the sentiment has plenty of traction based on what I have seen on social media and what I hear in my very limited social interactions with people. Sometimes, I hear things that are so dumbfounding, that I am glad I am wearing a mask to hide my facial expression.
Many of us have been cooped up and isolated and we are frustrated. Trust me, I am as upset as anyone about the restrictions caused by the lockdown. Between the damage it has done to my business and personal health, I have had some serious strains on my life caused by the pandemic. I did not have COVID-19 but I did hurt myself working out at home because I could not go to the gym. I also miss going to bars and watching sports. I mean I REALLY miss going to bars and watching sports. As much as anyone, I want to get back to normal and I am willing to take reasonable chances to achieve that goal…the key word being reasonable. If we could all act like reasonable adults and take precautions in social settings, our chances of minimizing the damage caused by the pandemic would be vastly improved. Unfortunately, there are people who perceive any restriction to personal habits as a form of tyranny. This mentality must be incredibly offensive to those who have actually been oppressed.
In my opinion, state governments for the most part have done a good job in dealing with the crisis. To illustrate this, I want to focus on two very politically different governors, Mike DeWine (a Republican from Ohio) and Andrew Cuomo (a Democrat) from New York. I currently live in Ohio and I grew up in Western New York. In fairness, I should admit that, if you had asked me about either Cuomo or DeWine in January, I would have gone on a long diatribe trashing both. My reasons for disliking them is another conversation for another day. Having said that, I think both men have taken bold and necessary actions and that they have both done a great job in speaking to their constituents in a lucid and transparent manner.
Now in the last weeks of May, both governors are trying to re-open their states in a controlled and responsible manner. Rather than doing things as a citizenry to help the process, fractions of our society are lashing out in anger. They defiantly refuse to take precautions and angrily proclaim that their freedoms are being stripped away when they are told to do so. On the flip side, there are are people who wear masks while driving alone in their cars (which is unnecessary but at least it shows a desire to be part of the solution).
If we were in this together, we would respect social distancing guidelines, wear masks when in public places where proper distancing cannot be reliably maintained and we would use social media responsibly to avoid spreading unsubstantiated information (or misinformation). Instead, we have armed protestors screaming in the faces of everyone from police and Costco managers. We are in a tough time folks. This is a time for adults to act like adults and work together. Instead we have people clashing over whether wearing a piece of cloth over their mouths is tyranny rather than the socially responsible action that it clearly is. Those claiming that being required to wear a mask in certain social settings is tyrannical will probably also tell you that the pandemic is a hoax. A hoax that the liberal media and the evil dream team of Bill Gates. Obama and Dr. Fauci have been concocting for years. We need to work together. But it is impossible to work together while living in different realities.
