A handful of thoughts on the pandemic in this country

At this point in the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., it appears to me that the language of “control,” at least in a strong sense, no longer seems appropriate when it comes to describing our actions and aims with regard to determining or affecting the course and effects of this pandemic. Rather, our efforts amount to placing various kinds of constraint on that course and those effects. To speak now of “control” is false, that is, grossly presumptuous and misleading. Perhaps at some point these constraints will make for a substantive difference (reach a tipping point, as it were) in the course and effects such that we can speak of exercising real (meaningful) control over COVID-19, as they have in more than a few other countries, most of which are nowhere near as disgustingly affluent as we are. If only public health officials, politicians, policy makers, social scientists, historians, and psychologists could collaborate in a timely fashion (befitting the urgency) to explain why our country has performed, comparatively speaking and in the main, so poorly, so incoherently, so inconsistently, so incompetently, indeed, so immorally, in dealing with this pandemic. Such narrative and explanatory collaboration is not likely to occur until after the worst has long passed us by.

Comments

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

You are most welcome, Lucy, thanks for reading and commenting!

[Lucy A. Shiffrin]

Thank you, Patrick