The Ad<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Stats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The United States has the highest amount of infections for COVID-19 in the world with over 1.1 million (discounting the numbers that China probably is lying about). The United States has the highest deaths from COVID-19 (maybe China, again) with over 67,000 lost as of this writing. And yet, so far, we have dodged the bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our leading epidemiologists anticipated infections in the 20 million or more range, and deaths at 200,000 or more. So there are a couple of caveats: we haven\u2019t tested enough to actually know what the infection rate is, and we only know the cause of death of those tested. How many passed away in nursing homes, or at home, or from \u201cpneumonia\u201d or other causes that actually died from COVID-19, we really don’t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Heart<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But we do know this: Americans took the recommendations to \u201csocially distance\u201d and \u201cstay at home\u201d to heart. We did it, we \u201cbeat the odds\u201d and actually did more than the epidemiologists ever expected. Yes, over 30 million Americans filed for unemployment. Yes, there were toilet paper shortages, and now there is likely to be meat missing in the freezers. And there is the psychological price we\u2019ve paid for being at home. It will be interesting to see the number of divorces, and declared alcoholism, that will appear when all this is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But May 1st<\/sup> was the deadline. The entire last paragraph was written in the \u201cpast\u201d tense. We\u2019ve paid the price, and now we get to fulfill our Anticipation. <\/em>Back to the bar, or the beach, or the ballgame. In our head, it\u2019s over \u2013 right?<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Deadline<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But nothing has really changed. COVID-19 is more ubiquitous than ever. More people have it, and more can spread it, than before St. Patrick\u2019s Day when all of this began. Sure, for the moment, we \u201cflattened the curve\u201d and prevented the unthinkable: hospitals so overwhelmed that they allowed some to die so others could live. The Trump Administration keeps saying it: \u201cNo American died from lack of a ventilator.\u201d I hope that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we really are just in those first few weeks of March again. If we re-open, go back to the bars and the beaches and the ballparks, the whole thing will start over again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American people are known for their great hearts, and their lack of patience. We\u2019ve been anticipating \u201cFREEDOM!!!\u201d (Remember that memorable cry from Mel Gibson in Braveheart<\/em>) and we were promised it, kind of, on May 1st<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Governor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I think Governor DeWine here in Ohio did exactly what he had to do. He couldn\u2019t have said, back in early March, we\u2019re going to close down Ohio until there\u2019s a vaccine. That would be maybe a year or more. He couldn\u2019t even say \u201cJune,\u201d we had to wait until the end of April for him to start even hinting at that. DeWine carefully measured the patience of the people of Ohio, and then made his decision. It was May 1st<\/sup>, until April 27th<\/sup>. Then, it wasn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\nNow he\u2019s slipping a few \u201cfreedoms\u201d out there, letting some people go back to work, and opening some stores. But Mike DeWine knows that nothing has really changed unless the people of Ohio make it change. And he\u2019s under pressure from \u201chis right\u201d, the social media infused, AR-15 toting folks down at the statehouse, and the more \u201cnormal\u201d folks who are looking at paying May bills without May salaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where other countries got it right, and the United States didn\u2019t. Sure, most got $1200 from the IRS last month, but it wasn\u2019t enough, and it doesn\u2019t cover the May bills. Canada and other countries put much of the workforce on \u201cgovernment salaries\u201d to keep them home. Here in \u201cgood old capitalist\u201d America, we are forcing meat packing workers back into the cauldrons of COVID-19 transmission. Upton Sinclair would find it oddly familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Next<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When faced with the inability to pay for food, or rent, or transportation, many Americans will risk COVID-19. That they are making that choice for themselves is one thing, but the reality is that in doing so they are spreading infection to others. The attitude seems to be, well, too bad? We might not be able to \u201cflatten\u201d the next curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Governor DeWine is stuck in the middle. Much as he wants to mandate wearing facemasks, he backed away from it. Much as he wants to keep our state buttoned up, he\u2019s got to let some things open. DeWine knows he\u2019s risking the \u201cbullet\u201d coming back on us, but he doesn\u2019t have a choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s been too much \u201canticipation\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Anticipation Sure it\u2019s Carly Simon \u2013 but it really was that ketchup ad \u2013 wasn\u2019t it? The Song\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Ad The Stats The United States has the highest amount of infections for COVID-19 in the world with over 1.1 million (discounting the numbers that China probably is lying about). The United States has the highest deaths from … Continue reading “Anticipation II”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAnticipation II : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So what do Americans do, after "defeating the invisible enemy" for the past two months? 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