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During the height of the Covid pandemic, I spent some time looking into the history of similar events throughout recorded human history. Suffice it to say that there have been a lot of them.
And through most of these crises a singular pattern became clear -- that there are two distinct phases of the Event. First is the killer plague itself, wreaking havoc.
Second there is the aftermath.
The aftermath wreaks havoc too, but it is more subtle, long-lasting and consequential.
During any pandemic's peak period, people are falling ill and dying everywhere. It spreads almost unabated. Nobody knows the cause or even if they do, they don't know how how to cure it. Conspiracy theories flourish, various groups are blamed for the disease.
Panic rules the day.
We've certainly witnessed all of that with Covid-19, but now we have entered the aftermath of the crisis, we may have trouble recognizing the new signs of danger all around us.
But they are everywhere.
The accelerating toll from addiction is only gradually becoming clear. Addiction thrives amidst isolation and hopelessness, both of which are endemic in modern society and were greatly impacted by the pandemic.
And the problem with addiction is that while it is given lip-service as a disease every bit as much as cancer, stroke or heart disease, it is the only one that is widely blamed on the patient.
Alcoholics and drug addicts are blamed and stigmatized by virtually everyone for getting sick, for making the "choice" to harm themselves. Closely related to the addiction crisis are the plagues of depression and anxiety that have beset many, especially the young.
These conditions are condescendingly labeled as "mental" illnesses (as if the brain were not part of the body). They result tragically in the silent killer wave of suicides that courses through our society with an unabated relentlessness.
Addiction, depression, suicide are all personal. Then there are the wider social impacts.
The damage to small, local businesses by the pandemic was only partially ameliorated in the U.S. by government aid; millions of businesses failed and will not be reopening. Meanwhile, some of the big national chain stores are benefiting; others have rushed to convert to online shopping and home delivery -- the big winners commercially during Covid.
The "mass resignations" occurring are a sign of how deeply dissatisfying most jobs are to people; working remotely brought this into focus for many, and now they are quitting in droves.
Even as the social and economic impacts of the pandemic set in, the political impacts remain unknown.
In theory, surviving a plague that threatened us all in spite of wealth or status could have united us toward a greater sense of common purpose. Had that happened, we may have been able to breach the partisan divides and addressed the largest issues facing our society -- wealth disparity, poverty, health system disfunction, discrimination, educational inequity, housing crisis, environmental decline, climate change.
But that didn't happen.
What has happened historically after pandemics is the rise of extremism, where events like the shameful coup attempt of January 6th occur, with the as-yet-unpunished perpetrators freely plotting a return to power in 2022 and 2024.
Despots thrive in an environment of fear and ignorance.
The novel coronavirus illness itself may recede in importance now. But the damage to democracy has yet to fully occur.
***
THURSDAY's HEADLINES:
* An estimated 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States in one year, a historic milestone that reflects the struggle to treat addiction. Experts say the key drivers are likely the spread of deadly fentanyl and the ongoing pandemic, which left Americans isolated and unable to get treatment or support. [AP]
* Protesters disrupt the world’s largest coal port: ‘This is us responding to the climate crisis’ (WP)
* 1,200 Miles From Kabul, a Celebrated Music School Reunites -- Students and teachers of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and their families, almost 200 in the past week, have fled to Qatar to escape Taliban restrictions on music. (NYT)
* Taliban calls on Congress to release Afghanistan assets (The Hill)
* 'This experience broke a lot of people': Inside State amid the Afghanistan withdrawal (Politico)
* Afghan judges in UK fear for colleagues left behind -- Under Taliban rule, female judges in Afghanistan have reportedly been tortured and received death threats. Hundreds were forced into hiding, worried that those they'd convicted would now come to seek their revenge after being released from prison. (BBC)
* Delhi indefinitely shuts schools as smog worsens (NHK)
* Leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico are set to agree to new methane curbs and COVID-19 vaccine donations when they meet for the first time in five years, according to senior Biden administration officials. (Reuters)
* Fourth wave hitting Germany with ‘full force’ (Guardian)
* Vancouver storm: Minister says there is 'no doubt' it is linked to climate change (BBC)
* How obituaries got a jolt of new life in the Internet era (WP)
* Oil and gas companies purchased drilling rights for more than 1.7 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico in the largest offshore lease sale in U.S. history. The Biden administration, fresh off hopeful talks at the U.N. Climate Summit, argued its hands were tied on the matter due to a court ruling. Environmental groups are not thrilled, calling the sale a “carbon bomb” that left them “aghast” and “shattered.” [HuffPost]
* The Double-Whammy COVID-Flu -- It’s becoming clear that “coinfections” happen all the time. Just how bad are they? (Atlantic)
* Self-driving bullet train put to the test (NHK)
* The University of California and the union representing 6,500 lecturers reached a tentative agreement early Wednesday that averted a planned two-day walkout. (AP)
* A partial lunar eclipse, the longest in 580 years, is coming Thursday night (WP)
"The Day After"
If it's not meant to be
What if someone
Has made a mistake
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