Post 57 - May 7, 2020
Day 57…
The ex-Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie joined the ranks of politicians arguing for the re-opening of the economy despite the cost in human lives that may occur.
Christie compared reopening the economy with the U.S. sending young men into battle during World War II "knowing that many of them would not come home alive…We decided to make that sacrifice because what we were standing up for was the American way of life," he said. "In the very same way now, we have to stand up for the American way of life."
Great.
Would the ex-Governor be willing to choose the members of his own family that he’d be willing to sacrifice?
Would he be willing to choose which of his friends would go?
When politicians talk in terms like these they aren’t thinking about people, they are thinking about numbers.
The sacrifices that they are talking about rarely occur to people that they know personally. During World War II, the overwhelming majority of soldiers who lost their lives were not from wealthy families.
Some were, but the grunts in the field were usually young working-class men.
And they gave their lives in unfathomable numbers.
Governor Christie is not thinking about his own family and friends who may lose their lives when he talks this way, he is talking about the greater THEM.
He is talking about the people of color and the day workers who are losing their lives to this virus in far greater numbers than people like him and his family.
The retailer Neiman Marcus has just filed for bankruptcy.
I never went into Neiman Marcus.
We used to call it “Needless Mark-up” because it was such an expensive store to shop in.
By the end of 2018, Neiman’s was already in some trouble long before the virus hit.
I cannot say that the announcement that they are going out of business will affect me in any way except that Neiman Marcus employed 13,500 people.
When other stores re-open and people start going back to work, those 13,500 people will not be among them.
Those are real people.
They aren’t just part of a number.
Some of those people worked on the floor or stockrooms making minimum wage and some of those people worked higher up making much more money.
Some of those people have families.
Some of them were just starting out and some of them have been working for the company for decades.
All 13,500 workers were individual people who are now facing having to start over again if the company can’t restructure.
This past week 3.1 million new people filed for unemployment.
Michael and I were 2 of those people.
We had delayed filing because the system was overloaded, and we figured that there were people out there who needed to get through more quickly than we did.
We are having exactly the same issues with the system that everybody else has had.
Michael has gotten much further in than I have.
Since all of the claims are retroactive, we aren’t worried that we won’t eventually figure it out but getting there is like making your way through the most complex labyrinth imaginable.
We will figure it out.
We seem to have the time.
33 million people in the United States are currently on unemployment.
Each one of those 33 million people is an individual.
Each tiny single part of that massively enormous number is somebody who matters to someone.
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia does the most amazing thing every single day.
Every day, just before they close, they honor a single person who gave their life for their country.
It is called the Last Post Ceremony.
Rain or shine, the fallen person’s picture is placed on an easel.
Family members come from all over Australia and the world to be there.
They bring flowers.
A bugle plays.
We remember.
Over 100,000 people over time have lost their lives to war in Australia.
Every single night, the War Memorial puts an actual face to that number.
Sadly, like everything else around the globe, the Last Post ceremony is temporarily on hold.
When it starts up again, I would urge everyone to join in via their online live stream.
If you can get there in person, someday, I can promise you that it is well worth the trip.
The White House has been particularly notable in their refusal to acknowledge the HUMAN cost of COVID-19.
It seems to be only about the numbers.
President George W. Bush issued a heartfelt plea to end partisanship as we battle this virus.
It was a compassionate message.
"Let's remember that the suffering we experience as a nation does not fall evenly. In the days to come, it will be especially important to care in practical ways for the elderly, the ill and the unemployed."
Now, heaven knows, I am not a fan of George W. Bush, but we aren’t getting anything like that from anyone in the current administration.
They aren’t thinking of us as people.
We are just numbers that don’t matter.
The President’s response to the video was to rip Bush for not supporting him during his impeachment trial.
An expected narcissistic response totally devoid of basic human compassion.
Nobody there is thinking of us as individual people so nobody there is trying to reach out and assure us.
Interestingly, one of the President’s personal valets has just tested positive for the virus.
This is a person who comes into close personal contact with the President every day.
Nobody in the White House wears a mask.
This guy, who tested positive, was right there.
Interesting, because now the virus has hit somebody that the President actually knows.
It has had an effect on a real person (albeit a servant who is probably largely ignored.)
One of the reasons that I find Governor Cuomo’s morning briefings so useful is that he constantly refers to the human cost in all of this.
Probably in response to Christie as well, Cuomo talked about reopening strategies.
He talked about the fact that whatever is decided, he and his family have to be willing to participate as well.
“If it’s safe for you, it’s safe for me.”
We are all going through this.
We all are having radically different experiences going through this, but we are all in this.
If I count, then so do you.
Whoever you are.
You aren’t just a number, and neither am I.