Went for a Palm Sunday spin amidst foreseen plague surrounded by one percent of population infected with COVID-19 (COrona VIrus DIsease). Found atypical quiet, lack of traffic, no martial lockdown, with occasional motorists overtaking and passing on roads otherwise never attempted. Saw a disproportionate number emergency and tradesman trucks, highway construction equipment, and landscaper rigs hurrying between commercial contracts, not very many passenger cars. Why are beggars still stationed at intersections despite executive orders to stay home? Hardly seems worth standing around waiting for so few to pester. Was hailed by a hitchhiking guy, who everyone flew by with a blind eye, and wondered why anyone would try to defy decrees and scrounge a ride from which both might die. Prefer personal distancing, please. Social distancing precisely describes alienation, just what tyrants want: you isolated and vulnerable. Until now, reckoned lonesome routes weren’t as safe.
Public “servants” leapt at chance to exploit this pandemic. Any relief will go directly into paying mortgages and taxes, two things you can't skip, or supporting vices: alcohol, casinos, drugs, joneses you can't quit. So, benefits only bankers and criminals, funnels cash into pockets of wealthiest, and perpetuates same old zero sum game. All do best when everyone profits equally. Panama Papers, biggest exposé to date of fiscal corruption, money laundering, and offshoring funds to shell corporations and tax havens, showed how privileged could collectively "loan" themselves trillions and raid national treasuries. Why grow, manufacture or mine anything with concomitant agony and anxiety when you can steal from unsuspecting taxpayers with near impunity? They mention Trump 3,450 times. Heads of state and other power brokers cited less often either resigned or were deposed or impeached. Consortium of a hundred journalists who published this wrongdoing won a Pulitzer Prize; one so far has been murdered.
During a pandemic, a slight misstep might summon a death sentence or dire consequence. During such times especially don’t want to crash, flat, get sick, or wind up in a hospital. Have been covering ears, eyes, mouth and nose with balaclava, fleece head tube, and M-frame glasses. Can’t trust gyms; could spin at home. What happens once temperatures rise? Chances of dying from virus do not surpass dangers from lack of exercise; unreasonable fear will always be your worst enemy. After furtive short rides avoiding crowds, dumps, hospitals and sewer plants, strip all outdoor clothing, toss in wash, and totally shower as if scrubbing down after radiation exposure. Wipe every surface including groceries with bleach wipes disposed in garbage, not toilet, which might back up sewerage, then let dry while washings hands with soap for 40 seconds. People who forget to rinse thoroughly and wipe dry won’t live to regret it.
What should industrial countries expect after months of shutdown? National statistics already show an uptick in domestic violence, though thefts have declined. Who wants to steal contaminated stuff? Traffic stops are at historic lows with fewer motorists plying highways. Empty roads temp speeders, but patrols are reluctant to pull them over. Will businesses begin to break down as irreplaceable employees die? What about medicines that keep people alive? After all, individual health relies on clean water, contagion control, public safety, waste management, and whatnot. First responders are first domino to fall with nurses and other members of society in a row. If farms fail, stores will deplete. With libraries closed, what will you do if internet crashes? Eventually, empty bellies will seek neighbor’s pantries, want will beget widespread evil, and who isn’t thinking how China has been complicit in one pandemic too many without retaliation or sanction? Rumors suspect weaponized viruses from Wuhan laboratories that target blacks and caucasians. If numbers out of Beijing are to be believed, Chinese seem more immune and survive at a higher rate. Occidental outcomes are only four recovered for every one who died, with prognoses of those sick still unknown. Whoever might profit will urge a war of the worlds with victors decided by a disease for which combatants have no immunities.
Bicyclists find a forest for rest it affords, good of the wood, nobody who’ll sneeze, shade from trees, and shelter from breeze. Labann always recommended exercising outdoors, something Britain is threatening to prohibit if everyone doesn’t keep their distance, and New Zealand already has, thereby contained spread of COVID-19. States say they’ll track you through camera and smartphone surveillance, but they’re bluffing since they don’t even have enough employees to ensure normal business stays on track. Science is scant on topic, though doctors have always encouraged fresh air and sunshine. Vaccines work on the principle of patient being slightly infected with dead viruses gathered from previously recovered hosts in order to build antibodies. So a little contagion could be a cure, much like a mithridate, though such a theriac comprised of many herbs, resins, roots and spices that supposedly protects user from plague and poisons may only be a myth. “All things in moderation,” but what’s the right measure? No doubt, right now charlatans are concocting snake oils and directors organizing relief funds planning to cheat rubes who know no better. It’s called disaster capitalism. An anti-inflammatory medication might keep your lungs open, but it’s no cure, only a last ditch, short term treatment.
Stuck as if a prisoner indoors, read books and review movies. Might focus on scores of doomsday flicks that depict viral apocalypse, such as I Am Legend, The Omega Man, or Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, dir., 1995), in which a bio-terrorist releases a devastating plague. Vampires and zombies dominate imaginations for billions of viewers. But what about none too exciting prevention and quarantine? Maintaining health is today's desperate quest and true adventure.
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