March 27, 2020: Odd Job Security Pockets and the Five Imperatives -

In terms of parts of the economy (that’s imperative 4, the economy) represented by people I know, a few sectors or professions are booming. YES, there is a sad surplus of job security in health care. But also:

Somebody in Global Logistics is working like a madman to keep the supply chain running , both here and also in countries where everybody was sent home to “work from home” yet, alas, only ten percent of people have the tools they need to do that – and still, the supply chain has to stay intact. Supply chain is critical to us all, always, and maybe more visibly right now, when the few trucks driving down our mostly-empty streets are quite cheering.

Somebody in Trademark Law is busier than ever, because people are making and trademarking extremely needed things, to help with the crisis. Also trademarking silly things, but that happens.

Somebody in the world of Real Estate Titles is swamped, because everybody is refinancing.

Somebody who deals with certifying the Ethics of human subject trials is barely able to look out the window.

A whole bunch of folks down at the Grocery Store are working long and hard hours.

We already know so many teachers and librarians and social media mavens and other service providers, scrambling to learn new ways to get info to the public, and to hook us all up with entertainment and enrichment and each other. I’m forgetting so many, I know, among my own circle of friends. Some are getting paid, some are on reduced wages, and some are already hurting for a paycheck, but I’m just saying: we are all playing hugely important parts. Thanks, guys.

… on the other hand…

A Feral 1 (Herd Immunity) Enthusiast Got Loose:

You probably heard about the Portland (wince) dermatologist (I believe) who published something on a conservative site, said piece since taken down, where he proposed that the young and healthy should escape lockdown and hold huge Coronavirus Parties, so that they can all get it over with and go back to work and keep the economy healthy! (I didn’t call this guy a 1-purist, because he is actually SUPER high on 4: The Economy! A lot of truly lame ideas are coming out that prioritize the economy (4), partly lame because they don’t see people as part of The Economy. It’s as if The Economy runs on air.)

Let’s poke holes in the Coronavirus Party idea, shall we? I’ll start.

The young and healthy live alone, and won’t carry the disease home to anyone else, after closing time?

Zero young people are perishing from this disease?

What’s young, exactly? (This proposal echoes the cowboy ballad out of Texas, about how truly caring grandparents would rather be trampled by a herd of cattle than let The Economy collapse around their innocent grandchildren. In the Coronavirus Mosh Pit scenario, any young person crushed would happily die to save The Economy.) (Why are the economy-prioritizers so curiously eager for sacrificial deaths? Aren’t enough people going to die as is? It’s ghoulish, frankly.)

Okay, your turn, you poke some holes. Low hanging fruit abounds for hole-poking.

Speaking now as one who believes she is on Day 13 of “mild”* (rather than asymptomatic) COVID-19, I think Coronavirus Parties will at the very least lead to a bunch of “workers” who are out sick. Some folks with “mild,” (and some need to have “mild,” eventually, for the herd to get there) may not be in quarantine or dying or on ventilators, but I assure you they will be unable to work for a stretch. We don’t think that’s a strain on the whole economic engine, a bunch of really sick people who aren’t working?

(* I want to rename “mild.” I want it to be named “doozy.” But I’m already trying to get you people to use Dog Vomit for horrible but not-fatal problems, as well as the Imperative Numbering System, so I’ll just let “mild” persist for now.)

The thing is: all five imperatives matter. None are unimportant.

We truly need 1: herd immunity. Until we achieve a measure of herd immunity ( through exposure or (as-yet unavailable/nonexistent) vaccines and delicious drug cocktail combos taken by enough folks), the virus will circulate.

We. Need. All. Five. Imperatives.

We need to temper herd immunity with flattening the curve, and with caring for the vulnerable, and with getting the right tools to measure and understand and treat the problems. And, of course, with keeping The Economy afloat, as best we can. Toss a few bucks at your local medical ethicist! No, actually, she’s doing okay, job-security wise, see above. So then, pay for an online yoga class! Or do something for the vulnerable (in a curve-flattening way, if you can do it from home, and aren’t in health care or other highly-exposed essential fields (heartbreaking rates of confirmed cases in some public sectors)).

Or say: I’M the vulnerable, yoohoo, over here! Please HELP!

We’ll get there.