There have been a lot of stories about COVID over the past week or so. A bit more than usual. Vice President Kamala Harris (She got it) , U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle (No masks on planes), Trevor Noah (Roasting the WH correspondent’s lack of COVID measures), and US COVID deaths approaching 1 million(here as well from the CDC).
1,000,000 US citizens dead. That’s just a big number. In fact, it’s a bit overwhelming. For perspective here is a list of other death events in US history –
COVID-19 is the single biggest killer event in the history of the United States. 1,000,000 dead is like having the September 11 terrorist attack happen every other day, for nearly 2 years. It takes over 3 hours to read all the names at the 9/11 memorial ceremonies. At that rate, it would take 42 days to read all the names of the dead from COVID-19 (to date) in the US.
In case you think there are errors in the death certificates, this total number is consistent with the Excess Deaths in the US over the past 2 years –
from CDC Excess Deaths in the US. In fact, the total excess deaths over this period are actually ~200,000 higher, resulting from a number of factors including increased mortality from other diseases, as well as potential under-reporting of COVID in rural areas.
1,000,000 dead. And counting.
I think about all the polarizing conversations and all the anger and invectives that has been spewed from people on both sides of the political aisle – about origins, about shutdowns, about masks, and about vaccinations. And then I remember the scenes of people that I know who have gotten sick, those that are still sick, and those who have died. 1,000,000 people.
And I just want to say, “We are better than this.”
I have struggled with writing this piece. I don’t understand how we as a community and country can carry on with such invective without the empathy, the support, and the trust necessary to find reasonable solutions to significant problems. People I know and love who would help anyone with a significant problem turn into trolls when the people being discussed are outside of their sphere of influence – the “us” versus “them” problem.
And I don’t know how to respond.
I understand the business model of those who sell fear and hate– media and technology companies are certainly driving revenues and increasing shareholder value by creating echo chambers that increase profits. But are they creating value for the community? DuPont once built shareholder value by manufacturing and distributing (and then dumping) Teflon into the community, even while they were aware of its cancer-causing nature. Is the content produced by talking heads on ad-driven or subscription media, collated and focused by AI-driven algorithms, any less corrosive to our community than the chemicals once spewed into our environment by chemical manufacturers?
To be clear, I am not questioning free speech. I stand by the right of people to say hateful things. However, I am getting to the point that I do not wish to listen to complaints about politics or policy without thoughts about solutions that empathize with the desires, hopes, and fears of those with opposing viewpoints. I believe that complaints and invectives without empathy and solutions are part of the problems in our community these days.
If this pandemic has taught me anything, it is the value of community. How do I feel about COVID now – I’d like to work together with others to find solutions to community-scale problems. Sharing work, sharing hope, sharing life is way better than being locked down and listening to polarizing invectives by people who are afraid (or are selling fear). I do not wish to be your customer.
I just wish that 1,000,000 people didn’t have to die to (re)discover this desire.
1,000,000 US COVID deaths: How do I feel about COVID now?
Deaths are way overexaggerated. It will be years before the studies will come to light showing that many many thousands died with COVID not because of COVID. So comparisons to other scenarios are not realistic at this point.