Reflections on the Coronavirus (COVID19)
March 21, 2020
Adapt.
The most fundamental and nearly unspoken primary asset and philosophy of the United States Marine Corps, and one I found to be the only place to go, when I was a Marine in combat, to give me any hope of survival. The situation today requires that you hold back on taking action until you can assure yourself that such action will not cause you less chance to survive than more.
The nation is frozen in mostly silent and temporary mental and physical terror, and it’s not being called terror. Self-induced or not, virus-related or not, political or not…to you as a human being among the species human, it really does not matter. What matters is what is happening on a personal level to you and around you. You must become aware.
Societies big and small across the nation are making it more difficult to know what is happening in areas that really do affect your survival and that of your family if you have one. What is the condition of supply at the local grocery stores around your area of operations? There is no news on that so you have to go to find out. Paper goods, meat supply and much more are important so you must go regularly and check the stores out, even if you don’t buy anything. Fuel is not an issue, yet, but it is important to stay topped up and possibly have a few five-gallon cans full outside the garage (not inside!).
The government (U.S.) is not set up to help the general citizenship in specific and that specific means you. Don’t expect to be ‘bailed out’ with a deposit in cash. In fact, expect cash usage to recede as fears of touching what others have touched increases in the media. There is, as of yet, no end to the celebration of ever more draconian solutions to a disease that has come to take over the world more as a belief system than a physical fact (when it comes to morbidity and mortality).
The U.S. mail, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon delivery will pull back for the same reason because others have touched the physical envelope or package you might receive. Deliveries will recede as will carry-out foods.
Adapt. Observe.
Do not react until you delay to allow for an intelligent response instead of a knee-jerk panicked reaction. Neighbors are good, not bad. Social interaction is required of the human condition so some of the social distancing will also recede. Be ready for that.
We are not, as a nation, heading for a depression. We are already in one. Unemployment is wildly increasing, and you will very blatantly come to see that. The effect of that will be much more staggering than is being discussed. Start communicating more on the Internet and using your cell and home phones to massage grow and protect your social circle.
Life itself just changed around you, now wait and watch for it to change again…and take advantage by adapting.
So now it’s 5 years after lockdown and about 4 years since the vaccines became available. I can describe my experience and conclusions but these are probably not representative of the population at large.
I’m a self employed tradesman in California. As such, I was able to take advantage of a grant program where I got direct deposits from the state. I also received a few checks from the Fed through another program. Let’s suffice to say that I have managed to keep a small financial footprint so my monthly expenses are nowhere near what I believe to be those of the average Californian. I had absolutely no problem managing financially during lockdown. I used much of that money to move my elderly father into assisted living after the vaccines became available.
My father’s care would have been a severe financial hardship without the grant money. I wasn’t too upset with the ensuing inflation. My take is I’d rather pay more for gas and eggs than die from lungs full of puss because others and I couldn’t afford to social distance or lock down when necessary.
I’m not politically astute but I don’t believe even a good president can survive a significant inflation. Of course the democrats could have done themselves a favor by addressing illegal immigration but I guess they didn’t feel it was within their mandate.
For me, inflation, immigration and a general pendulum swing to back before the new deal provides the reason for our current political situation.
Anyway, I got Covid again. I so much enjoy seeing local musicians but some of the venues get a bit more crowded than is healthy for me. I’ve been reading your articles and Cowardly Lion while I’ve been hunkered down. Much more enjoyable and relaxing than Netflix or TV though I’m getting plenty of those too.
Take care -Ira
Ira, the results of the tumultuous election are not in and those results will likely detail much more about general changes trickling down to the individual experiences shared by many. The inertia of the largest economy, military and cash reserves on earth is substantial. The U.S. an take a lot of hits and keep on going…although nobody kind of really expected that the hits might be so deep and severe. Thanks for reading my work. I could not have been with the CIA as things are going simply because would would have no trust that my name and address would not be reveaoed by my own people. Times change though. Thanks again and,
Semper fi,
Jim
The buzzards are beginning to circle. Euthanized meat animals left in piles because the processing capability has suffered…
Yes, Glenn, it is a daisy change of nightmare proportions, that’s for sure and it’s just
beginning to hit the country for real…
Semper fi,
Jim