Fear Is the Greatest Danger –
Fear and panic in difficult times can cause terrible loss and destruction.
We are in one of those times in America.
The world is in one of those times.
How will we respond? MORE
The Path Through – April 9, 2020
The following is a continuation of those thoughts. It is quite long, so dive in if you want to be stimulated to think through this historic time in our history for yourself, or read sections as you can to add another perspective to your own emerging thoughts. There is no one right perspective or one right set of answers – we are all called upon to try to understand and solve this world crisis together. MORE
Mistakes, and Correcting Mistakes – Apr 27, 2020
This pandemic is a totally new experience for the modern world, so there have inevitably been mistakes in responding to it. When mistakes are made, it is crucial to learn from them and make corrections. One mistake in the U.S. was woefully inadequate preparation with regard to medical supplies, plans to pay for needed supplies, and support for the medical establishment. MORE
Living in the Time of Covid – Jun 16, 2020
The Covid-19 virus will be a major factor in our lives for at least 18 more months. At that point it is possible that some combination of a widely available vaccine, herd immunity, or a change in the virulence of the disease will have brought significant relief. None of these is by any means certain, and the chances that any of them will have a broad effect in less than 18 months is slim. But they are the only ways we will escape this crisis. MORE
Covid Lessons from Sweden – August 8, 2020
Sweden is a country of about 10 million people with one large metropolitan area, Stockholm. The State of New York has about 20 million people, with a large percentage in one large city, New York. Both had severe outbreaks of Covid-19 in the spring of 2020. New York, after its terrible outbreak, is now being hailed as a success story in the fight against this disease, while Sweden is frequently criticized. From press reports in the United States, you would assume New York did a much better job in fighting the pandemic than Sweden. MORE
Covid – What now?- September 7, 2020
It feels like things are shifting in both good ways and bad in the worldwide crisis of Covid. There is a decent chance there will be a vaccine that has been sufficiently tested and has proven moderately effective by next summer, and by that time, perhaps as many as 30 percent of the people in the U.S. will have had the infection and have acquired some immunity. MORE
Covid Update – October 26, 2020
The Covid pandemic has taken a terrible toll. Each of us have had difficulties, but as we each struggle on, we must try to hold in our hearts as much compassion as possible for our 220,000 fellow citizens who have lost their lives; for the millions of their friends and relatives who miss them terribly; for the 80,000 who have died beyond the expected average of deaths this year because this virus has been stalking our land; for as many as 2 million people who have died worldwide, and for all those who are recovering from Covid-19 but are still suffering lingering effects. MORE
Covid Action Plan – December 12, 2020
I had thought I had written my last essay on Covid-19 some weeks back, but it seems that another is warranted as the pandemic moves into its most dangerous phase.
If ever there was a time that those who are most vulnerable need to be careful, this is that time. For the next 3 months, the pandemic will reach its apogee in the United States, because of our failure to develop a national approach to address the problem. MORE
Lessons We Can Learn About Covid – December 17, 2020
Sweden is in trouble with Covid-19 again. After a successful summer and early fall, they are having another bad round of infections. They made another mistake. Their success from early July to mid-October led them to complacency, to think they had overcome the pandemic. They relaxed too much. As colder weather came they returned to an almost completely normal way of life—restaurants and bars were packed, gyms and other sports and health venues returned to full operation, and they opened their numerous ski resorts, where people congregated in lines, on ski lifts, and especially at after-ski events. MORE
Two Words of Covid – August 1, 2021 There is a radical difference in how the 4th wave of Covid is being experienced—between those with immunity vs. those without immunity. Those without immunity are 20 times more likely to get Covid (using the statistic that the vaccines are 95% effective).