SYW: Health Care in the U.S. and Other Wishful Thinking

December 14, 2021December 14, 2021 / amoralegria / 5 Comments

A new week, a new set of questions from Melanie’s Share Your World.

SHARE YOUR WORLD QUESTIONS

What is your opinion of the state of health care in your country? Adequate or inadequate? What could be done to improve it?
Hoo boy! This is one that has been highly and hotly debated in the last several years! How to get all Americans good health care while at the same time letting insurance companies run the show? It ain’t gonna happen! We need what Europe has: “free” health care for everyone – I know it isn’t really free, but it is run by the government and taxes pay for it, with the wealthy paying much more than the average worker. There are people who combine travel with medical needs, going to Spain, for example, to have hip replacement surgery which, even for Americans who don’t pay into their system, is many thousands of dollars cheaper than having it done here.

The United States has an excellent medical system; by that, I mean that it has the most advanced technology and research, and perhaps the most highly trained medical personnel, but, as we have seen in this pandemic, the “excellence” is spotty – concentrated in some areas, very inadequate in others. It is not evenly distributed and even with sophisticated equipment, many hospitals lacked basic PPE for all medical personnel when their hospitals were flooded with Covid patients. Many more people died than would have if hospital staff had everything it needed to treat them.

People (especially children, it seems) come to the United States to have some advanced procedures done that aren’t available in their countries, and they get special visas to stay in the U.S. for as long as their treatment lasts. Doctors Without Borders sends well-trained American doctors to poor countries to help people who have little or no health care. We hear about both of these efforts, but until Covid-19 hit us hard, the deficiencies of our health care system were largely unknown by the general public, (except, of course, people who already had had horrific experiences dealing with the cost and availability of health care). We did hear about people dying because they didn’t have insurance and couldn’t pay specialists who could help them. This is a travesty, revealed especially once “Obamacare” (Affordable Care Act, or ACA) was being debated. President Obama clearly wanted to make health care more affordable and more equitable, but because of the influence of big pharma and corporate insurance lobbyists, the middlemen – the insurance companies – were allowed to administer the program. When I retired, I had the option of a COBRA policy from my school district, which I would have to pay for. I compared the cost of that policy with what I could get of equal value from the ACA. Registering for the ACA was initially less expensive, so I dropped the COBRA, meaning I could not later get it back. My medical insurance from my employer ran out in August of the year I retired, so I got a Blue Cross Blue Shield “silver” policy – a deductible that wasn’t prohibitive and a “reasonable” monthly premium of about $550. It was difficult to be responsible for this entire cost, (even though the premiums are calculated on a sliding scale according to your income) since I was no longer working, but I figured that I only had to have it for a year and 9 months and then I could get Medicare. In January of the following year, only four months after my employee insurance benefits ran out, the monthly premium of my BCBS silver policy went up by more than $200 a month. Now it was higher than the COBRA would have been, but I was stuck with it. The following year, it went up again – this time to over $1,000 per month! Fortunately, I turned 65 in the middle of that year and was then eligible for Medicare, but even so, the cost was nearly prohibitive for those first six months. I imagined what it was like for people in low-wage and no-insurance jobs; although they had subsidies from the ACA, their costs must have gone up too. I heard horror stories of dilemmas far worse than what I experienced. So, while the ACA did make medical insurance affordable for millions more people than before, there were millions of people that still couldn’t afford it. The ACA was and is far from perfect.

I believe health care is a right, that should be available to all. That is why I am in favor of a single-payer system. However, with the innate distrust of the government that is embedded in American culture, I don’t know when or if it will ever become a reality. Perhaps another entity could administer it, so it wouldn’t be associated with a government “welfare state.”

What are two words that describe you best?
scatterbrained
intelligent

Do you have a morning routine? If so, what it’s like?
Yes, we get up around 8 am, and go to the kitchen, where Dale gets his coffee and I warm up water for tea. We each get a banana, and sometimes a small piece of cheese. Then we sit in our living room in front of our fireplace (in cold weather seasons) or on our screened porch (in warm weather) and read. Unfortunately, this is so pleasurable that we let it go on too long before we really start getting ready for our day, which, 5 days a week, starts with an exercise class between 10 and 11 am. Then we have a proper breakfast, take our morning meds, get dressed and go.

What’s something that really makes your blood race?
Wishing I lived in a country that values its children more than guns.

Do you enjoy singing festive songs during *insert festive celebration that you observe to replace “Christmas” if it’s not relevant to you * Christmas carols or songs? Yes, of course – because it’s only one season a year. I also like to listen to the radio station that plays all Christmas music during the month of December. By New Year’s Day, I am sick of all these songs and want to go back to “normal!”

Admiring holiday lights in Rosemont while listening to Christmas songs on 93.9 FM

************************************************************
GRATITUDE SECTION (as always optional)

Feel free to share something that brings peace to you.
Knowing that my son is OK, taking care of himself and no longer using drugs & alcohol. Until 6 months ago, worrying about my son was a constant stressor, but he has managed to finally get out of his rut and do the things he needs to make progress in his life. He calls often, sometimes with problems that frustrate him, but we always talk it out and he realizes his problem isn’t unsolvable. He is surrounded by people who care about and support him. He is a joy to be with now!! I look forward to spending Christmas with both him and our daughter and son-in-law.

On Mask Wearing and Constitutional Rights

July 18, 2020 / amoralegria / 2 Comments

A Guy called Bloke is asking some important questions about mask-wearing this week. Also, I’m shocked at how many people he’s seen that are not wearing them!

To boost sales, mask makers are coming out with fashionable designs – such as these Disney masks for kids.

1] Are you currently wearing face masks when you go out into public wherever you are in the world and 2] what type of masks are you wearing? [As in practical or stylish?]
Yes, I do wear a mask when I go into a building, but not outside. I live in a senior community and we have a lovely campus where we can take walks and meet up with others. I try to maintain distance when passing people while walking, and I always do carry a mask with me. Since my husband and I have a house, we don’t need to worry about wearing a mask when we leave the house, but we do carry one.

My masks (I have four of them now!) are cloth. One is plain gray but the others have colorful patterns, not that I care really. The one I like best was made by my sister-in-law, who made six of them for our family members. It’s not particularly stylish – it has a pattern of cherries on a black background and fits me well. I like the fit and the fact that when I breathe, it doesn’t stick to my face! I have 3 others, but that one is the best. I throw our masks into the wash every time I do laundry, so it’s kept quite clean.

Also – how do you feel about the wearing of masks? Do you see it as a protection or an infringement on your civil rights?
I don’t really like to wear a mask – probably most people feel this way – but I do it because the medical experts say it is effective in reducing the rate of infection of the virus. If the droplets containing the virus are in the air, using a mask helps me as well as others. I also follow the rules imposed in our community which are more stringent due to having a population of elderly people.

I do not think it is an infringement on my civil rights – it’s more of an infringement of my rights when others DON’T do it out of silly notions that somehow the Constitution protects their right not to wear a mask! They are just being selfish! This is a worldwide PANDEMIC, an emergency situation! This has nothing to do with politics and we should all be united on this! You don’t get to just ignore the requirement to wear a mask in a store, for example – I saw a video on Facebook of a 77-year-old woman in Costco who didn’t have a mask and when they gave her one, she refused to wear it. She sat on the floor and then asked for a refund for her purchase because they would not let her roam the store without a mask. When she left the store, she threw the mask on the ground. She supposedly is trying to make a point – although I don’t think she has a point, she just looks foolish! Her rights end where mine begin. Society is not a free-for-all where any individual gets to do whatever he or she damn well pleases. For those that think that way, drop out of society, go live by yourselves! As a society, as a nation, it is our duty to respect each other’s rights as well as assert our own. It’s in all of our interest to comply with society’s rules, for the betterment of society and thus our own lives as well.

It actually makes me really angry that the United States lacks the leadership to set an example and to encourage people to follow these mitigation measures. My husband and I are retired and love to travel, which we have not been able to do. And now many countries are banning Americans from entering their territory (such as the EU) because the situation here is so dire. Other countries have gotten the spread of the virus under control – we could too, if we had leadership at the national level. Our country is suffering in many ways because people are non-compliant: more deaths, more spread of the virus, overextended hospitals and medical personnel, students unable to return to school, etc. It is simply inexcusable!!

Here's why some people are not wearing masks during the ... — VP Pence not wearing a mask when visiting a medical facility

I live in a state, Illinois, which has had a high number of cases, but we are “flattening the curve” here because most people are compliant with the mandate to wear a mask in public places and to maintain 6 foot distance. The states where the virus is out of control are mostly those controlled by Republican governors who decided to follow Trump’s lead – and not lock down their states early enough – they are now are regretting it, I think! Our governor, J.B. Pritzker, has been critical of Trump’s response and he took measures based on the science early (by mid-March – that was considered early in the U.S.). And the mayor of Chicago is kicking people off beaches who don’t wear masks while out of the water and don’t maintain the appropriate distance from others. She is also exacting fines for people who refuse to follow the mask mandate in government buildings. In private businesses, most are also requiring mask wearing and it’s up to them to enforce it.

In my opinion, it should be a federal mandate due to a medical emergency situation to wear masks, and a fine should be imposed on those not wearing them.

5 Things: Post-Pandemic Predictions

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020 / amoralegria / 10 Comments

Dr. Tanya at Salted Caramel has a weekly challenge called “5 Things” – this week she invites us to make predictions about our post-pandemic world.

My predictions (for the United States of America):

1. Trump will lose the election in November, in spite of the development of a vaccine for Covid-19 or at least the promise by medical experts of a vaccine being available soon.

2. While the new administration will attempt to repair relations with our allies, and will have some success, there will continue to be wariness abroad about American long-term political and economic stability. That could include restrictions on American travel to some countries.

3. Most students will return to school in the fall of 2020. However, there will not be a unified response to the question of school reopening while still in the throes of the pandemic; instead, each state and/or district will create a patchwork of solutions to keep students (relatively) safe in order for them to return to school.

4. In spite of the lessons of the pandemic about the inherent problems of our society (racism, inequality, lack of affordable health care for all, etc.), the new administration will struggle to solve these problems. We will not achieve universal health care for all, but there will be some progress made, such as lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare to 60. An economic slump will continue to plague us, however, for several years.

5. Because of the election of Democrat Joe Biden for president, and Democrats regaining control of both legislative houses, there will be serious attempts to mitigate climate change through sane environmental policies – the EPA will be restored to its pre-Trump mission and effectiveness, policies to encourage the move to cleaner energy sources will be proposed, and the U.S. will re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement. The federal government will be restored to a more professional and less corrupt state.

6WS: An Injustice Anywhere…

June 13, 2020June 13, 2020 / amoralegria / 3 Comments

AN INJUSTICE ANYWHERE THREATENS JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.

This paraphrases a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. The meaning hasn’t changed – I have just reduced it to six words to qualify for the Six Word Saturday challenge hosted by Debbie Smyth’s Travel With Intent.

We talk so much in the U.S.A. about freedom. Freedom is sort of our motto; it’s a word used casually without thinking too much about it. But what is freedom, really? Yes, there are the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. But without justice, what is freedom?

The Pledge of Allegiance we all learn in elementary school ends with the phrase with liberty and justice for all. (Also six words, btw. 🙂 )

Students standing for Pledge of Allegiance

Perhaps we need to focus on justice instead of freedom. Because justice includes freedom – justice allows the judged to be as free as anyone else in society. And without justice, one is not really free. Think about it: A law is passed giving everyone 18 and over the right to vote, regardless of gender, race, creed, etc. Yet when a certain group of people is denied the right to vote by voter suppression methods, then that group in reality doesn’t have the right to have their voice heard through voting. This was a problem in the Jim Crow South when blacks were obliged to take a test or pay a tax when they went to register to vote. Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 put a stop to that, officials in some states have lately found new ways to deny the vote to certain groups. Sure, a lawsuit can be filed, but it may not go into effect in time for people to vote. During a pandemic, do citizens really have the freedom, the right, to vote if they must do it in person instead of by mail?

I got to thinking about this while reading an Op Ed in our local newspaper, The Daily Herald. Quoting the writer of this editorial, Keith Peterson*: “in many countries the term freedom did not resonate in the ways that it does in American hearts. More often than not, the word that resonated was justice.” Justice is about setting to right a history of wrongs.

Today there was a news item that Donald Trump, through executive order, has modified an Obama-era health care law by excluding transgender people from the guarantee of health care. In other words, if a transgender person goes to the ER, the medical staff does not have to give that person treatment. A transgender person then has the right to sue the hospital or doctor for refusal of health care, but how practical is that when the person needs immediate medical treatment? (By the way, today is the anniversary of the Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre and this month is LGBTQ Pride Month. I do not think Trump’s action on this particular day was an accident.)

Some people would like to ban Muslims from this country or have defaced or vandalized local mosques. The worshippers of those mosques are afraid of violence against them because of epithets written on a wall of their mosque. Where is their freedom to worship? It depends on litigation and prosecution – in other words, justice.

The protests against police brutality in the last two weeks all over the U.S.A. and all over the world have had an impact: many cities are already rethinking the organization and training of their police forces.

Justice sometimes takes time, lots of time. But we must demand it. Freedom and equality depend on it.

*Keith Peterson lives in Lake Barrington, Illinois. He served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. Quote taken from Keith Peterson, “World is watching us for justice” in Daily Herald (Northwest Suburban Edition), June 7, 2020, p. 12 sec. 1.

All photos downloaded from Google Images.

FOWC: Risk For a Cause

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 / amoralegria / 1 Comment

Fandango’s One Word Challenge this week is the topic of risk.

Risk taking is a major consideration these days. With a coronavirus pandemic still raging, while the federal government chooses to ignore its continuation and many states “opening” – opening beaches, restaurants, other places where people gather in close quarters. Of course, one can take precautions to avoid the risk of being infected. But what if something is too important to stay at home and do nothing? When yet another black person was unnecessarily killed by the police, people all over the world took the risk of being in close contact with others to protest. And the protests, being so large and widespread, led many cities to reexamine their police departments to initiate radical reforms. So in this case, for those thousands of protesters, the risk was worth it. We may see a spike in Covid-19 cases within the next week or so that could be traced to the protests. Some of the people who marched and carried signs, even with masks on, may have contracted the virus, and some may die.

To risk one’s life for a cause – that was the choice these past two weeks. It is not a new phenomenon: people have risked their lives for causes they believed in throughout history. Those who work as doctors or nurses in hospitals overflowing with coronavirus cases without proper PPE risk their lives at work every day. Those who hid Jews or joined the resistance movements during the Nazi era in Europe risked their lives. The men and women who fight in wars risk their lives. Those who protested the disappearance of loved ones during the dictatorships in Latin America risked their lives. Young people in China in June, 1989 risked their lives by protesting in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Refugees risk their lives crossing borders to flee war or persecution, travel in dangerous circumstances, and when they get to what they hope is a safe haven, there is the risk they will be sent back to their countries to certain death.

Yet courageous people continue to risk their lives in some way every day.

Wearing masks, but not maintaining physical distance during a pandemic is risky.

Some wear masks, many do not. It’s worth the risk to possibly save black lives from police brutality.

Images downloaded from Politico: “Enough is Enough.”

FPQ #70: The 39% of Americans

May 23, 2020May 23, 2020 / amoralegria / 5 Comments

FPQ #70 is:

If you could choose anyone, past or present, and walk that proverbial mile in his or her shoes, who would you choose, and why would you choose that person?

I have been thinking about this question for a couple of days, since I read Melanie’s response that she would choose Trump and why. I thought her reasoning was good. Tonight after listening to the news of the pandemic, getting worse and more chaotic every day, and Trump’s response worse every day, I decided who I would choose:

A typical die-hard Trump supporter (such as a certain otherwise nice man in Florida that I happen to be tangentially related to)

Why? Because I cannot fathom how, after three months of the worst response by a national leader in the world to a worldwide pandemic, with over a million cases and almost 100,000 dead in the U.S. alone, anyone can actually listen to Trump and still support him.

I know that die-hard Trump supporters have been hearing for years that Democrats are the cause of all the problems in this country. The aforementioned “gentleman” has posted as much on Facebook. He states a problem that really has nothing to do with politics and then blames the Democrats. (The only thing he hasn’t blamed on Democrats is his wife’s terminal illness.) So with this conditioning, this group of gullibles is ripe for conspiracy theorists, the rantings of Rush Limbaugh and the lies of right wing media (as well as the half-truths of Fox). I understand that.

But certainly these people must be seeing what is happening all around them right now. What is happening bears no resemblance to the rosy picture Trump has been trying to paint. People are afraid because friends and relatives are getting covid-19 and some of them are dying. People are scared to go back to work where they could be exposed. Health care workers and hospitals are over-extended. Many of the Trump supporters’ friends and family, I’m sure, have lost their jobs and now have no health insurance. (Almost everyone was promised a check from the government to help with expenses during the pandemic. I don’t know a single person who has actually received one.)

Turn on the TV and they will see their “hero” Donald Trump. Every day he blatantly lies to us. He doesn’t know what he is doing. It is obvious to any thinking person that the man is completely out of his league during this crisis. First he tried to deny the seriousness of it, saying it would soon disappear. (Ignore a problem and it will go away – works every time!!) A week or so later, he was saying that the “warm weather” that would come in April would make it go away. Of course, that didn’t happen (nor was the weather in April particularly warm this year – no surprise there). Over the succeeding weeks, he continued to make one false statement or assumption after another.

My memory has never been very good, yet I don’t have trouble keeping track of these statements. So why is the average Trump supporter not beginning to have doubts about a president who can’t get the story straight and constantly contradicts himself or contradicts what is clearly happening in hospitals and workplaces all over the country?

He says he doesn’t “take responsibility” for any of the things that have gone wrong. Even if he were completely blameless, a real leader DOES carry the responsibility for the welfare of his/her country even when that leader has done everything correctly! Trump shows no sympathy, no empathy. Every time he is in front of the public, he is campaigning for re-election. About a month ago, when the CDC officials were still allowed to be present at his daily briefings, he actually had a propaganda video about how great a job he has done since January in handling the pandemic! How does this help the viewers get the information they need to carry on with their lives? If they have to stay at home, what good does it do to tell them how great their president is – why not at least show some empathy for what the people are going through.

When Congress passed relief bills, he took all the credit. He announced that everyone would get a check for over $1000 to help them through (not that that was enough, but still, it was a start), yet few people have received it up until now. He trashes the post office (which would be delivering these relief checks to people) because he is afraid of voting by mail.

He said “everyone who wants a test can get a test” and repeatedly has declared that the United States has done more testing than any other nation. In that case, why do we have the most cases and the most deaths of anywhere in the world? (And this without the widespread testing he claims we have.) Certainly some of these Trump supporters have heard stories of sick people who have gone to the ER to try to get a coronavirus test and were turned away because testing wasn’t available.

So even being indoctrinated by right-wing media, people are seeing what Trump is publicly doing and saying every day. Pence goes to the Mayo Clinic and won’t wear a mask. Trump is so vain he didn’t want to be photographed wearing a mask while visiting an auto plant in Michigan. He took it off within a short time, in violation of the company’s rules. Why do Trump supporters think this is a good thing, that it’s okay for him to put other people’s lives in danger and to disrespect the rules established in that place?

He claims he has been taking a malaria drug as a preventive measure for covid-19 (which is doubtful, but since he insists on it, I will assume he is for now), yet doctors have been saying that there is no proof that it works for coronavirus and in fact, can have serious negative side effects. He muses that maybe we should ingest bleach, because it works to sanitize our counters and toilets. Some really stupid people actually tried it after he said that. This is the thing your parents told you from a young age was dangerous to drink and kept it locked in a cabinet with child safety locks.

And now he is actively encouraging the states to “reopen” their economies and get on with normal life, even though it has already been proven that physical distancing and staying at home, and wearing masks in public, have been effective for at least containing the virus’ spread. I get it – people need to work, they need their lives back. But do they want to risk their lives and their loved ones’ lives so they can go back to drinking in bars and getting haircuts? Do they really want to send their kids to school or go to church if it endangers their lives?

So if I could “walk in the shoes” of an avid Trump supporter for 24 hours during the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, I would do it. I really want to understand why 39% of the American population still thinks Trump has handled this crisis well. I really want to know why their reality is so different from everyone else’s.

SoCS: All I Want…

May 16, 2020 / amoralegria / Leave a comment

I want to participate in different challenges than I usually do. This is one of them.

I’d happily sit in a cramped airplane seat if it meant going somewhere.

What I want and what I can have are very different right now. I want to be traveling somewhere, but instead am stuck at home. I want to be able to see and hug my friends, but only Zoom views and virtual hugs are available to me right now. I want to be grateful for what I have and the many ways I’ve been blessed, but the monotony of my stay-at-home days is getting tedious. And this reminds me of a song from My Fair Lady...

All I want is a trip somewhere
Far away from the cold night air
I’d take an airplane chair
And think that it is loverly!

Lots of chocolate for me to eat
Lots of adventure in the African heat
Or Spain, or China, to see —
Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly?

(OK, not too great but this IS Stream of Consciousness on a Saturday with the prompt want. So I will not take the time to think much about this silly song that popped into my head.)

Yes, it’s true – I want to be anywhere but here. Yet here is not so bad – it’s better than what some people have to put up with. And we are blessed to live on a nicely landscaped campus with two small lakes and plenty of wildlife.

One of our two small “lakes,” taken earlier this year.

The quarantine for this part of the state of Illinois is until at least May 30, maybe longer. And living in a senior community, the “opening” will be even more cautious. We are lucky to have had only 2 positive cases of COVID-19 here, both staff members that we don’t have any contact with anyway; the first one recovered and the second one is currently quarantined at home. Now we’ve heard that people from the state health department are going to test every resident in every senior facility. I don’t know when this will happen but I’m pretty sure we have nothing to worry about.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and originally the forecast was for the weather to get warmer and warmer, but that has since changed. Today isn’t bad, but by 3:00 this afternoon when we went for a walk, there was a chilly wind that made us not want to take a second loop around the campus. We saw lots of people we know today, though, people we haven’t seen in quite a while. One of my friends here is moving out – I don’t want her to go! She won’t be leaving until the end of June, though, and she won’t be far away from here – I want to keep in touch!

Biggest surprise today was seeing my SISTER out walking with her husband! I had expressed the wish just this morning that my sister would get out of her house and walk more. And today she did! I was so happy I wanted to hug her – but no, I did the right thing and stood six feet from her and from the others who gathered to chat.

I want to come up with a list of words that describe this time: doldrums, ennui (thank you, Melanie at Casa Bee Cee!), boredom, tedium, same-old-same-old, routine, monotony/monotonous, uninteresting or boring (in describing the food), … I’ll think of more.

But tonight we are going to have our Middle Eastern food that we ordered last night from Pita Pita! This is great for a change, and I think we are going to order from a restaurant once a week now. We get only two choices a day here and they keep repeating the same things. Support local businesses, that is what we want to do. Yesterday, we drove to the plant store that I used to always shop at before we moved, and saw a friend there that I haven’t seen in months! The store was crowded, impossible to maintain physical distance, but at least everyone was wearing a mask. And now I have something new to do – work on my garden!

Today we put in three tomato plants and six tiny strawberry plants right behind our house. Tomorrow we’ll plant the flowers I bought if it isn’t raining (which it is supposed to do). The remainder of the tomato plants and the pepper plants, plus some packets of flower seeds I will plant in my plot in the community garden – but we are required to wear a mask while working there!

Wow, these are weird times!

Six-Word Saturday: The Worth of a Human Life

May 16, 2020May 25, 2020 / amoralegria / Leave a comment

Marcus Tullius Cicero

The worth of a human life is worth pondering these days. We hear so many statistics – how many have died from COVID-19 in the world, in the United States, in our state, in our communities. These are all just numbers and we rarely think of them individually as separate lives, with families, jobs, interests, hopes and dreams. To do that would be mind boggling – the numbers are too large! But perhaps we should…

And I hope we learn from history. Doctors and historians alike mention the HIV/AIDS epidemic thirty-odd years ago to inform them of how pandemics spread. Historians also notice the similarities between the so-called “Spanish” flu of 1918 and today’s pandemic. Both were deadly strains of the coronavirus which cause harmless ailments, such as colds (to which most humans developed immunity centuries ago). And the majority of people who have been afflicted with this novel coronavirus do recover, but we are constantly learning new things about this virus.

Too often we do NOT learn from history. I have heard many people say they “hated” history in high school and in this country, at least, a large percentage of people are woefully ignorant of not just history, but also geography and the events that make history occurring now. To do this is to make the same blunders over and over again. When the president of our country is ignorant of history, we lack the important quality of leadership.

Here is a quote from Marcus Tullius Cicero (Roman statesman, 106 BCE – 43 BCE) that I recently copied on the back of an envelope when I came across it reading.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to always remain a child…For what is the worth of a human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?

***

Here are some photos of my ancestors, which I am privileged to have in my possession.

FPQ #68: To Open or Not to Open? That Is the Question

May 7, 2020 / amoralegria / 5 Comments

Fandango has a provocative question he puts out every week, and while he doesn’t mean it to be politically controversial, this week it really is – of course, everything in the U.S. is political nowadays! Here’s the question(s). Do you think it’s premature for states to be lifting the stay-at-home, shelter-in-place, and social distancing restrictions? Or do you believe that it’s about time they were rescinded? Once they are removed, how quickly are you likely to resume living your life as you did in the pre-pandemic days?

I do think it’s premature and ‘wishful thinking’ because the quarantine/lockdown/stay-at-home – whatever you call it – is working as well as it can, in the absence of widespread testing and contact tracing. Of course, some states are doing better than others. Yes, the coronavirus is still spreading, but it would be worse if we weren’t doing these distancing measures. At the same time, people are desperate because they can’t go to work so they don’t have money and end up in food lines. What’s the point of all this distancing if there’s no plan being put into place? We can’t stay in lockdown forever.

The federal government lies to us, saying testing is “widely available” when it wasn’t when Trump first said it and it isn’t now! We are currently testing a mere 2% of the population! If we don’t have a way to control the chain of infection when restrictions are lifted, the virus will continue to spread like wildfire. The government should be working hard to expand testing so everyone who needs a test really CAN get a test, while we oblige by staying home. The federal government should also be planning how to give financial support to the people who are unemployed, not just once, not just now, but for many months to come. If Hillary Clinton were president (which she should be), she would have put into place from the get-go a short- and long-term strategy with the goal of keeping the public safe until there is a viable treatment and vaccine. (Also, she would not have disbanded Obama’s pandemic response team.) Instead, we have a TV president, who cares only about his public image and has no leadership qualities whatsoever. His strategy has been: Ignore the problem and maybe it will go away. Meanwhile, tell people “good news” whether it is true or not.

Although subject to much criticism lately, our governor (J.B. Pritzker) is handling this crisis sensibly. The state will be divided into regions and even sub-regions, and allow more opening up in the areas where there are few to no cases. Certain criteria will have to be met, and these criteria are rather strict.

In the northeastern region, where the Chicago metropolitan area is, the process will be slower and more cautious. The stay-at-home and wear masks in public mandates will be in effect for the whole state until May 30. Certain requirements will have to met for that region to move to the next phase. Also, a region could move backward, back to more restrictions, if there is a resurgence of the virus.

There are 5 phases in the opening process. We are on Phase 2, because some non-essential businesses have been allowed to open as of May 1, such as golf courses (with modified regulations) and plant nurseries. People are still supposed to stay home, but must wear a mask in public places.

Believe me, I don’t want this quarantine to last into the summer. We were hoping to take a trip to Arizona for my 50th high school reunion in June, but it looks like we won’t be able to go at this point. I am retired and my husband and I live in a retirement community, so our life hasn’t been totally disrupted. However, there are certain things I really miss: we used to go to lots of concerts and theatre, so I hope we can get back to that someday, and I miss our community’s many activities. Most of all, I really miss traveling – I thought for sure we’d be fine to take a cruise to the Amazon in late November, many months away, but Dr. Fauci says most likely there will be a “second wave” of the virus in the fall.

Now Trump is saying we have to “sacrifice lives” in order for the economy to go back to normal. What?? He’s saying people should DIE from the coronavirus so that his economy could go back to the way it was, with the stock market soaring again! I wish we were in New Zealand or somewhere with a sensible government and few COVID cases. But we have a total lack of leadership in the U.S. – many mistakes have been made and the crisis neglected until it became dire.

When the restrictions are lifted, there is going to be a long period of recovery. It will take a long time for the economy to get back on course and many people will find themselves playing “catch-up” due to lost wages. It is doubtful they will get the financial support they need for as long as they need it. Food pantries will have high turnouts for quite awhile. People won’t be rushing back to malls and restaurants as long as there is still a clear and present danger of contracting the virus, even if they are “allowed” to. Of course, people will be forced to go back to work, but perhaps more will continue to work from home.

I don’t think our lives will ever be the same again. Some people will continue to wear masks, like many Chinese have done long before COVID-19. Hopefully, problems will be addressed that have become too severe to ignore. And we will have a presidential election in November, hopefully installing capable leadership in Washington D.C. (The Democrats are in a very good position to win big this fall.) But it will be a vicious campaign because Trump doesn’t have the economy to run on anymore. So he will resort to strong attacks on Biden, trying to destroy his character and credibility. I hope people won’t fall for these tactics. Democrats need to learn from the disaffected Republicans in a group called The Lincoln Project, that have put out an ad called Mourning in America.

As for me, I will probably be more conscious about hygiene. I don’t follow the 5-second rule anymore – our shoes could be tracking the virus into our house, so any food that falls on the floor, I throw away immediately. I don’t read newspapers until they are 3 days old, so I just go online for current news. I made an exception for today’s paper which explained the recovery plan for Illinois.

I look forward to the resumption of our senior community’s activities, but as soon as business as usual returns, I am going to get a pedicure! I desperately need one because my toes are ugly and it’s almost sandals weather! (I do understand, though, that in the grand scheme of things, haircuts and pedicures are not really important.)

Perhaps this crisis will teach us all to give more value to things that matter – family, friends, the environment, the need for everyone to have health care (because if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything), appreciation of the postal service, gratitude for what we have. We may learn to appreciate small things such as flowers that bloom in spring or the beauty of snow in the winter. Hopefully, consumerism will be less important, but somehow, I don’t think so. It will be enough if we learn the lessons of the pandemic, if we are paying attention.

RDP: New Normal?

April 24, 2020April 24, 2020 / amoralegria / 3 Comments

The Ragtap Daily Prompt today is normal.

Are we in a “new normal” era? Some people say yes, others say no. We have been experiencing this stay-at-home edict for over a month now, and our governor just extended it to May 30! And since 95% of the world is under some kind of stay-at-home order, I can’t help thinking, what is the new normal?

In our current reality, it is normal to:

Appropriate mask for my music-obsessed friend

See people walking around, working, talking, even teaching exercise classes wearing masks.

Get lots of ads on our phones for masks in a variety of colors and patterns – masks have become fashionable!

Become an expert at Zoom.

Hear daily statistics on TV with the updated number of cases of COVID-19 and number of deaths.

Listen to entire news shows dedicated entirely to the pandemic and continue watching several of these shows back to back.

Get a lot of coloring pages done.

And this is just the beginning!

Accumulate an immense amount of Styrofoam that our meals come in.

Play games on our phone a lot, (and those that I play with respond quickly, because they are doing the same thing!)

Download more game apps onto our phones or computers.

Think about all the projects I could be working on while sitting in a recliner playing games on my phone.

Go for weeks without having to take time to decide what to wear.

Unused clothes in my closet

Go for walks mainly to see friends and neighbors to stop and chat with, and then stand on the opposite side of the roadway when we do.

Give people a very wide berth when passing them.

Drink wine every day.

Only read newspapers that come to the house three days later, in order not to risk touching the wrapper it comes in.

Throw away any bit of food that falls on the floor even if it’s within the five-second rule.

Ask “where did the time go?” because it’s afternoon and I feel like I just got up.

Red chestnut bud

Find delight in the small things that otherwise might go unnoticed.

It is by no means certain that when this pandemic is over, life will go back to normal (i.e. the way it was before). There are lessons to be learned here, both for ourselves and for our country. I’m not sure what will result from lessons learned (if lessons are learned). But I do think in our future “new normal,” people will find a way to greet people other than shaking hands, we will appreciate much more the warm company of our family and friends, and have new respect for pizza delivery drivers. And for me, I’m looking forward to being able to travel again!

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