No telling
Neither pessimistic nor optimistic and not realistic. Not sure, but at a dark and still 3:something hour I'm thinking train of thought, subdued stream of consciousness. Not muzzled, nor even muted, but subdued. A word with myself as a truth-seeking person. Remember: Seek the Truth, Come whence it May, Cost what it Will. Truth is more to be desired than illusion, more than much fine illusion (which is why disillusion is not a bad word). Truth is better to tell than assurance.
I'm thinking of the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 that demolished the city and killed seven to twelve thousand people. Nothing may have prevented the property damage of a city built on sinking sand, the wind and storm surge that pushed entire city blocks of buildings back and back and back against each other collapsing everything like some huge bulldozer. But the loss of human life was in part because weather services, at the time imperfect but knowing a horrific storm was coming, were wary about warning folks lest they panic. Truth is better than assurance.
We watched the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster unfold on TV that morning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster The vehicle was damaged during takeoff such that some NASA officials knew it could not return. That knowledge was held close, the mission proceeded and finished, and the vehicle disintegrated during reentry, not survivable, the astronauts and their families never suspecting. Who makes decisions about truth-telling? Mission and morale fade when people's lives are at stake, the moral issue becomes paramount. Morality and ethics. Truth. Who doesn't get that, skip to the next question.
Who wants government deciding not to tell you there's a nightmare coming, lest you get scared? Should we be told when an enormous meteorite is discovered heading for Earth? That will be the moment when we find out what we were all along.
We watched the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster unfold on TV that morning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster The vehicle was damaged during takeoff such that some NASA officials knew it could not return. That knowledge was held close, the mission proceeded and finished, and the vehicle disintegrated during reentry, not survivable, the astronauts and their families never suspecting. Who makes decisions about truth-telling? Mission and morale fade when people's lives are at stake, the moral issue becomes paramount. Morality and ethics. Truth. Who doesn't get that, skip to the next question.
Who wants government deciding not to tell you there's a nightmare coming, lest you get scared? Should we be told when an enormous meteorite is discovered heading for Earth? That will be the moment when we find out what we were all along.
Everyone is to keep upbeat, stiff upper lip lest someone get downhearted. Confidence and optimism. Don't cry. Our expectation of selves and others after the hurricane. 850 Strong &c. Sure enough, we're coming through it and emerging in fair shape, our morale a factor in our progress. So now Covid-19. We know the world will make it. Yes, we will, of course we'll make it, there will be people and civilizations on Earth a year from now, ten years from now, especially if we learn from this.
Survival of the species is not an issue, the human race has always outlived a plague. The issue is uncertainty, fear for ourselves and those we love as news worsens day by day and we hear words like exponentially. We don't know the answer, but ignorance is never an answer, to turn off the TV. Faced with Incoming, better to learn, expect and prepare. Like math, Truth counts.
At least if one can trust who's telling, eh? That whoever's telling values truth above good news.
Actually what I'm pondering is how different it will all be tomorrow, for whoever's here. There will be no return to the Usual and the world will not be the same. Values change. Who is valued may be different. Having food for three days may be more important than having a thousand dollars in the bank. Nurses may be greater heroes than football players. Service people than movie stars. Vocational schools than universities. Walking than riding. Clinging to the Usual, we are concerned about semesters, credits to graduate, summer vacation, college next fall, job offers for graduates. What is unthinkable may be the New Usual. Life and order are evaporating around us and we will emerge in a different world. Narnia again: in The Magician's Nephew, Polly and Digory find themselves in woods with many pools of water, each leading to a different and unknown world, some horrible, hopefully some good. Fish and ospreys may not notice, but for humans, their world after Covid-19 may be quite different from ours. What worries us here may be of little concern there. The school board's required days of class. What a person needs and what a person can do without. Hairdressers may be greater than philosophers, barbers than theologians. Truck drivers than travel agents. I may not be eating crabmeat from India, lox from Nova Scotia, and blueberries from South America. Beautiful now may be ugly then. Who is admirable v. who disappointed when the chips were down. Who was clever v. who was considerate. My father never heard of https, nor may your great-grandchild know prejudice, wouldn't that be a marvel. Perspectives may be new. Morals. Certainties. Maybe even whom to hate. Whatever, Earth will abide.
Have you read it? Earth Abides. It really does. Earth Abides, the sun rises, and that's the Truth.
T
Earth Abides George R Stewart
Have you read it? Earth Abides. It really does. Earth Abides, the sun rises, and that's the Truth.
T
Earth Abides George R Stewart