Pandemic´s End: Life After A Pandemic
May 2020 Editorial
www.ink2quill.com

I´m looking ahead here.

Epidemics and Pandemics have always been around, especially in our western culture. They have come and they have gone, like hurricanes, tornadoes and serious thunderstorms. While they rage, we think they will never end and when they are over society is shaken, in the worst cases shaken to the roots. People, groups of people, and even nations are blamed for the carnage but the truth is that these powerful forces of nature are one of the many obstacles societies must face. Blaming others for pandemics/ epidemics is just scapegoating, unless they spread pestilence on purpose like Typhoid Mary or the Huns from our histories long gone. So, once the battlefield of our struggle against a pandemic/ epidemic is quiet and societies have won, what happens next? What do we do as a society or individual when the microbiological storm has passed?

Well, the first thing we need to do, especially in cities like New York, is to have a great big parade or street party or street fair, where people come together, drink, laugh and do all those things denied them during the plague. Yes, people should fill their bellies with ethnic foods of all kinds and drink like fish. It should be like a crazy kind of Mardi Gras with fire works and all that good stuff. That is the very first thing people need to do. They did this in ancient days after wars and everybody loved it. Now having a triumph parade for our president might be going too far but our president is definitely invited to mingle with us common folks.

The next thing we need to do is to make some serious changes in our societies because this pandemic showed the weaknesses in the societies of the world when it comes to such threats. This is especially true in the U.S. We need to make changes to the health care system, technology, to the laws even. There should be a simple five or ten step plan the everyday person can easily follow when a pandemic rages. That includes the relaxation of some laws and maybe the creation of phone apps for the elderly or handicapped where they can get info and help if needed. It is not as impossible or gigantic a task as you might think.

I liken the situation of a pandemic/ epidemic in a society as a community dealing with a hurricane, flooding or a tornado. Some people evacuate, others board up their windows and hunker down and these are all good ways to deal with the situation. The fact is that these crises come and go. They have a beginning and an end, no matter how hard they rage. So, keeping a level head and having the right infrastructure to turn to makes all the difference. Once this storm has passed we need to create that infrastructure for everyone from the wealthiest to the least advantaged people. That is how we can honestly protect ourselves from such problems wreaking havoc. We need to create that solution, that infrastructure, for everyone and make large casualties from epidemics/ pandemics a thing of the past.

John

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