The loss of freedoms may teach us lesson
Something positive: I believe this experience will give many Americans a new appreciation of our country. When freedoms and civil liberties are taken away, we don’t like it. There is a tendency to take those things for granted. We all enjoy living in the greatest country in the world. Now that this lockdown is in its sixth week, it is time to get back to normal. Not a new normal — normal.
We can do this slowly and effectively. Just be more aware and practice good hygiene. Wash your hands a lot and try to social distance as we start up the country again — now. If we wait any longer, the economy will need life support. If we wait another two months, the economy will probably take years to recover. If we wait longer than that, it will be dead. There will not be a normal anymore.
Another positive: We learned a lot. We were not prepared for something like this. This country’s medical mechanisms were flawed. Modelers made huge mistakes. The Centers for Disease Control was not prepared. Medical equipment, supplies and medicines were low. The cupboard was bare. Whether you blame the prior administration or this one, there is plenty of blame to go around. Blaming Trump for everything seems to be the national pastime. I think he has done a great job and deserves full credit for making this situation as best as anyone could. Trump has fixed most of the problems and will continue to make sure we are ready for the next crisis.
Another positive was seeing Americans pull together to get through this. There were dozens of heartwarming stories of people helping people. Perhaps another positive was families growing tighter together, making the best of a lousy situation by playing board games and doing things together while being quarantined.
Thankfully this epidemic was not as bad as modelers forecast. Instead of losing millions of lives, it looks like it will be far less, maybe 50,000 to 60,000 here. That is terrible but way better than it could have been. Let’s give credit where credit is due. Trump’s administration did a heroic job. Let’s quit sniping and letting something like this tear us apart. We all had a common enemy. We should all pull together to get out of this mess.
Mark Michalak, Sabre Springs