#238 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday January 3)
Good morning,
We have turned the calendar to 2022 and a new year. We are now 21 months into the pandemic and I thought it productive to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned during the “Days of the Pandemic”:
There’s no place like home
We should be eating outdoors more often—it’s beautiful out there
We probably should always wear masks in large public places like airports and subways
Science is truth
People are self-interested
People don’t understand statistics
The Internet fuels disinformation. Not only that, but it will multiply whatever disinformation or conspiracy theory that will rile people up and keep them on line a little longer.
The giants of silicon valley care about the rest of us no more than did Jay Gould, Henry Huntington or Leland Stanford (the robber barons of another era)
In trying to be “nonpartisan,” the media (and the tech giants) are giving equal ground to the plainly ridiculous in discussing issues of life and death
Children need to be in school
Mask mandates don’t constitute an unreasonable overreach by the government. All values are to be balanced. In this instance, the tiny bit of “liberty” sacrificed for the demonstrable public good of safety is worth it.
Messaging is everything. The government committed total failure of messaging in bringing out the vaccines and informing of their value
Government can’t solve all our problems
Corporations may have the rights of people (see, e.g., Citizens United), yet they don’t love the outdoors, raise families or seek purpose. They only seek profits. In that light, their “political speech” is without objective other than profits (see, e.g., Purdue Pharmaceuticals). Political speech in the absence of humanity is not political speech—it’s profit speech.
Even the smartest guys in the room can be fooled (see, e.g., Theranos)
We are all in this together
TO START THE NEW YEAR—LOOKING BACK
Here is what I wrote on March 14, 2020, the first day of the Musings. It reflects my continuing beliefs and I wouldn’t change a word. Thanks for being on this journey with me:
“I have been terrorizing various of you over the past week with my musings about the COVID-19 virus (it’s real—stay home and be careful), the mendacity of our Supreme Leader (it’s real—hopefully we get through this despite him), and any number of bad jokes. Basically, I am against the notion that anyone with a Facebook account can declare themselves a journalist or an expert, and that blogging seems as accepted as the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. That said, my faithful friends, there’s no reason not to harass you. You may be a friend from college, or a community activity, or the golf course, or just because. But you’re important to me.
In these days of social distancing, I think we share a special moment, when we can spend more time with loved ones and just by ourselves, with some time on our hands. Time that can be spent in quiet introspection, periods of self-improvement or just binging without guilt. If we’re not careful, the hours will be eaten up like those little dots in PacMan, turning into days and days turning into weeks. We must be careful to be as diverse in our pursuits with this extra time as we are when our days are packed. As Andrea, Lauren, Tina and I are in the middle of our self-imposed isolation, I recall with amusement Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. You may remember that, once he accepted that each day would be much like the last, he found himself learning the piano, learning languages, improving on mistakes of the past, helping others. The whole idea is that every day—regardless of how unchanged from the last has the ability to be better than the last. And so, one of my pursuits will be my Musings from the Bunker. Here goes.”
ERRATA
Yesterday’s clip was NOT Green Day. It was Oasis with “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
Have a great day and year!
Glenn