Jon Margolis is a political columnist for VTDigger.
Starting his daily walk a little before 2 p.m. the other day, a person was greeted by someone walking nearby (but properly more than 6 feet away) with a hearty “Good morning.”
“It’s after noon,” replied the first fellow.
“You’re right,” said the other. “But it doesn’t matter any more.”
It doesn’t. With so many spending all day working (or not working) at home, the clock seems something of an anachronism. It isn’t just that “the time is out of joint,” as someone noted some years ago. It’s more like time has detached itself from its moorings. The mornings, afternoons and evenings blend into one another.
So do the weeks and months. Remember impeachment? That seems to have been back in another era. It was two months ago.
It’s all disconcerting. Nothing quite like this has ever happened, at least not in the memory of any living American.
But everything will be fine. This is the United States of America, which overcomes all obstacles. “We will win this war,” said President Donald Trump, noting that “we have a great country and our people are just truly amazing people.” His likely November opponent, Joe Biden, agrees. “When we’ve stood as one, this nation has never, ever been defeated,” he said.
Sure it has. It never had to surrender to an enemy, but often failed to realize its goals. In actual wars, the U.S. sacrificed much to achieve little in the War of 1812, the Powder River War (1876), Red Cloud’s War (1868), the Korean War, Vietnam, Afghanistan. Whether the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a success is open to debate.
Then there were the “wars” declared on poverty, on cancer and on drugs, all of which continue to thrive.
It’s a mistake to assume that victory in this “war” is assured. “Truly amazing,” the American people may be, whatever that means. By themselves and others, they have often been described as energetic, innovative, dynamic, entrepreneurial.
But patient? Not the most common American characteristic. In this “war,” though, patience could be the most effective weapons system. In this war our side is going to lose more battles before it starts winning any. Even after (if) we start winning most of them, the enemy could counterattack; the experts now tell us that a new wave of coronavirus could assault us by late summer.
So it is not yet the beginning of the end or even the end of the beginning. Whether Americans have the patience to spend several more weeks cooped up looking at four walls and one flat screen remains to be seen. Will they “stand together” or break apart in anger and frustration?
Another reason to be grateful for living in Vermont: It’s not as bad here, certainly not compared to the coronavirus “hot spots” like New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, Seattle. Most Vermonters can go outside reasonably confident that they can stay far enough away from others. Try that in midtown Manhattan.
“Not as bad” does not mean good. Vermont’s population is the second smallest in the country but 11 states had fewer confirmed coronavirus cases. For whatever reason or for no reason at all, Vermont has more cases per capita than nearby Maine and New Hampshire.
But there is some evidence that Vermonters are doing better than most others in staying home and staying away from each other. A company that collects GPS location data created a “Social Distancing Scoreboard” that measures where people are traveling less. Vermont is one of five states that got an A. Wyoming got the only F.
So good for us. And good also (no irony or sarcasm here) for all the wonderful people doing wonderful things: the doctors and nurses in the emergency rooms, the schoolgirls making face masks, the people who have figured out how to entertain themselves and others online, like the kids at Boston’s Berklee School of Music who – each in his/her separate location – created this nice diversion with their “virtual orchestra.”
All admirable. All insufficient. Individual, voluntary offerings just don’t cut it. On Monday, the president proudly proclaimed that 28 million face masks had been or were being distributed. Wonderful. But 3.5 billion are needed. And 3.5 billion can be created.
Because, as just mentioned, this is the United States of America, and while it cannot always prevail, you know what it can do better than any institution in the history of the world?
It can make stuff. Lots of stuff. Make it and distribute it. That’s how it won World War II, by making and shipping more planes, ships, tanks and guns than anyone else. More than almost anyone (including the heads of the companies that made them) thought possible.
Made them and shipped them. Of all the incorrect things Trump has said nothing was more incorrect than his claim last week that the federal government is not “a shipping clerk.” It is. It’s the best shipping clerk ever.
If it chose, the United States of America could now make more surgical masks, test kits, ventilators, respirators, protective body suits and hospital beds. It could have started making them weeks ago. Had it so chosen, there might now be enough, or at least almost enough.
But it can only do that if the government of the United States engineers and coordinates the effort, as it did in the 1860s and in the 1940s, when the United States won wars. And it can only do that if the president of the United States decides to lead the effort.
The president has decided not to. So more people will die.
Stay home and wash your hands.
