I am a lucky man with a lot of good friends. I have pals who have experienced all sorts of amazing things. Some common, though still extraordinary. Miracles, really, like the creation and bearing of children. Relationships that worked extraordinarily well, and a testament to the human experience. And relationships that did not work, another testament to the same.

This has been an equally extraordinary year. It has been filled with panic, some of it stoked by those who have melded a real public health emergency into a strange combination of political action. I rarely respond to some of the more excited social media postings of my pals, one side or the other. I don’t want to hurt any feelings, or generate more emotion than the situation merits.

It is strange, though. One of my web science sites responded to the growing number of state-imposed restrictions with interpretations derived from issues more closely associated with our last panic, Climate Change.

I enthusiastically support the notion that the climate can change radically, and sometimes even in scales that humans can follow. For example, I don’t know if Mt. Everest has fossils near the summit, but many mountains do. That means the sea bed can, over time, rise to commanding heights. The current notion- the theory- is that it is all controlled by emissions of a gas which we humans produce by breathing or driving a car- has yet to be proven more than a theory, though it was certainly an alarming one.

Some of our political people grabbed the theory and assured us in slightly heightened emotion that we had no more than twelve years to go before our fate was determined and the world we know lost forever.

That was three years ago, so the world will end, according to some, by 2029.

That was the problem with the application of the remedies to the theory. They were bold and dramatic, and included massive changes to the economic landscape, air travel, agriculture and a host of other issues central to our current way of life. It seems clear that the world will not end in this decade. We had a fairly warm summer, but nothing particularly onerous. The safest predictions of doom are put fifty or more years in the future, when most of the predictors and recipients will be safely in their graves.

That is fine with me, and I will enjoy whatever discussion we have in the relatively short time I will continue to limp around the planet. From the perspective of the world-savers, the more rational predictions were just not fast enough to overturn our current economic system and bring the utopia to us quickly. The more urgent appeals were aimed too soon. There are more polar bears today than there were because we stopped hunting and shooting them. That is a welcome event, unless you happen to live in a place where the bears want to look regularly in your trash.

Agricultural yields are up across the planet. That sort of development does not support continued fear and anxiety in the populace, so the recent outbreak of The Plague was a welcome vehicle to keep the pressure on citizens immediate and personal and ready for change.

Sadly, everything is political these days due to the election in the most prosperous economy that has existed in human history. There must be influence to achieve the desired goal of hope and transformation. What we are expected to transform into is not completely clear, but there are scads of experts who assure me that if I wear a mask and confine myself to my house, everything will be fine and there will be plenty of hope to go around.

Unless the world ends with the plague, of course. It is sort of interesting that many of the climate activist community have transitioned to a threat much more immediate and personal. In our best interest, they insist that we succumb to the dictates of the state, or city, or something.

Let me hasten to clarify my response to the crisis. I have personally experienced only one national health response while in service to the government. That was the outbreak of a viral infection known as SARS. I had a chance to closely watch Dr. Tony Fauci and a host of experts who managed that response while assigned to the Secretary’s staff at the Department of Health and Human Services. I thought then it was effective and thorough, though our version of the plague is related to it.

I trust the current recommendations for health vigilance I stay home when I can, and wear a mask if I must deal with other humans at close range. I wash my hands a lot, because that is what the experts recommend and it makes sense.

But it is curious that this current crisis is wrapped neatly around an election that is provoking a significant reaction from a lot of citizens. There are those who insist that the edicts must be obeyed on pain of public punishment, and some are happy to verbally attack other citizens for non-compliance. And more.

Other citizens refuse to be cowed, thinking this is a dramatic overreach of local, not national, authority. Others say those are selfish snobs who refuse to do the things the experts say.

As I said, I wear a mask where it seems appropriate and avoid crowds and riots to the best of my ability. I hope that will change. Wait, that phrase has been used already.

If you see dramatic news that the health crisis must force all registered voters to sty home, and participate in the election by mail ballots collected by unknown third parties in the next few months, and a candidate is elected who apparently has some sort of dementia, it just might be that there is something going on.

You will note I did not say who that was. Stand by for more adventures. I sure they will be exciting!

Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here!

Copyright 2020 Vic Socotra
http://www.vicsocotra.com