So, all that stuff above is going on. It has the potential to trickle down to all of us, but keeping it all straight is a challenge. Not a crisis. We know how sensitive words are these days, and the entire Socotra Staff is resolute in our support for whatever the Government seems to be up to at the moment. And it is momentary, so kinda cool.

Like, the whole mask thing went away with the onset of the fuel crisis, or the Middle East rocket thing. Or all the things. Here at The Farm, we thought the flu season we experience each year was coming to an end. The COVID crisis- er, ‘challenge’- seems to follow the same rules, despite the hysteria. It is a bad thing and highly contagious.

But that opens up the whole thing about why it is so effective at spreading itself, and why it is everywhere. The Editorial Board was unanimous in not wanting to even start with that issue. Well, mostly unanimous. We didn’t know what the people outside smoking at the loading dock thought, or whether they were appropriately masked between puffs.

But the mask question is now off the table, and we have to figure out what we are supposed to be panicked about. The Board is proud that we warned our readers to avoid the National Capital Region back in early January (a way to say it without mentioning the date) even though our warning was censored by Google. We do what we can.

There was correspondence in the “Letters to the Editor” file from the network out West. It featured a reference to a simple commercial transaction. In this case, it was getting some interior carpets cleaned. In that part of the country, a professional service was happy to do it- but was located 60 miles away from the carpet. Fossil fuels required to make the round trip made that 120 miles, and the costs were included in the bill. It is the way people live in the big square states, not the cities. But the cities are applying what makes sense to them to things that make no sense at all to others.

That doesn’t matter, of course. The President was up in Michigan this week, promoting electric vehicles. They can make sense in urban areas for running errands or hiring professional services a few traffic lights away. But as a universal answer in places with no charging stations it does not make a great deal of sense. Unless one of the features of the system is to kill off normal stuff that happens in the country. There was brief alarm at that, but like laughter, that is something we have to be alert about.

Conversation died off with that, since the Electrical Grid guru decided it was break time, and was down by the loading dock doing whatever it is he does down there. He had claimed that the nation’s power grid was not designed to handle the mass of commuters returning from work- assuming they actually work- all plugging in their vehicles- assuming they have actually left it- and then cooking dinner on electric stoves and microwaves- might cause some inconvenience if we are to rely on solar energy that vanishes at sundown. And in winter.

There was a complaint about all the commentary being broken up with contrasting thoughts for compliance. We can easily solve that problem by blanketing the square states with solar panels, wind farms and gigantic battery storage facilities. There was some laughter at that, but since we support whatever the Government is up to, if we have the electricity to turn on the TV, we will do what we can. But down by the loading dock, some noted that demand for electricity will significantly increase. For a system already laboring near full capacity, that will increase vulnerability to the same sort of evil people who hacked the Colonial Pipeline.

There was more laughter, but it was a little more uneasy, since the battery back-up that will make everything work is not manufactured here. There was more laughter, since the labor is done by a virtually enslaved workforce, and the ultimate product is not possible under the current laws of physics.

The Board agreed we ought to look at that, but we will have to do it quietly. The Legal Department stressed we need to be compliant, and not raise a fuss. Those that do seem to wind up with more trouble than they can handle. Former Mayor Giulliani is finding that out, along with retired General Flynn. The real possibility of a couple squads of heavily-armed Law Enforcement showing up at dawn is now just something we have to add to the New Normal.

Consequently, part of the amusement at this amazing social circus will be restricted to the area around the loading dock. We certainly would not post our laughter on social media! And mirth at the improbability of it all will necessarily be stifled.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com