Change can be good

There’s a funny not-so-funny video that is circulating where a lady rants about the contradictions posed to each of us by the coronavirus. She voices one contradiction after another (you can’t go to the doctor anymore unless, of course, you have to go to the doctor) … after another, and another …and another. Her rant seems endless, which is the video’s strongest statement. You don’t have to view the entire video to its end to understand its message.
That’s where we are right now as our society prepares to reopen after all the stay-at-home shutdown orders. We don’t have to wait for the pandemic to end to understand its message.
Our leaders have said many things as this pandemic continues to unfold. At one point, the challenges we still confront which prompted economic shutdown were described as this generation’s equivalent to worldwide war. If history tells us anything, the aftermath of a huge event ignites huge change.
The pessimist may anticipate future times when the wealthy stockpile goods and resources for the next pandemic at the expense of the rest of us. Pessimists will accept aggressive and suspicious new policies in the name of national security — punishing countries blamed for the outbreak of disease, and changes to restrict exchanges of people and goods in polarizing ways previously unacceptable. It doesn’t have to be this way.
It’s too early to know what we will learn from this pandemic but it’s not too early to begin considering how changes are inevitable. On the home front, widespread use of video applications like Zoom makes work from home and even initial consultations with medical providers and other professionals now realistic — not as an option, but in practical efficiency.
Success for positive change usually starts in your head, how you think about change. The distribution of healthy food, for instance, was put in question during this crisis. Are we prepared to meet the needs of children dependent on our local schools for meals when the next pandemic arrives, especially if the next crisis extends for a much longer time frame? Is there a way to devise a system which also rewards sustainability as well as economic growth?
Another thought change involves public health. Rural areas are already familiar with the importance of public health departments. What would happen if this country would more heavily invest in public service programs and research to prioritize human health ahead of other expenditures? Could we not reach a position where human health and well-being are priority not just between crises but also in the calm periods between?
Lives lost in war are precious and not to be lost in vain. As the coronavirus count in this country now approaches 60,000 deaths, we must rethink what a healthy democracy truly means. We have much yet to learn about the coronavirus even as we contemplate life after all the stay-at-home orders are lifted.
COVID-19 was a sneak attack on this country, much like the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor which initiated World War II. After Pearl Harbor, everything changed and, after much evil and bad, there was abundance and prolonged good. If we truly are in a wartime footing in the fight against this pandemic, we may be challenged right now to look past the bad and ahead to good. But remember, change can be good.