We are facing a terrible health emergency. Of that, there can be no doubt. Caronavirus is a killer that spreads more easily than a fifteen-dollar hooker. We are changing our lives because of it, as well we should. We have learned a great deal from this experience. For example, based on the wiped out toilet paper supplies, Americans must really shit a lot.
But, we can learn other things. Spelled a little differently – with an”o” replacing the first “a” in “Carona” – the name of this virus can mean “the outer circle.” Maybe we can use this horrible experience to re-align our priorities and render this virus just the “outer circle” of new efforts to penetrate other problem killers with the same sense of urgent purpose that we are applying to it.
I checked out some stats about causes of deaths in this country (without sports now, I needed to feed my stats habit). I found out that there are about 600,000 cancer deaths a year; about 600,000 deaths from heart disease a year; and about 15,000 gun-related deaths a year. And, get ready for this – there are about 3,000 traffic deaths a day.
Every death by disease or accident is a calamity. You can’t measure tragedy in numbers. However, imagine how many of these awful events could be prevented if we treated those other threats the same way that we are treating this one. Why aren’t cancer and heart disease worthy of a national emergency? Why aren’t some of the billions spent on war weapons transferred to cure those diseases?
Why have we not immersed ourselves into developing safer vehicles and roads? Why is the country, that successfully dedicated itself to the magnificent scientific accomplishment of going to the moon, not capable of making a workable self-driving, accident proof car? And guns, well, that’s an easy one. Fuck the N.R.A.
So, let’s make Carona be the corona. Let it be the outer ring of our circle of healing. Let us move further into the core of caring (sorry for the syrupy cliché). Let us mobilize against all the killers. The Ignoramus-in-Chief would never think like this. That’s why it must be right.
We were right 