I am not quite ready to breath a sigh of relief quite yet. Trump and his followers can still do a great deal of damage between now and January. But at least one hurdle has been jumped. Noone but a lunatic or a liar can say that Biden has not won, both the popular vote and the electoral college. And the Democrats can still pick up a few Senators - from Georgia, of all places!!!!!
But still. But still. Seventy million people voted for Trump. That is an incredible number of disaffected people. And we have done this, and with the best of intentions. Once again, the law of unintended consequences has reared its ugly head.
I've just read a book that goes a long way towards explaining this. It is called The Tyranny of Meritocracy, by Michael J. Sandel. It talks about the hopes we all had for globalization, and the hopes we had for meritocracy. If only there were no barriers of race or gender or sexual orientation. If only there were no barriers to education. Then we could all earn what we learn, as Bill Clinton (and Obama too, for that matter) used to say.
But there are always barriers. Even if we could remove the artificial barriers listed above, and, of course, we haven't, there are still barriers. People should have equal opportunity, of course, but people are not equal. And the corollary to the meritocratic ideal of you got what you have by merit, is, of course, that if you don't get it, you don't deserve it. And if you don't deserve it, then it becomes harder for those that do to say that the common good requires that you have it anyway.
I'm not immune. I have been known to say that I have gotten when I have on my own. And, if I could do it, why couldn't every one else do it?
To a certain extent, it is true. My parents were poor by the time they got to America. I worked my way through college. I worked my way through law school. My clothes - and furniture, for that matter, came from thrift stores.
And yet. And yet. We may not have had any furniture, or a car, or a television (until I was 16). But I certainly won the gene lottery, both in terms of health and, some would say, in terms of brains. There was never any question that I would go to college. There was never any doubt that I could do whatever I wanted to do. I was read to and quoted poetry to from the time of my birth. I knew more culture before I was 6 years old than most people know before they are 60. Not to mention the mere fact of the luck of timing. Work was available. Even my parents could buy a house eventually; I certainly could.
So, I am, a bit late, admittedly, learning - or trying to - the milk of human kindness, trying to realize that those without my luck need to have the rest of us work less for ourselves and more for the common good.
The statistics are alarming. We no longer value work, we value education. And yet, even in America, only 30% of adults get a diploma from a 4-year college. And men without a college education have the highest suicide rates, the highest rates of drug addiction/death, the highest rates of alchohol related deaths, the highest rates of what Sandel calls deaths of despair. Even if they have work, what they do for society is not valued.
This is the wound that Trump ripped the scab off. This was what even those with good intentions (Hillary Clinton and her Deplorables, Obama, with his reference to those who cling to their guns and pick up trucks) do not want to see. And this is the problem that still needs to be addressed.
What would I do if I were queen? I don't know. A guaranteed annual income would help. But that alone does not address the need for value and self-respect that comes from working. How do we go back to a world where work is valued? How do we get back to a feeling that, as Canadians are fond of blathering, we are all in this together? How do we re-develop a sense of the common good?
We old people are fond of belittling the young, who can't understand that you can't party right now, that you should wear a mask, that you need to think of someone besides yourself. But why should they, really? That is not the example they have been given for the last few decades, is it?
All that said, my personal life remains pretty benign. I have set myself a fitness goal - shocking, I know, at least for me. It is not the arbitrary 10,000 steps imposed by the tyranny of the computer ap, but, rather, the ability to keep up with the as yet imaginary group when travel starts again. So, I am now walking 1 1/2 hours at a go, and sometimes more. I mostly walk in my neighborhood.....
All in all, I have a pretty small bubble - I think I have seen 11 people all told since the pandemic took hold in March, and all of us are pretty much hermits!!!!
So, what else do I do? Well, I am actually working, believe it or not. As most of you know, I was meant to retire, oh, 8 years ago. And I did, sort of; I've been working on contract ever since. Some years there is more work, some less, but it all goes to supporting my expensive habits, like opera and travel. This year looked to be a lean year, but it is picking up, and since I am not ready to risk travel to the Desert quite yet, it is something to do, and it is helping to build up my travel fund...
By the way, they have organized the COVID restrictions quite nicely at work. They gave all the support staff lap top computers, so they can work at home. The Vice Chairs, such as myself, all have offices with doors that close, and we have limited the number of Vice Chairs who can be in the office any any given time anyway (by mutual agreement - the rest of the time we can work at home too). Masks are mandatory while in the office, and they have upgraded cleaning and ventilation, so, really, it is quite safe, or at least feels that way.
So, there is walking, and working, and, of course, bridge, which I play probably on average 4 or 5 times a week, on line, of course, with my Desert brige club pals. Like everything else in the world right now - politics, the Pandemic - it is a source of some disappoinment in the nature of mankind. The opportunities for cheating on line are rife, and there is, apparently, lots of it going on. However, like everything else in my life, it does not affect me directly. Our club is reasonable small, so no strangers playing. Also, our directors know our capabilities - at least as far as bridge is concerned - and can follow up if they find abnormalities. I am pretty confident that we are running a fairly clean game. At any rate, I win often enough to keep me interested.....
I'm doing a lot of knitting, too. Like everyone else, it seems in this strange time, my attention span is short, so no sweaters or coats, but lot's of fingerless gloves and socks - all my friends have benefits from what I like to call the COVID bounty. I listen to the radio or audio books while I am knitting, so am keeping up my multi-tasking skills....
There is always reading of course. I have been downloading audio books from the library throughout, and the physical library is now (partially) open in our neck of the woods. Masks are mandatory, of course, and the number of attendees at any time is limited. Increased cleaning is evident. And the new book section has been closed - too much handling of books there, I imagine. But it is better than nothing, and John and I go regularly to get a new batch of mysteries (me) and sci-fi (him) offerings. My latest were two (old, but not previously read) Martha Grimes, The Case has Altered, and The Black Cat. I do so love an author who can be relied on to be a page turner!
I did pick up a `first novel`by Helene Wecker, called The Golem and the Jinni, because I was entranced by the title. A Golem, as some of you may know, is a mythological Jewish creature made by humans, of clay, to help the Jews in times of trouble. A Jinni is a mythological Arab creature, you know, the kind that gets trapped in lamps and grants wishes. These come to gether in early 20th century New York, and although I am not usually interested in mythological creatures of any sort, I must say, I am still turning the pages.
I've also ordered a bunch of books - unlike the rest of the world, the first and only things I have ordered on line since the beginning of the pandemic. These will, of course, be reviewed in these pages in due course. In the meanwhile, it give me a sense of security to have a stash of wool and a stack of unread books at hand!
And of course, there are the Economist (John's offerings) and The New Yorker (Jack's) and miscellaneous bridge books (Dennis's) to round out the demands on my time.
So, with all of that, and numerous daily emails and texts and telephone calls, I am not feeling at all deprived, really, in spite of all those worrying about people's mental health in these trying times.
Hope you all are doing well. Do reach out: it will be good for both of us!!! I would say I will be back to you shortly, but we both know that probably won't happen. As always, though, I'll try.....
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