On the topic of hope, I've always found Kant's take compelling. Hope isn't a reaction to the way the world is (looking for "evidence" to be hopeful about the future) but a moral stance in relation to it (one that reflects our responsibility for ourselves and our attitude to others).
Josh Marshall (the journalist/pundit who runs TPM) said something similar about optimism immediately after Trump's election in 2016. He described optimism as an ethical outlook, not wishful thinking about the future.
Unfortunately, I usually don't have the patience to listen or watch podcasts or videos. But I might try to watch the ones to which you link later.
Regarding: "COVID should end with a parade: ticker tape and trumpets and kissing in the streets."
Well, this didn't happen with the Spanish flu pandemic, so why would it for COVID? (And of course, CV19 isn't over at all -- cases are rising again in Europe and the UK, and soon will again in the US. China is being hit hard. Etc.)
COVID will never truly go away, just as the flu hasn't, but it will become less severe and fatal over time (as is standard for viruses as they mutate). It'll still probably kill thousands of people every year for the foreseeable future -- especially the unvaccinated -- just as the flu has been doing for years. We'll have to get CV shots with flu shots every year (at least if we want to be safe and considerate of others).
I'm not sure how people expected this to turn out. It'll fade into the background. But some changes will stick, at least in some places. I doubt that masking will truly go away altogether (at least for some people -- myself included). It's been common in certain East Asian countries for years (since swine flu, etc.). And thanks to masking and social distancing I haven't been sick in over two years, so it's not all bad (at least for anti-social hypochondriacs like myself).
The one thing that has most disappointed me about the pandemic has been the reaction to the vaccines, especially in the US (Canada, at least, has done okay, despite what the "Trucker protest" might suggest, as it has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world). I thought that I couldn't be more disappointed in the American public than I was in 2016. But I was wrong. I never cease to be amazed at the way in which the vaccines have been politicized. Hell, I can't even process it, it's so insane. (Likewise for all the anti-masking rage -- why do people want to infect others so badly?)
I find it interesting that our standard for COVID becoming endemic and less dangerous to the general population is the Spanish flu. It makes sense, since they are similar diseases, but what if that's the wrong analogue? COVID has behaved somewhat differently so far (e.g., long COVID). I saw a sobering tweet the other day that said "People who think "endemic" means "no big deal" do not live where malaria is endemic (600K deaths per year, mostly children), or where tuberculosis is endemic (1.5M deaths per year), or where measles remains endemic (200K deaths per year)."
You're right that even if COVID becomes part of our "background disease landscape" (at least in the West) it may remain worse than the flu (more deaths + damaging long-term effects in many cases). (And the flu is no joke, especially for older people.)
Given the nature of the disease, though, I thought that hopes that it would be "eliminated" (like smallpox or polio) were unrealistic.
In any case, I don't foresee abandoning my masks when travelling or shopping anytime soon...
On the desire to go back to "things as normal" as soon as possible:
On the topic of hope, I've always found Kant's take compelling. Hope isn't a reaction to the way the world is (looking for "evidence" to be hopeful about the future) but a moral stance in relation to it (one that reflects our responsibility for ourselves and our attitude to others).
Josh Marshall (the journalist/pundit who runs TPM) said something similar about optimism immediately after Trump's election in 2016. He described optimism as an ethical outlook, not wishful thinking about the future.
Interesting post! Thanks.
Unfortunately, I usually don't have the patience to listen or watch podcasts or videos. But I might try to watch the ones to which you link later.
Regarding: "COVID should end with a parade: ticker tape and trumpets and kissing in the streets."
Well, this didn't happen with the Spanish flu pandemic, so why would it for COVID? (And of course, CV19 isn't over at all -- cases are rising again in Europe and the UK, and soon will again in the US. China is being hit hard. Etc.)
COVID will never truly go away, just as the flu hasn't, but it will become less severe and fatal over time (as is standard for viruses as they mutate). It'll still probably kill thousands of people every year for the foreseeable future -- especially the unvaccinated -- just as the flu has been doing for years. We'll have to get CV shots with flu shots every year (at least if we want to be safe and considerate of others).
I'm not sure how people expected this to turn out. It'll fade into the background. But some changes will stick, at least in some places. I doubt that masking will truly go away altogether (at least for some people -- myself included). It's been common in certain East Asian countries for years (since swine flu, etc.). And thanks to masking and social distancing I haven't been sick in over two years, so it's not all bad (at least for anti-social hypochondriacs like myself).
The one thing that has most disappointed me about the pandemic has been the reaction to the vaccines, especially in the US (Canada, at least, has done okay, despite what the "Trucker protest" might suggest, as it has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world). I thought that I couldn't be more disappointed in the American public than I was in 2016. But I was wrong. I never cease to be amazed at the way in which the vaccines have been politicized. Hell, I can't even process it, it's so insane. (Likewise for all the anti-masking rage -- why do people want to infect others so badly?)
I find it interesting that our standard for COVID becoming endemic and less dangerous to the general population is the Spanish flu. It makes sense, since they are similar diseases, but what if that's the wrong analogue? COVID has behaved somewhat differently so far (e.g., long COVID). I saw a sobering tweet the other day that said "People who think "endemic" means "no big deal" do not live where malaria is endemic (600K deaths per year, mostly children), or where tuberculosis is endemic (1.5M deaths per year), or where measles remains endemic (200K deaths per year)."
You're right that even if COVID becomes part of our "background disease landscape" (at least in the West) it may remain worse than the flu (more deaths + damaging long-term effects in many cases). (And the flu is no joke, especially for older people.)
Given the nature of the disease, though, I thought that hopes that it would be "eliminated" (like smallpox or polio) were unrealistic.
In any case, I don't foresee abandoning my masks when travelling or shopping anytime soon...
On the desire to go back to "things as normal" as soon as possible:
https://www.thebeaverton.com/2022/03/report-wanting-covid-to-be-over-and-it-actually-being-over-technically-two-different-things/
That beaverton piece is awesome.