Saturday Soother – March 21, 2020

The Daily Escape:

David Hockney (a new painting) ā€” hereā€™s a quote from Hockney: ā€œDo remember they can’t cancel the spring 2020ā€.

Blog reader Fred VK emails:

ā€œHow do you know if you could be in a third world country? When you go see the Doctor, she greets you wearing a face mask that says ā€˜made by Mr. Coffeeā€™ā€.

It is difficult for people to talk about anything else. COVID-19 is on the march, and America isnā€™t prepared for whatā€™s coming. Worse, weā€™re unsure if this is a one-two month problem, or something that will last a year or longer. Most countries think that the virus will grow exponentially, and will kill many of their citizens. This leads nearly all governments to order many businesses to close. No one is traveling, except to their local stores. In Connecticut, no one is able to get a haircut for the duration.

But since Wall Street is still open, anyone who owns stocks has taken a huge haircut this week. Fridayā€™s drop leaves Trump looking at a Dow average thatā€™s 3% below what it was when he took office. Heā€™s presided over the worst week in the stock market since 2008.

This market crash is due to investors trying to understand the extent of the damage to the US economy thatā€™s being done by how weā€™re fighting COVID-19.

In order to save our society over the longer run, weā€™re actively putting ourselves into a very deep recession. That may mean that people will be out of work for a short, or a long time. If itā€™s a long fight, that may lead to a very dark economic time for all Americans.

A fundamental question is:

“What unpleasant decisions would our federal and state governments be willing to take to get us out of a deep recession, if the virus is still around a few months from now, and still killing a lot of people?”

Is restoring our economy, and putting Americans back to work worth a million lives lost? Is it worth 300,000?

Remember that before 9/11, no one thought we would surrender our freedoms for 3,000 deaths, but we did. No one thought weā€™d fight a nearly 20 year war that killed 6,789 and wounded 52,353 Americans, but we did.

Those wars have cost the American taxpayers $5.9 trillion since they began in 2001. Weā€™ll easily spend $2 trillion between here and September to prop up the economy while fighting the Cornonavirus.

What kind of sacrifices will we be willing to make if the Coronavirus is still killing Americans on Election Day 2020? Which Party will be saying we should put people back to work?

Itā€™s likely to be both Parties.

Dark, right? There are encouraging signs. Small acts of kindness in supermarkets, artists performing for free on the internet, people trying very hard to avoid making the elderly sick. These are all wonderful things, and we need much, much more of them.

Some say that it takes a common enemy like the Coronavirus to unite us. If we become united in the fight, and stay united once weā€™re victorious, that would be also be a wonderful thing.

So, letā€™s take a beat, and think hopeful thoughts about the arrival of spring. Here in northwest Connecticut, the peepers began singing a week ago, and the daffodils are blooming. The first dandelions are peeping through the grass, but weā€™re expecting snow on Monday. So winter isnā€™t over just yet.

Letā€™s try to soothe ourselves by listening to two pieces of spring music. First, ā€œSpring Morningā€ by Frederick Delius, written around 1888. This is always a Wrongo favorite in spring:

Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.

Second, listen to Vivaldiā€™s Four Seasons: ā€œSpringā€ (La Primavera) in a complete version, performed live in February 2020 by Alana Youssefian and the Voices of Music. This isnā€™t a ā€œVivaldi as usualā€ performance. Wrongo had never heard of Youssefian, but listening to her and the Voices of Musicā€™s original instruments is a treat.

Subtitles in the video are words by Antonio Vivaldi!

Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.

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Terry McKenna

We will see what happens. I am glad I have a job where work at home is possible. The story on Facebook shows a bar part owned by my niece, Annie Royce. She now lives in FL but we spent a lot of time with here when she was a child, including taking her on vacations. I am proud of her.

wrongologist

Nice video. My daughter owns a successful restaurant on Cape Cod where restaurants are also closed by state order. Businesses on the Cape are highly seasonal, so if the mandated closures extend into June, many small businesses will be hurt badly and may not survive.