A Boomer's Lockdown Blues

We have completed a month of a shelter-in-place lockdown with no end in sight, despite Trump’s plans  to “liberate” the economy by encouraging a number of red states to end their lockdowns. Bars are set to reopen, as well as barber shops, beaches, malls and restaurants. More coffins re likely to open as well, since America, unlike many countries of Europe, lacks adequate testing, not to mention contact-tracing, two quintessential ongoing tasks for any program of cautious re-opening.

Trump is not solely to blame here, he is merely the ugly, visible manifestation of an ugly, invisible disease. His press briefings are, as it were, a Shmo Play in which an oligarch rages behind an orange mask. We’ve got what we are paying for, day after day. The latest manifestation of that incompetent front for unregulated capitalism is 66,000 deaths (as of May 2, 2020) many of which could have been prevented if, (impossibly), Trump had been less concerned about himself than about people, and had instituted what science had recommended at an earlier date.

Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear know all this; besides, for those whose faculties prevented them from coming to terms with the mess we’re in, I’ve written countless  essays since 2016 about the need to face facts. The subject of this essay is, therefore, not another example of my bashing Trump’s bashing of truth and decency, albeit a related one.

1. Covid and the Inner Climate

Yes,  I’m suffering (somewhat) from metaphorical formication; yes, I’m feeling (somewhat) antsy. Cut off from my friends and acquaintances; unable to go to the gym; accosted by earworms after streaming a dozen or so operas from the Met, etc., I feel, that is, I imagine, that, at nearly 75, I am ready and able to run a marathon. Truth is, for the last two weeks, my wife and I no longer go for walks; after watching a riveting performance of Elektra with Nena Stemme in the title role, my wife rose from the computer, tripped on a wire and injured her leg. (Thank God it wasn’t her hip!) No doubt about it, those 8 to 10 thousand steps a day helped to keep the blues away.

We’re among the lucky ones, less affected by the pandemic than most. Nirmala will be ready, we hope, to resume daily walks very soon. I’m retired; my routine hasn’t been changed by 180 degrees, maybe only about 30 degrees. I enjoy reading, writing, and playing the piano, activities that I have been able to increase by being forced to stay at home. I live simply; my wife and I can live off Social Security and my pension. In addition, she still works as a physician, although her schedule has been severely curtailed. Do I enjoy the extra time spent with her? Indeed.

Yes, we are among the lucky ones. What about so many younger folks who are suddenly unemployed? So many already are having trouble paying rent or mortgage; so many already are having trouble putting food on the table. I live in America, which Trump has turned into the greatest third world country in the world. Things are likely to get much worse before they get better. I as an I have no reason to complain; I as part of a we, however, must.

2. We Must Change, and We Aren’t

What bothers me most about the lockdown is not the boredom from having too much time on my hands, but the refusal to realize that time is running out. The crisis of our time, as if the pandemic weren’t bad enough, is climate change. I had hoped that the present crisis would give us a chance—perhaps our last chance—to face a terrible fact: the Earth is getting warmer due to human activity, and if we don’t act with fierce determination soon, life on Earth will be diminished forever. In case you are unaware of the scope of the impending disaster, I will now provide a brief summary of the problem.

We live now in the Anthropocene Age, which began with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18^th century. It is the first age of unnatural history since life began billions of years ago; unnatural since it is the first age in which human activity has had a major effect on the planet.

Climate change has been gradual. Until fairly recently, Earth has been able to buffer the increasing pollution, thus avoiding precipitations of disaster. When a sponge is full, however, it is no longer able to sop up a spill; the sponge is nearly full now, yet we continue to spill and spill. This can’t go on, yet, so far, it has.

In 1998, James Hansen, then the  director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, testified before Congress that he was 99% certain that humans were responsible for climate change. Later that year, the World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere called for a 20% reduction of global carbon dioxide emissions by 2005. As reported in the Economist, “instead of emissions in 2005 being 20% lower than they were in 1988, they were 34% higher. By 2017, they were 22% higher still".

The climate change movement began at a very bad time; Reagan’s and Thatcher’s poisonous gospel of deregulation and laissez-faire business practices had become the new norm. The resultant  increasing inequality and increasing fossil fuel pollution have continued unabated to this day. The current president illustrates the problem, but is not its source; he is merely an orange mask behind which Late Capitalism rages.

Without major intervention, life on earth will be difficult and less biologically diverse. Storms and droughts will be more severe; rising sea levels will engulf coastal areas, wreak havoc on low-lying areas and even on low-lying countries, resulting in mass migration. The point of no return is rapidly approaching;

I get the impression however, that once the covid pandemic wanes, people will want to go back to the way things were. We cant afford to do that. We need a two-pronged approach: on the collective level, capitalism needs to be vigorously regulated; on the individual level, we must change the way we live.

3. A Modest Proposal

If I were more entrepreneurial, I would produce Globe Snow Paperweights—without the snow. Each paperweight would have the skyline of a city or emblem of an area (Mount Rushmore, for instance, for South Dakota). Each skyline would be submerged in liquid. On the face of each globe would be something like, "Baltimore, Submerged? It is not too late to fight climate change.”

I don’t think this project would be a success. Business, big or small, is not my area of expertise. I’m rather introverted and bookish, I admit it. As previously mentioned, There must be a two-pronged approach to battling climate change: the individual and the collective responses. I will leave the very important collective approach--political activism, for instance--to those who are better at this than I. I will therefore focus on individual action.

What can an individual do? Plenty.

My modest proposal is that we become vegan or vegetarian; if that is not possible, I propose that we drastically reduce our meat consumption.

If we do this, we can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint by up to 73%. As we approach veganism, we reduce the amount of land used for the production of food by 75%, thus increasing the habitat for wildlife, the diminution of which is responsible for many extinctions. The production of meat, especially beef, entails four times the amount of energy as raising vegetables. Methane, a far worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, would also be reduced very significantly. The horrible cruelties of the meat and poultry industries would become things of the past. (I’m convinced that the exploitation of animals and the exploitation of humans are connected).

Even the reduction of meat consumption—especially beef and lamb—would have a very significant effect. Eating less meat not only protects the environment and enhances health, it is a tastier option as well. As a famous chef has stated, bite into meat and the flavor fades quickly; bite into a vegetable dish and the flavors last much longer.

In conclusion, let’s return to the subject of the pandemic. Covid cases are skyrocketing in  meat-processing facilities. Many have been temporarily closed.  The deplorable working conditions have endangered the health of the workers, who are mostly Latinos. Trump’s solution: an executive order which declares them to be essential services. They are not! 

Endangering lives while continuing to endanger the environment is another example of the fossil fuel industry talking behind an orange mask. On a collective and individual basis, we must fight the rich ventriloquists who speak through President Dummy! Eating less meat is an essential part of that struggle.