By Hank Silverberg
We will reach a sad milestone in the coming week. Sometime, possibly Monday or Tuesday, more people will have died from the Covid-19 pandemic than died in the infamous flu pandemic of 1918. A century ago, before there were flu vaccines and
(For perspective, about 600,000 Americans died in the four years of the Civil War.)
Of course, the population of the country is much bigger now than in 1918, and the deaths have been spread out over 18 months, compared to about five months in 1918, so the impact doesn't seem as great. But this is the 21st century. We have better health care in general than in 1918, and the vaccine has been readily available for free to everyone.
So, what's the reason for the inability of this country to stop or even slow the pandemic? Failed politics!
The previous administration was slow to act on the virus at the start and had a leader without the brain capacity to understand what was happening. Now the current administration can't seem to overcome the opposition of a large minority within the misinformed public who are egged on by propagandists on the right who control their own cable television networks. (Newsmax, Fox, OAN)
Communication now spreads at the speed of light and there is good solid information about how to protect yourself from the virus and how well the vaccine works, but that doesn't seem to get through the political blizzard.
Here is just one example surrounding the pandemic that has been pretty much ignored because of domestic political nonsense. This is a global pandemic. What the United States does, never occurs in a vacuum. Yet every time the Biden Administration talks about sending vaccines overseas to help poorer countries fight the virus, the right attacks the idea with Nationalism. "Vaccines for Americans first!" they cry at the same time they are encouraging people here at home not to get the shot. It shows a total lack of understanding about global conditions and the science of pandemics. Stopping it here in the United States won't stop a world-wide pandemic. Viruses know no borders. Science and history tell us that if the virus survives anywhere it will come back here eventually, maybe in a mutated form that the vaccine we have now won't stop. Failing to lead a world-wide effort is trouble for the future and also does great harm to America's image abroad.
the coronavirus death toll is approaching the 1918 flu pandemic — with some key caveats (msn.com)
I try to be patient with people who won't wear a mask and won't get a vaccine. In many cases they are simply misinformed. But I am losing my patience with those who use political office, media visibility or celebrity status to spread disinformation. They are the real plague that threatens the very nature of our American experiment in Democracy.
Constitution Day
I chose this past weekend, on Constitution Day, to visit Montpelier, the home of our fourth President, James Madison. He is often called the "Father of The U.S. Constitution," though there is some good argument that he was only ONE of the Fathers and instead shared the honor with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.
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| (Montpelier, Photo by Hank Silverberg) |
My wife and I took a tour of the grounds and Madison's home and were impressed by the presentation of a Madison reenactor who gave us a speech and also the knowledge of our tour guide.
It was a good reminder of the original intent of the Constitution, a government to serve the common man, and some of the heavy debate that proceeded the passage of what was in reality a political compromise.
However, it is important to remember that our Founding Fathers, worshipped by our current right-wing and venerated in most of our history books, were flawed people. Hamilton and Madison for example, were poor managers of their own money and ended up leaving their widows in dire financial straights.
Jefferson, though he put the abolition of slavery into the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, owned slaves and in fact had a long running affair with his slave Sally Hemmings. (That portion on slavery was edited out at the suggestion of John Adams and Ben Franklin in order to get the Declaration approved by the southern representatives to the Continental Congress.)
Madison, who often said slavery was contradictory to his revolutionary views, apparently had no moral conflict in owning other human beings, and in fact had more than 100 slaves on his vast Virginia estate. (The tour included a very good display on the role of slaves at Montpelier and some detailed stories on the lives of individual slaves who lived and worked there.)
The feud between Jefferson and Adams over vastly different views on how government should work is legendary, yet in the end they remained friends.
Our Founding Fathers also had a few scoundrels. Aaron Burr is perhaps the best known. He was once a friend and political ally of Hamilton before their political ambitions got in the way and culminated in the infamous duel which cost Hamilton his life.
I thought about all this during the tour this weekend. It made me think of our current political climate, where civil discourse seems to be missing. Nothing ever happens in Washington these days that would move this country towards the "more perfect union" that our Founding Fathers dreamed of.
We have had these times before, most notably in 1861-1865, but we have survived.
The docent at Montpelier, at one point on the tour, expressed concern that most Americans, even those in public office, don't know much about the U.S. Constitution, and many have not even read it.
He's right.
Unfortunately, reading it might not change much for our current crop of lawmakers. I have a feeling that after reading the Constitution they would all put their own spin on what they have read, complete with talking points provided by their partisan political consultants and expressed on one of the party-friendly cable TV networks..
They might not understand that the document itself was a political compromise, specifically written to be applicable in the future and made difficult to amend on purpose.
At least that's the way it appears to me, judging by the gridlock we have seen on Capitol Hill for the last few decades.
I wonder what Madison, Jefferson, Adams and Hamilton would say about our current crop of flawed leaders?
Misinformation
Much of the misinformation being generated these days about Covid-19 and politics is coming from the internet. And now it seems Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, are much more skeptical about the media than their parents or grandparents.
Gen Z is eroding the power of misinformation - Axios
Generation Z may also be a little cocky. Sixty-nine percent believe they can distinguish real news from misinformation on line, but 50% think that is very difficult for older generations. Here's why they think that way.
Forty-six percent of the Gen Z group say they intentionally "like," comment or share content to train algorithms to give them similar information and media. But they say most older generations, even millennials, don't understand the hashtag culture and how to intentionally curate their feed.
All this of course assumes the Gen Z group is actually paying attention to what they are reading, and are getting a well rounded group of sources. Despite the poll, I don't think that is the case. Otherwise, they would be dragging their parents to the voting booths and the vaccination sites.
Job Scams
Many of them are designed to steal your identity. An in-depth study by the BBB says there were an estimated 14 million victims in 2020, costing those people more than $2 billion in losses. The most common victims were those between 25 and 34, with 67% being women.
In some cases, people responding to the job ad actually went through fake interviews, often done on line with no visual contact. They were told they got the job. All they had to do was supply information like social security and bank account numbers so they could be paid. In other cases the victims became what are called "money mules," to make fake checks or participate in reshipping scams. These scammers hire their victims from job boards, offering to pay them as much as $2,500 to receive and send packages. Many of those packages go oversees and the worker is never paid.
BBB Study: Looking for a job? Be careful! Job scams increased during pandemic
Here's a list of few precautions from the BBB that you can take when job hunting to avoid these scams.
- Research the job offer. Call or go directly to the actual company's website for contact information to verify the job posting.
- Check on businesses at BBB.org if they claim to be offering jobs.
- Do an internet search with the name of the employer and the word “scam” to see if there are reports involving job scams.
- Examine the email address of those offering jobs to see if it matches the protocols used by an actual company. Be alert to gmail business email addresses.
- Consider creating a separate email address when posting a resume on job boards or applying for jobs. This can help detect “offers” from scam employers you did not contact.
- Consider setting up a second bank account simply to handle pay for jobs where you have never met the employer in person.
- If you’re paying for the promise of a job, it’s most likely a scam.
- Be very wary of mystery shopping or secret shopper positions.
- Work-from-home jobs that involve receiving and reshipping packages are likely scams.
- Beware of jobs that involve receiving and forwarding money.
- Be cautious in providing personal information such as your full address, birthdate and financial information in your resume or to unverified recruiters and online applications.
- Be wary of vague job descriptions.
This week's entry is another Republican Congressman. I have tried to be balanced here and I am sure there is some Democrat out there who has said something dumb. But it is so much easier to find Republicans because they do it much more often. If I find a Democrat, I will post it. But for now, this week's quote comes from North Carolina Republican Madison Cawthorn. You may remember he's the man who fraudulently claimed when he was running for Congress that he had been admitted to West Point, but never went because he got into a car accident. The claim was a total lie.
Well, apparently he now claims to be a Constitutional Scholar. Speaking on the right-wing propaganda network (Newsmax) about some airline's decision to ban anyone who has not been vaccinated against Covid-19, he said this:
"I think that's actually a constitutional violation because you actually have a constitutionally protected right to free unrestricted travel in the United States."
Well, yes and no. If you want to get in your car and drive anywhere in the United States you can do so unrestricted, assuming you have a driver's license and insurance. Or you can be like Forest Gump and run across the country. No one will stop you. But you do not have an unrestricted right to get on an Amtrak train if you are not wearing a mask. The government regulates trains and has mandated the masks for customers and vaccinations for employees. That's true for on mass transit for many municipalities as well.
Airlines, of course, are private businesses that also are regulated by the government. Any private business can make some rules about service. They can't discriminate based on race or gender by law, but they can require you to wear a shirt or shoes, or a mask, and that you be vaccinated. It's not discrimination because you have made a choice whether or not to be vaccinated. The restriction is also the safest idea. Do you want an unmasked, unvaccinated person breathing down your neck in an enclosed airplane for several hours during a pandemic? So Congressman Cawthorn, please go back to some of your other wacky ideas. You are so wrong on this one.
(Your suggestions and comments are welcome)
(Copies of my latest book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:
HankSilverberg@gmail.com
for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with a signature)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796
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