Do We Recognize the Nuances?

I am sitting at my computer, because there is some semblance of peace here in the living room, and because I decided yesterday that I’d like to make more of an effort.

What does it mean, though? Will I be working each day to publish a blog post or a photo? I hope not. Writing with a keyboard and a computer has different meaning attached to it than picking a color and writing in one of my journals. It’s almost as if the message “Careful, you’re not writing for your eyes only” blinks into focus somewhere on the screen at regular intervals. A form of resistance, I guess. Will I let it stop me? Not today.

Our Coronavirus world is a weird one. “Keep calm and carry on” seems to be the official message, and that has its merits. It’s undoubtedly better than something like, “Panic now and don’t stop till we’re all dead.” I wonder, though, if we’re being lulled into a state of complacency about matters that should worry us.

Today I came across something I once shared on one blog or another. In “The Inherent Violence of Modernity,” Father Stephen Freeman writes, “The arguments supporting the success of modernity are always misleading,” and in making his point, he uses the example of ending slavery. I, however, would like to change the example a bit. I’m going to quote from Father Freeman again but will replace some of his words; my substitutions will be in brackets. Ready?

The single desired effect [e.g. limiting as much as possible the number of people who die from COVID-19] is cited. But every unplanned consequence is ignored [a populace left unsettled—taut as a bowstring and ready to snap; loss of wages, jobs, businesses, and freedom; a government further entrenched in the lives of its citizens]. Certain actions are deemed desirable [such as limiting the number of people who contract the virus], but every action carries its unforeseen cost. What tends to be the case is that the desired outcome is credited to our actions, while the unforeseen consequences are credited to “nature” (or some such thing). Modernity always wins, because it cooks the books.

I don’t know if the negative effects of our Coronavirus lockdown “cure” will outpace lives “saved,” but I fear that its unpleasant consequences will continue to be felt for a very long time, possibly in ways we can’t yet imagine. Nobody wants to pay the piper, but like death and taxes, it may be unavoidable.