The Isolation Diaries No. 3

“Why? Because there was no money to be made in being prepared, in making test kits we might not need, in having unprofitable community hospitals remain open merely because they serviced low-income neighborhoods. COVID-19 is why we needed to be prepared, needed to protect everyone behind a stout medical infrastructure free from the profit motive, but all of that went by the boards because ‘healthcare’ is a commodity to be traded like petroleum, and for pennies on the dollar.” William Rivers Pitt, Truthout

The bread aisle at Whole Foods is bare in the late afternoon, and only a few people at a time are allowed in to shop. I find some lettuce, asparagus, and almond milk. I forget that we need eggs, but I’m not sure any were available. The frozen section is picked over, though I find some broccoli. Near the check out aisles there are tape lines on the floor to remind people to keep their distance. Some customers wear masks. Some wear latex gloves. We are still not greatly inconvenienced, but it’s fair to say that resupplying has become more difficult, requires more planning and forethought. 

According to the Santa Barbara Independent, there are now 13 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the County. 

I listen to On Being with Krista Tippett. The episode is a repeat of her 2017 interview with the writer, historian and activist, Rebecca Solnit, one of my favorites. Solnit has a knack for tracing social roots back to when the seeds were planted, and for naming the hands from which those seeds fell. When she thinks about how social change is made, Solnit takes a long view, decades in some cases. In this interview, she talks about the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, how people, often complete strangers, came together to offer mutual aid in a time of mutual emergency. We see the same sense of cooperation and solidarity now, in this time of enforced isolation. Solnit’s point is that a crisis like a hurricane, earthquake or pandemic more often than not brings out the best in people, we rise beyond our daily preoccupations with ourselves, we reach out, lend a hand, extend ourselves to strangers who are in the boat with us. This spirit of community often baffles social Darwinists who believe human beings are incapable of cooperation. 

In a pandemic, survival of the fittest depends on survival of the most vulnerable. 

More full bore BS from Trump. His goal is obvious: by dint of repetition he’s trying to change the story of how the Covid-19 has gone down. He doesn’t care about what happens on the ground to millions of people, as long as he can make his followers believe his version of the story. Autocrats, even one as incompetent as Donald J. Trump, rewrite history. 

Here’s a fine example of a Trumpian word salad from March 2: “A lot of things are happening. A lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.” Meaning? Nothing, nothing at all, these words only fill empty space. What “exciting” things have happened in the past twenty days? 

Get down in the cracks and crevices, read between the lines, connect the dots, find the pulse, take the baton, the sword or the torch. 

What we do today matters. 

The Isolation Diaries No. 2

“What I found worked best was a lie slipped in with the truth.” Omar El Akkad, American War

My wife asks me to train her. She’s got her training gear on. The dishes are washed, bed made, we’ve both checked our work email, she’s checked in with her mother and sister, I’ve had an early morning text from my brother. No excuses, in other words. I’ve never enjoyed training with Terry because she usually starts goofing around or talking too much. I run her through some stretches with a Swiss ball, a band, and a six-foot mobility stick. She’s had a shoulder surgery and is often very tight. Then we do stretches from the MAFF (Martial Arts Family Fitness) routine. We throw punches, jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts. Then on to knee strikes and front kicks. Terry surprises me. She takes it seriously, focuses on what she’s doing, gets a good sweat going. 

We are isolated at home. It’s not uncomfortable, yet, and by that I mean we’re not deprived of anything we really need. But we need movement, need to feel our bodies, and do all we can to remain healthy. The days challenge us to stay in the moment and refrain from worrying too much about what might be coming. 

I make the mistake of watching Trump’s press briefing on Friday. It was bizarre. Trump is nuts, just fucking nuts. After presiding over chaos the past two weeks -- from his claims that the coronavirus is a hoax cooked up by Democrats and the Deep State to topple the Trump presidency, to denials of the potential severity, to claiming the virus will magically disappear, and is under control -- Trump now wants to “reassure” the public, because he has a “feeling” and because he’s such a “smart” guy. As my mouth hung open in disbelief, Trump talked out of his ass about huge goverment orders for a malaria drug that Trump believes will be a “game-changer.” 

Word salads kept tumbling out of Trump’s asshole, some did cartwheels in mid-air, somersaults, tuck and rolls. Trump’s asshole talked about Bayer, a great company. All the company’s are great, terrific, all are ramping up to produce swabs, masks, gloves, face shields, gowns, ventilators, it’s unbelievable, unprecendented, never happened before, says Trump’s asshole. 

And then, a quick turn, and Trump is attacking Peter Alexander of NBC News for asking a question Trump doesn’t like because he hasn’t a fucking clue how to answer it like a real leader of a real nation would. Alexander’s question was reasonable, a nice arcing softball for Trump to swing at. When Trump doesn’t like a reporter’s question, or the reporter, or the network the reporter represents, he immediately attacks the questioner, badmouths the network, as he might an uninvited guest at Mar-A-Lago. He went Mob boss on Alexander. Nasty question! Unfair! You should be ashamed of yourself! You’re a terrible reporter! 

In the course of his rambling, batshit, stream-of-consciousness monologue, Trump basically told the American people that the coronavirus isn’t killing that many of them, so stop whining. You might get sick, you might not, I’ve got a feeling, so let’s see how it goes. We’ll have a vaccine very soon, it’s right around the corner, our great companies are working on it 24/7. This will all be over very soon. 

What miracle cure will Trump throw out during tomorrow’s episode of The Briefing Room? Stay tuned. 

Why the corporate media even bothers to cover these propaganda exercises is a mystery. Trump’s not up for the prime time leader-in-a-crisis role. He can’t control this story line, not with boasts about phantom vaccines, low mortality rates, widespread testing that has happened only inside Trump’s putrid brain. Trump needs to be the story, the central character, and the coronavirus refuses to step out of the limelight. Trump is frantically trying to stay ahead of the tidal wave of raw sewage that is bearing down on his head. You dismiss science, knowledge, experience, commonsense, human decency, and it will bury you. 

“I’m not hearing it,” says Trump to a reporter, meaning the problem the reporter asked about doesn’t exist. 

I feel sorry for Dr. Anthony Fauci. The poor man has to stand behind Trump, listen to the Orange Menace spew lies, and not lose his lunch or walk away in disgust. Fauci is an honorable professional surrounded by dishonorable morons.

Evening falls, the sky is overcast and looks like rain. I open 2666 by Roberto Bolano and start reading. 

State of Emergency?

“Out of the ashes of the current catastrophe, America’s white working class seems to have fashioned a new culture of pain and trauma, rooted in white America’s peculiar imperative to seem happy all the time (unless you’re sick) and to personalize and depoliticize financial hardship.” Helen Epstein, Left Behind, New York Review of Books

A few weeks ago I said I was watching how the Trump gang would respond to the coronavirus. As expected, the response has been chaotic and incoherent, with false statements, contradictions, blithe dismissals, empty boasts, and, most recently, Trump’s disavowal of any responsibility. None of this is at all surprising. Trump is a decent politician who has seized control of the GOP, but he is a terrible leader, utterly incompetent, insecure, and out of his depth. Trump’s glaring personal deficiencies -- lack of character, morality, empathy, honesty, intelligence -- are now on full display, and as the coronavirus spreads, which it will, and the human and economic consequences deepen, which they will, Trump will not be able to hide. His attempts to blame everyone else for his, and his lackey-filled administration’s response to a deepening public health crisis, will sound more and more unhinged, ridiculous, and idiotic. 

It’s only March. The presidential election is eight months away. A whole lot can go wrong for Trump in that time, and by his own hand, he’s made it more likely that what happens will be bad, not good. The man is running from his own incompetence, and losing the race. Naturally, Trump claims the exact opposite.  

Locally, Santa Barbara is shutting down. Schools will be closed for the next few weeks, UCSB is holding classes online, hundreds of community events, performances, fundraisers and other public gatherings have been postponed or cancelled. My wife and I were in Whole Foods Friday night and it looked like looters had just left: no almond milk or ground beef, empty vegetable bins, a depleted frozen food aisle. Unlike a lot of people, we haven’t hoarded toilet paper or canned goods. I can’t decide if we are being sensible or not taking the situation seriously enough. I want to avoid panicking but the vibe in this city is heavy, fretful, anxious, and scared. 

Just as Trump’s complete failure of leadership isn’t surprising, it’s also no surprise that the United States government is ill-prepared to combat a pandemic. How can it be otherwise when for nearly four decades, we’ve had it drummed into us that government is the problem, and that unfettered capitalism, where individuals are responsible for themselves, is the path to freedom, security, and happiness? Why do we need government when we have markets? As Helen Epstein notes in the quote above, we have depoliticized financial hardship. In other words, each of us has shouldered the weight, the total responsibility to grab and realize the American Dream, while ignoring the structural reasons we cannot get ahead no matter how hard we work or how many jobs we hold down. We’ve been told that a price can be fixed to every human endeavor, that we have nothing in common with, and no responsibility for, anyone but ourselves and those nearest us. Now comes a pandemic, and America’s disinvestment in the Commons is coming into crystal clear relief. Why do so few American workers enjoy paid sick leave? Because too many American workers are not represented by a union. And why are there so few unions? Because neoliberal ideology, starting with Ronald Reagan, killed almost all of them. 

Working people in America need an advocate.  

Live Update: I just ran down to the Trader Joe’s on Milpas Street, hoping to find ground turkey, almond milk, and coffee creamer. The meat section was bare; no almond milk to be had, though I did find creamer. No cereal. Half a dozen boxes of maple and brown sugar oatmeal. The canned food aisle had been picked clean -- no tuna, salmon, beans, soup. There were plenty of bananas and eggs. No shortage of wine and beer. There wasn’t much bread. Look how quickly our lives have changed; our needs and desires and comforts are suddenly harder to fill. 

In our small pantry we have 1 can of pinto beans, 3 cans of refried beans, 1 jar of mayonnaise and 1 jar of pizza sauce. I’m afraid to count the remaining rolls of toilet paper in the hall closet.