Tag Archives: Black Death

SPECIAL: COVID-19 and the Coming Great American Disillusionment

J Robert Smith

  • May 9, 2020
  • 4 min read

Updated: May 12, 2020

“I knew nothing but shadows and I thought them to be real.”― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

— goodreads.com … Quotes about Disillusionment

“All knowledge hurts.”― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

— goodreads.com … Quotes about Disillusionment

THE TAKE

Back in late February, we were told that the Black Death was soon upon us. But in less than two months, nothing of the sort has happened. Americans haven’t had to swab disinfectant over doorways in some public health Passover ritual. The “Great Deadly Contagion 2020” is a bust, of sorts. Yes, there’s a COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s contours more resemble a nasty flu season.

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SPECIAL: Why Do We Keep Acting as if the COVID-19 Pandemic is Worse than It is?

J Robert Smith

  • April 19, 2020
  • 4 min read

Truth: This virus is new and can be deadly. We have been afraid that something bad was going to happen. We knew we were not prepared so we hit the panic button. We were wrong and caused a lot of unnecessary damage. We don’t want to admit it so we are stuck. Everyone is to blame.

— Rod Shapard, Twitter Post, April 19, 2020

Broadly speaking, we are in the middle of a race between human skill as a means and human folly as an end.

— Bertrand Russell, “The Impact of Science on Society”, p.88, Routledge

When the governor, however entitled, makes not the law, but his will, the rule, and his commands and actions are not directed to the preservation of the properties of his people, but the satisfaction of his own ambition, revenge, covetousness, or any other irregular passion.

— John Locke, Chapter 18, Of Tyranny, “On Gouvernment”

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