Bob Schwartz

Woke up to this in the New York Times:

As U.S. Nears 800,000 Virus Deaths, 1 of Every 100 Older Americans Has Perished

Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older.

Note that those reported numbers are below actual. Months ago, experts said that reporting remains imperfect, and that the number had already exceeded 1,000,000 covid deaths.

I also woke to read articles by presumably intelligent and principled people saying that covid restrictions had long been overreaching, and that “outside the world inhabited by the professional classes in a handful of major metropolitan areas” Americans don’t care about covid and are getting on with their lives.

From all reports, I am sure that many of those older Americans who died were not part of “the elites.” I am sure that some of them adhered to recommended restrictions and that some wouldn’t and didn’t. I am sure that none of them can comment because all of them are dead. I am sure that absent those restrictions and interventions the deaths would be higher, much higher.

I’ve learned this over my life. Intelligent and principled people don’t necessarily say and do the right or good thing in every circumstance. A quality shared in so many traditions is humility, that is, even if you think you are intelligent and principled, you have to let it go and admit to others and to your deity that you may very well be wrong. In this ongoing crisis, where here in my state, not an elite one, there are 60 or so covid deaths a day, and there are no ICU beds, and at least half the people act as if there is no covid, we could use more active compassion, and more humility among those who think they are smarter than a diabolical virus. Because they are not.