–Wade Purvis Spencer, The President’s half brother by his father’s former mistress, Cody Lee Spencer
With the exception of the above quotation, what I describe in this post happened. I tested positive for Covid-19 on March 25th of this year. I was fortunate, in that I had a light case of it that was gone about two weeks later. Time went by and then late last week I woke up with an intolerable pain in my chest. No matter how I laid in bed, I was in pain and breathing, walking, laughing, burping, and coughing (which had been increasing also) were excruciating. I made an appointment with my primary care physician for Wednesday of this week, the first available.
Yesterday morning I woke up and was in such pain I moved like an arthritic sloth. I knew from reading that the most frequent way that patients have died from Covid-19 has been runaway blood clots in the lungs, and to my medically ignorant brain, that seemed to be the problem. I had a catastrophic health crisis two years ago, so I felt a familiar dread that again, I really might die. I went to the ER, and my level of clotting was indeed, “elevated.” After six hours and more tests, I found out I had pneumonia. A few hours later, after some antibiotics, I started to feel something closer to normal. I still have to finish the z-pack, but this drama is passing.
Once I was convinced that I was not about to exit this life, I reflected upon the various yokels that I’ve seen agitating against the quarantine. Examples:
The Conversation’s Perspective on the Corona Hoax
This angered me. It seemed to defy reasonable explanation that grown men and women would travel and protest a policy that protects them, carry around assault weapons, and support a conspiracy that only only makes sense if they still believe in the existence of Godzilla, the tooth fairy, and the pegasus.
Later I watched Fareed’s Take which he broadcasts during his Sunday talk show.
Fareed on Class Conflict and Covid
He unpacked a lot of this. He quoted one author, who observed that most of the people who make these decisions (regarding public health in this case), come from urban areas, have advanced degrees and secure jobs. Many can work at home, out of harm’s way. Many of those who are experiencing the economic hardship of these policies work blue collar jobs in which they have to be present to make money. Many also are from sparsely populated rural areas, where the chances of infection are lower. From their alienated perspective, they see wealthy, urban know-it-alls telling them that they have to miss their rent, deprive their kids of braces, and forego dining out, bowling, and any other simple pleasures that defy social distancing guidelines. Meanwhile, many of the policies that the urban elite champion benefit themselves, or the ruling class. In further support to this perspective, he cites statistics regarding the lopsided impact of Covid on unemployment between moderately high income and low income earners.
This doesn’t mean I sympathize with them. I despise the way they equate this situation with Nazi or Communist tyranny, use racist overtones, and circulate absurd conspiracy theories which would be hilarious if it was not clear that at least some of them believe these myths. Examples:
There is, however, another element that further muddles the situation. The overwhelming majority of these protestors are white, highlighting another divide. Whereas blue collar workers of all races, but predominantly whites, are stuck not working, black and latino workers have to work the most covid-19-exposed jobs. They also have been dying in disproportionate numbers since the crisis begun. From National Geographic, From Businesss Insider , From the LA Times , and from the Guardian. This situation begs the question, “would the protesters be so eager to return to work if instead white people were dying in disproportionate numbers? As Fareed and others have said, the Covid-19 pandemic has eloquently illustrated this culture’s long term inequalities. Not since the Rodney King beating has this country’s stained, unwashed underwear been so exposed for the world to see. Pull up your pants, Mr. President.
Bittersweet Abattoir 