The Sanity Clause
# 249
There is an unwritten but universal part of our social contract that says we owe something to our community, to our neighbors, and to our country. And they, in turn, owe us something too. It is an old idea, largely forgotten in this age of the `Me’ generation, but it is no less true today than it was in the past.
Our parents and grandparents knew this concept, and lived by it. And thankfully, even today, some people continue to practice its tenants.
It’s called volunteerism and community involvement, and during a pandemic, it is what may make the difference between your community surviving largely intact, or crumbling during a crisis. And while it may entail some additional risk of contracting the virus, keeping your neighborhood, your community, and your country going during a pandemic increases your own odds of survival.
Before any of my readers have a hemorrhage, allow me to explain.
An avian fu pandemic could last for months, conceivably for a year or longer. Those with plans to hole up in their homes for the duration are going to find it very difficult to maintain strict isolation for anywhere near that length of time. For a select, exceedingly well prepared few, it might be possible.
But for most of us, it is neither feasible, or in my estimation, desirable.
Practical considerations of being physically able to hunker down and avoid contact with the outside world for a year or longer aside; consider the psychological aspects.
Envision being sequestered with family members inside your home, with the doors locked and the windows boarded up, living on canned food, rice and beans, and fearing every sound, every movement outside of your house. If the power stays on, via radio or TV, you will have a non-stop emotional diet of death and destruction, along with `flu forecasts’ broadcast on the half hour, 24 hours a day. If the power goes out, then you will simply be sitting in the dark, wondering what is going on, but likely fearing the worst. Twenty-four hours a day.
For months.
If you have shut out your neighbors, designated your home an inviolable island out of fear of the virus; then every noise, every movement outside your window you will perceive as a potential threat to you and your family.
And without the assistance of your neighbors, they may well be.
Can you really withstand this sort of isolation? Can your family members? Can you mount an adequate watch and defense if others, seeking food or supplies, decide to invade your sanctuary? For how long? Can you handle any and all medical emergencies? Can you survive without exiting your home if the water, or sewer services are cut? And can you really sit back and watch the plight of others without helping?
At what point does Sheltering-in-Place become Suffering-in-Place?
Leaving your home during a pandemic entails heightened risk. But abandoning your neighbors, and your community in the long run is probably riskier.
Many people, those with essential jobs, may find the option to remain home is taken away from them. Others, with only a few weeks or months of supplies, will find they must leave their homes when they run low, else they and their families will starve. And there is always the possibility that your home, or neighborhood will become untenable during a pandemic. Hurricanes, floods, and fires will still happen in a pandemic.
Like it or not, at some point, you may be forced to exit your home.
Life during a pandemic will certainly not be `life-as-usual’, and I’m not suggesting that those with non-essential jobs necessarily go out and report to work. In many instances, your place of employment may be shut down for lack of business, or for public health reasons. Nor am I suggesting that you congregate at the corner bar to swap viruses.
What I am suggesting is that you plan now on how you can help your neighborhood, and perhaps your larger community, during a crisis.
The old adage, United We Stand, Divided We Fall is never truer than during a crisis. You are going to need your neighbors, as they are going to need you.
I understand how difficult it may be, and how truly scary the H5N1 bird flu virus is. If the CFR (Case Fatality Ratio) remains high, then the risks of being exposed are great. But there is an old adage in the military; that even those hiding in foxholes can get killed.
Hunkering down in your home is no guarantee of safety.
In the EMS world there is a concept called mutual aid. Essentially it is the recognition that no police department, no fire department, and no EMS can be adequately prepared to handle any and all emergencies. That in the event of a major disaster, they can call upon neighboring services to lend a hand.
We all need to be thinking in those terms. We all need to be developing mutual aid agreements with our friends and neighbors.
Volunteering during a pandemic needn’t involve direct contact with infected patients, or the handling of dead bodies, although those jobs will need to be done by someone. It can be as simple as checking on your neighbors every day, helping to maintain a neighborhood watch, or cooking meals for those who cannot for themselves.
I know one couple that has decided that, should a pandemic come, they will volunteer at a local orphanage. As laudable and noble an idea as any I’ve heard.
I know others who will open their homes to children who have lost parents to the disease. They have already talked to, and registered with social services. Again, filling a great need.
I know of another woman, whose son is a law enforcement officer, who plans to open her home to care for any of her son’s comrades in blue who are stricken by the disease. Risky? Yes, but to her it is the only `right’ thing she could do. I am proud to call her a friend.
There will be millions of desperate needs during a pandemic, and we will need millions of people willing to do something about them. The Federal, State, and local authorities won’t be able to micromanage a pandemic. They can hopefully deal with the big issues of power, and water, and communications. They can try to maintain civil order. And they can attempt to keep the hospitals open and running. But they won’t be on your street, or in your neighborhood, looking after you and your family.
We’ve been told that, should a pandemic come, we will largely be on our own; that we can’t expect FEMA to roll up to our driveway and offload pallets of food and water. In order to get through this sort of prolonged crisis, we will need alliances, and those we can only find in our own community.
There will be some, for whom venturing out may be too dangerous. Single parents of small children may find it simply too risky, and I understand that. It may make sense for only one or two members of each family to go forth, allowing others to remain behind in relative safety. And there is reason to believe that older people, those over 40 or 50 (a group, alas, to which I belong) may be less vulnerable to this virus, and they may be called upon to shoulder a greater portion of the risk.
There are compromises that make sense during a pandemic.
But what doesn’t make sense, at least to me, is each of us abdicating our social responsibilities out of fear of contracting the virus, and trying to survive on our own.
It’s an unpopular opinion, and a tough sell. For many, their Rambo-esque fantasies of barricading themselves in their homes, gun in hand, with their stockpile of rations is far more palatable than actually doing something to help out in a pandemic. It feels safer, even though it may, in the long run, be more dangerous.
The psychological factors of a pandemic cannot be overstated. There is a reason why the events of 1918 were almost completely ignored by the writers and filmmakers of the last century. The reality was simply too ugly, the pain too great, to remember. For that reason, until recently, most Americans were unaware that a great pandemic ever happened.
Doing something to help your neighbors, and your larger community during a crisis not only makes sense on a practical level, and increases your own odds of survival; it makes sense on a psychological level, too.
Being part of the solution is empowering during a period of time when most people will feel extremely vulnerable and isolated. Working, or volunteering, will certainly be more tolerable than sitting in a darkened house, fearing the unknown. That way, for me at least, lies madness.
So I intend to do what I can to help mitigate the effects of a pandemic. I hope my readers will consider this option, and do the same.
All it takes is an acknowledgement that no man is an island, that we can all get through this better if we work together. And believing. In yourself, your community, and in the spirit and power of cooperation.
Yes Virgina, There is a Sanity Clause.
You’ll find it, in the small print, near the bottom of your social contact.
