Unmasked

SHOW NOTES: Covid was a surprise, but not completely unexpected. Financial people were prepared for some "big event." The scientific, medical, and political responses were mixed, politicized, and hurtful. In retrospect, was it necessary to suspend schools and deny kids of years of learning and socialization; to prevent families from assembling for important occasions; to shut down businesses and drive some into bankruptcy; to endanger the arts, and see cultural activities stopped, sometimes permanently; to create increased sense of fear, isolation, and helplessness. Closings, suspensions, masks, distancing were clearly huge overreactions, and perhaps completely unnecessary. What IS clear is that the failure to create bipartisan approaches which found and promoted only the best and most reasonable reactions were not present, and not even sought. It was equivalent of social media and conspiracies and absurd opinions. And it encouraged fraud in claims made for financial assistance, circumvention of rules, disrespect for medical opinion. Billions were wasted, and cheats and crooks are still being arrested. This has contributed to a sense of powerlessness, of low self-worth, and of mistrust in the system. This is an age of low trust in government, journalism, entertainment, education, and religion. We need to create more trust in ourselves. We need to demand more, and we need to stop being content voting for the "least worst candidate."