One of the problems that has always existed with Democracy, is that people who don't care much and don't stay informed get to have just as much say in things as people who do care and who stay informed.
Our founding fathers debated this and tried to restrict the vote to property owners. It took many years and a civil war to expand the franchise to all citizens although so many don't seem to care.
There are measurable times in history where a democratic vote resulted in an absolute tragedy.
Still while at times it seems like a horrible system, it is still better than all the rest.
Which brings us to the current panic over the Covid19 virus.
The virus has entered our society and enough of the population to probably be with us forever. Hopefully we will develop better treatments and a vaccine and it will be relegated to the same status as the Flu which is still a deadly disease for many.
We have primaries and general elections that need to be conducted and obviously we need to maintain our economy and provide essential items. We also need to continues non-essential industries to provide jobs and income as well as need products.
We are in a shutdown with the hopes that it will slow the spread but whether it does or doesn't we need to plan for societies return to normalcy, perhaps with some additional precautions.
We can certainly expand our virtual interactions, including how we vote, do our jobs, and attend classes. Obviously many things have to be done in person and I would think the use of hand sanitizer and masks may be the new normal.
There are some clear benefits to these changes, less pollution, less traffic, less disease transmission.
Will Covid19 still be with us? Probably but so is the Flu and other infectious viruses.
In the scheme of our human history, we've seen worse and moved on.
No comments:
Post a Comment