History doesn't always even rhyme

The current crisis has pulled us into a new world, one we have to accept whether we like it or not. We have had emergencies in the past like the bombing of Pearl Harbor. People can be fond of making comparisons. They'll equate our current circumstances with something like the onset of WWII or the Great Depression.
Sometimes people will hesitate with such comparisons but then they'll add: "History doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes." My late father would sometimes say "analogies are dangerous." Grappling with the current situation demands recognition that it's something new, IMHO.
No one could have felt certain how WWII was going to play out. There was no script calling for a scenario of roughly four years in terms of the U.S. involvement. The actual conflict of course pre-dated Pearl Harbor. The atomic bomb was not on the table until the very end. Once developed, the bomb changed everything. So we got the Cold War which in such hideous fashion planted the seeds for the Vietnam war.
The Depression created a whole generation of Americans who were a little paranoid. We must wonder: What if the Depression and WWII had not happened? The shattering events are so ingrained in our minds and history books, it takes some effort to weave an alternate history. Humanity always has choices to make. Alternate histories are a fascinating branch of writing, which prompts the question: is it fiction or non-fiction? Such works must of course be fact-based.
What if General Lee had won at Gettysburg? Frankly it was difficult for either side to "win" a large-scale battle in the Civil War. The two sides would simply shoot each other up. Lee's gamble was that the pain would prompt the North to sue for peace.
What went wrong with humanity, that the tragedy of WWII developed the way it did: evil and death on an incomprehensible scale? Civilization broke down. Memorial Day speeches, warm and uplifting as they are, cannot negate the scale of the tragedy experienced.
Is there really any road map from the past experiences to guide us now? Can we even be sure that the virus with its new forms (mutations) and manifestations won't wipe out humanity? We can't even be sure about this, can we. And if we survive, what will history books say about the reaction we are showing at present? There is no way to know. What will history books say about how so many of our leaders are weighing the economy against human lives?
We have colleges whose fundamental purpose is to instill wisdom, and yet we have a lieutenant governor of Texas saying on national TV "there are things more important than living." Boy, I'd like to hash over that little nugget with a philosophy professor I remember from college, last name Corliss. I remember him talking about the belief "you can't define 'good' without using the word itself or a close synonym." Philosophy professors might be especially helpful for us now.
Is the pandemic going to shake us up in such a profound way, it will end up being like the crises of the mid-20th Century? It might "rhyme" and it might not. To repeat: "analogies are dangerous."
Aren't you concerned about how historical accounts will someday treat our U.S. president? I mean, if you're one of the many who voted for Trump in our Seventh Congressional District, this most "red" district, are you comfortable as you ponder how history is going to treat him? That judgment is going to reflect on you. It will get personal.
A Democrat as president would have taken charge faster vs. the crisis, not as distracted by how the stock market was likely to react. Democrats are programmed more to take care of people's basic needs. Barack Obama would surely have done this. He would have adhered to the "pandemic playbook." He wouldn't play games with diversions and with tossing scraps of satisfaction to a narrow base, the latter exemplified by Trump's immigration statement. Trump knows immigration is a handy boogeyman.
But can his self-interested tactics last much longer? It's so hard to predict now because there is so much we still don't know about the virus.
We go out in public with such mixed thoughts because we can't know if we're safe. A grocery store will make "wipes" available. Seems very logical but what if we miss a little spot? Will that kill you? We see all these micro efforts at trying to feel safe. Meanwhile in Georgia, look how the governor is trying to open things up. Just like the mayor in "Jaws" who wanted to hush up the shark worry. The character was so obviously "evil" in the eyes of people who watched the movie. Today there are politicians who seem totally in that mold. And they have been elected by us, the U.S. citizens. How are future history books going to judge them?
If we can land on our feet, will it be with a totally new grasp of what a proper civilization is, a civilization not so riveted on the day-to-day fluctuations of the Dow Jones? I thought Republicans preferred a minimal government in our lives, and yet they look to their "fearless leader," this Trump fellow, to guide them along literally every day, as if we owe our welfare to this political leader.
I rolled out of bed this morning and for a few semi-awake moments, forget about what all is going on. That happen to you to? No, I won't be going to the Morris library to glance at the West Central Tribune with its sports section front page full of the usual photos of kids who happen to have athletic talent. Athletes are surely the top tier of our young people, right? Well, I don't buy that. And now we're living in a world without any high school sports.
What are kids thinking as they see all the people around them grapple with a crisis? They are realizing that life goes on even with no sports. What an amazing revelation.
Kids can view life through a more clear lens than the rest of us. What do they think as they see the most zealous conservatives in the media talk like the economy and stock market must be served as if there is a price to be paid with a substantial number of lives lost? Because that is what we are hearing with little if any nuance. The people you hear in the media are vain and attention-seeking - they can be aligned with narrow interests that have an economic agenda.
To counter that, let's remember "all politics is local." We all want to know if there are any virus cases confirmed in our own county. We all want our own immediate lives and interests to be served, not the proclamations from someone like Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. The attorney general of the U.S., a puppet or sycophant of the president, is threatening to take legal action against states that he sees as overly strict with movements of people. Talk about "big government!"
We can be thankful we don't have the kind of leadership that can characterize the southern states like Texas with its lieutenant governor. "There are things more important than living." Will this go side-by-side with Neville Chamberlain? Chamberlain BTW has not been reviled in Great Britain to the extent as elsewhere like here in the U.S. where his name has become like a cudgel. Or handy cliche.
The economy is paramount? Well how do you define "economy?" Is it something serving the interests of all the people, and if not how can you possibly feed at its trough? How do you make the moral argument? How can you seriously suggest that so many of us are to be viewed as expendable, literally, for the sake of seeing "green arrows" with the stock market?
Maybe we need a more socialist-oriented economy. Maybe we don't have to live by the opulent standards that have characterized us. Why travel so much? Why fly so much? Our new digital tools enable us to communicate with anyone at any time. Why not truly combat climate change? Why do so many of us wish to diss that in the name of Trump?
We have political leaders like in Texas and Georgia who seem comic with their denial of risk, in Georgia with the idea that even bowling alleys can open up. So, "there are more important things than living." Like bowling? Aren't you all worried how the kids of today are eventually going to judge us all?
I'm sure the kids are realizing even faster than their parents that life can go on just fine without sports. Keep the buses in the bus garage. Let's all just stay put. The Federal government should assign a "czar" to tackle the pandemic 100 percent regardless of any short-term economic pain, regardless of the "red arrows" down.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com