Archives for March 2020

COVID-19: Are We Really All In This Together?

March 26, 2020 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever perused much of what is posted in this blog you’ve read about impact mindfulness. That’s a concept that I coined some years ago. It has three foundational pillars or principles…

Impact Over (self) Interest
The Big US (or we’re all in this together)
Removing Impact Blinders

I’m hearing the phrase “we’re all in this [mess?] together” a lot these days in the midst of this COVID-19 epidemic…

But are we…really?

And why did it take a worldwide pandemic for us to figure that one out?

Here’s a blurb from a post I wrote long ago about the concept of the Big US…

I’ve repeatedly posted about impact mindfulness using a “we’re all in this boat together” metaphor. I still like the metaphor, but recently a more relevant one dawned upon me. One that involves a sinking ship…enter the Titanic…

In my metaphor, the ship represents the Planet, the crew and passengers, well, People, of course, and the ocean upon which they are afloat, the Universe.

Yea you got it, People – Planet – Universe, or to the handful that pay any attention to this blog, aka, my three dots…

Now isn’t it true that the silly things that divide us, like nationality, economic status, religion, looks, talent, fame, fortune, etc., tend to matter much less, or evaporate altogether, in distressful situations? When the proverbial shit hits the fan, all that stuff seems to decrease in importance, doesn’t it? The thing that unites us, our instinct for survival, tends to take over.

We’ve sort of arrived at one of those moments in 2020 with COVID-19, haven’t we?…

At the outset of the voyage, the Titanic was a steaming cauldron of division. You had the the wealthiest, then just the wealthy, then the servants of the wealthy, and then the rest who had to huddle down in the lower levels, so as not to be seen nor smelt by those above them.

That is, until the Universe decided to throw a tiny iceberg in their path. Then all of a sudden all that seemingly ordered division turned chaotic. In the flash of a moment what mattered more was survival than societal class difference.

Right now our world is being stressed to the breaking point. And we’re learning that, similar to the situation on the Titanic, there are precious few lifeboats.

What the “Big US” proposes is for us to look past what divides us and embrace what unites us, our humanity…before it’s too late.

Prior to the iceberg incident, the Titanic was an invincible ship, at least in the minds of some. She was unsinkable, remember?

I believe there are a few suffering from that same illusion when it comes to our planetary ship. That the smartest among us have it all under control. But even though the Universe seems willing to allow the illusion of such control for a time, when it is good and ready that “control” can be suddenly revoked…even by a microscopic virus.

We’re actually not in control at all. We can all humble ourselves to that fact, or remain puffed up with division until that small impediment (be it a virus, or a tiny increase in the percentage of carbon in the atmosphere) does us in.

Bottom line, the practice of impact mindfulness requires that we disregard division and focus our impacts for the good of People and Planet in general, that is, the Big US.

It would be refreshing if we could make this shift in mindset, from me to we, before the towers fall, the cities flood, or the world gets sick…

Aside from COVID-19, there seems to be a sickness that has taken hold preventing us from seeing things that way. This most recent disaster could be a wake-up call. We’re being called to act for the greater good like never before…

Are we up for the challenge?

When I see people hoarding hand-gel and toilet paper, well, it does make me wonder.

Impact mindfulness has always been about this higher calling. To make living for something greater than oneself a point of mindfulness. Something we just do, habitually.

Bob Dylan wrote that “the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.” Yea it is, in tiny droplets of spit that stay suspended for 30 minutes to a few hours. The answer is that, compared to many, we are a soft and vulnerable species. And even more vulnerable the more divided and ruggedly individualistic we pretend to be.

But we are also a resilient and intelligent species. Hopefully those qualities will see us through this one without too much permanent damage…

Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes, especially those of the recent past. The mistake of thinking we can abuse our planet without consequence. The mistake of thinking it OK for mass wealth to be concentrated in so few hands, while so many go without food, or adequate health care. The mistake of not knowing or caring about our neighbors, especially if they are of a different race, religion, or political party.

Yes, COVID-19 might just have a few lessons to teach us before it goes the way of the measles, mumps and smallpox…

If COVID-19 can really motivate us to live by that adage, “we’re all in this together”…

Well, it might’ve just done us the biggest favor imaginable.

The Hardest Thing About COVID-19: Uncertainty

March 21, 2020 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

We humans have a love/hate relationship with uncertainty. We like a certain degree of it in our lives. We like to say that “variety is the spice of life.”

But, too much of it can paralyze us with fear…

That seems to be about where we are right now with this pandemic. The hardest thing about COVID-19 is the uncertainty.

Here are a few facts about this disease that might help you face the uncertainty…

An important thing to understand about this highly contagious disease is its basic reproduction number, or R-naught (R0). In epidemiology, the basic reproduction number of an infection can be thought of as the expected number of cases directly generated by one case in a population where all individuals are susceptible to infection. All individuals (at least all of those who haven’t already caught it and recovered) are susceptible to COVID-19. There is no vaccine for COVID-19, nor any human immunity.

Scientists have estimated COVID-19’s R0 as between 1.5 and 3. Compare that to the measles, which has an R0 of 12 – 18. The higher the R0 is, the harder it is to control an outbreak. The goal of all the social distancing, hand-washing and testing being mandated is to bring the R0 down to under 1. Once it’s under 1, the spreading will decrease (the curve will flatten and begin to show a downward trend), hopefully long enough to develop a vaccine and kill the damn thing off once and for all!

The other thing we sort of have a handle on with COVID-19 is its fatality rate. It seems to be around 2%, even though in some places, like Italy, the experience has been almost double that (Italy has a much older general population that the U.S.). Compare that rate to the fatality rate of the common flu (around .1%) or ebola (from 25 to 90%). While it’s much worse than the flu, it’s still not that high. Most who get sick will recover and develop an immunity against it, which will also make the rate of spread go down.

I am no expert, but I’ve certainly been trying to understand all the hoopla concerning this virus. The statistics above give me cause for both concern and hope.

The R0 of this infection is not insurmountable. We can get on top of it, as we have with other infectious viruses with similar R0’s (SARS and MERS come immediately to mind). The question is how fast and how much damage will it do in the meantime. The answer is quite a lot, although judging by the fatality rate for this virus, the vast majority of those who succumb to it will recover. Even so, it’s alarming to think that 2% of the potentially millions infected could die from this, if we don’t get a handle on it quick and reduce that R0.

Even though there’s uncertainty in the health risk posed by COVID-19, that risk doesn’t worry me as much as the risk of the havoc it will wreak on healthy lives, especially economic havoc, while we take drastic and economically paralyzing measures to deal with said health risk.

I sell real estate in Costa Rica…to foreigners, for the most part. Will the real estate market here be affected by this? It already is. When a country completely closes its borders to entry of all foreigners, it tends to greatly decrease my customer base!

So, the short-term negative effect is a certainty. The uncertainty is, how short (or long) will short-term be?

I can, at least, fantasize some silver-linings in this cloud over the longer term. But I don’t know when, if ever, they might actually materialize to my economic benefit.

However, this is not a post about COVID-19’s impact on the real estate market in Costa Rica. It’s being written to help me and you deal with the hardest thing about COVID-19…the uncertainty it has inspired. The stock market has gone down almost 20% due to that uncertainty.

So, how best can we cope with the hardest thing about COVID-19?

Well, being factually informed helps. Turning off the TV helps. Meditation helps. Stepping back and surveying the big picture helps…

And looking at this as a chance to make a positive impact on your species, certainly helps…

One sure way not to do that is to become overwhelmed with worry, either about getting sick, or about how this event might affect your pocket-book. A self-centered retreat, reflected in actions like hoarding toilet paper, will not help you reduce the mental anguish of uncertainty, I don’t believe.

My last post was entitled COVID-19: A Viral Perspective. In that one I discussed how COVID-19 is sharpening our focus concerning the risks posed by things like Globalization, Capitalism Run Amok, the ascent of Fake News, and the presidency of Donald J. Trump…

COVID-19 might be humanity’s chance at getting some things right that have gone awfully wrong in the last few decades. I have written in the past on how I feel that greed is at the root of many of our problems. What I mean by greed is the tendency for humans to prioritize self-interest over selfless impact…

For example, it will be interesting to see how the pharmaceutical industry reacts to this, as the race for a vaccine is well under way. Will they react out of compassion, or greed?

Stay tuned…

You see, as a result of this microscopic parasite we’re all of a sudden being asked to dramatically alter our lifestyle…for the good of others.

And that’s exactly what this blog’s been about for the last, ah, six odd years. In a nutshell, what we’re being collectively faced with is the need for impact mindfulness. We can either embrace it, or go on living a purely self-interested way (hoarding toilet paper) and millions will probably die.

So, it’s pretty much completely up to us, as far as the health impacts go…

Yes, COVID-19 will most likely lighten our wallets, reduce our portfolios, and may even force us to skip a fancy dinner or two…

But that might be a small price to pay for the enlightenment that can potentially come via our adopting impact mindfulness as a habit in our daily lives.

As I also said in my previous post, habits, especially life-style altering ones, are hard to instill. It always helps to have a darn good reason…

Our salvation just might qualify as one…

What do you think?

COVID-19: A Viral Perspective

March 15, 2020 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a bug going round…

Oh ok, I guess you have heard…

One thing about this particular virus (at least for me) is that it’s encouraging a viral perspective of our world and place within it…

I’m especially referring to the following 5 areas of focus…

Globalization

Viruses have always been avid world travelers. Even way back in 1918, before the advent of air travel, the Spanish Flu infected 500 million people around the world, or about 27% of the then world population of between 1.8 and 1.9 billion.

But these days, just one of these little bugs can hitch a jet ride from Wuhan (China) to Wilmington (N.C. or Delaware) inside the mucous membrane of an unsuspecting airline passenger and arrive within hours, allowing an infection to jump from continent to continent, riding first class at 500 mph!

We have to face the fact that our interconnectedness, commercially and socially, has put US (the big one, that is) at greater risk, even as it has lifted our quality of life.

For the past several years there’s been a backlash against globalization, primarily in the form of right-wing anti-immigration movements. Does COVID-19 bolster their case?

In a way, I guess, but I don’t believe globalization is going to go the way of the buggy whip anytime soon. Better to learn to live with it, even at some risk to our health, than attempt to fight the inevitable. Hopefully, COVID-19 will teach us a thing or two about how to reduce the risk for the future.

Capitalism

At the same time that right-wingers are decrying globalism, left-wingers are sounding the alarm against “capitalism run amok.”

Speaking of capitalism run amok, I read today that Donald Trump might be trying to buy exclusive rights to a future COVID-19 vaccine from a German firm, so that Americans would have access to it at the exclusion of everyone else.

Do I really need to ask if you can see what might be wrong with that idea?

[Note: The story referred to is not verified. Source was The Guardian. I posted it for illustrative purposes only…for all you out there ready to fake-news-shame me.]

But that’s sort of how capitalism works, right? It looks at life as a zero-sum contest where every transaction has a winner and a loser. And with the brand of capitalism that has come to dominate the world in the last, say, 50 years, there are precious few winners (around 1%) and a whole lot of losers (the rest of us).

A bright side of COVID-19 (if I may be so bold) could be that it will shine a spotlight on the failures of the current out-of-control capitalistic system and the neoliberal world order that has taken hold to foment it.

Scientific and Mathematic Truth

Lately every news item that’s detrimental to a particular political opinion is decried by the opposing side as fake news. Our very president has basically undermined the entire free press in the U.S. (at least any part of it other than Fox News and the few radio and TV talking heads that say nice things about him) as such. This has given rise to a dangerous phenomenon in which Americans can’t even agree on things that should be viewed as universal fact, or truth. Take the settled science of global warming, as a for instance.

And now even the existence of this virus is being labeled by some on the hard-right as a democratic (meaning communist) plot to derail the chances for Donald Trump to be elected to a second term.

Denying the existence of known threats to humanity, for political, religious, or idealogical reasons is, well, downright insanity.

And it is very dangerous to our national collective health.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has seemed fairly invulnerable, until now. Hillary Clinton couldn’t defeat him (even after pussy-grabber-gate), the Special Counsel couldn’t nail him, and the Senate wouldn’t remove him (even though he was impeached by the House). He is the real and undisputed “teflon Don.” Well, that was until he addressed the nation the other night to outline his attack on this microscopic bug called COVID-19. His attempt to assuage the masses (and the markets) didn’t work. And his mighty “Trump economy” is currently at risk of failing as a direct and immediate result.

There’s not a whole lot Trump can point to proudly, other than the economy. So, if his economy goes down, it’s highly likely that Trump will go with it.

COVID-19 might just end up being what finally brings down the Donald.

Impact Mindfulness

We’re hearing a lot about “social distancing” these days. Basically, that means altering your habits to avoid too much direct human interaction. But old habits are hard to break, unless you have a really compelling reason to break them…

COVID-19 is providing that reason…to save others.

But if you’re not at risk of catching this thing (or, at least, dying from it), why should you limit your daily activities to binge watching Netflix?

Well, you’re being asked to right now. It’s not often that we’re called to so high a duty as to seriously alter our life-styles for the benefit of society as a whole.

That’s a level of altruism that’s probably making Ayn Rand roll around in her grave!

Moreover it’s just not consistent with the self-interested, small-us thinking that usually prevails in our dog-eat-dog, hard-core, capitalist, society.

And that might be the number 1 silver lining in this dark cloud we suddenly find ourselves under. Humans being generally mindful of their impacts on others AND in the U.S. even…who would’ve thunk it?

That might be a reason for us to say…

Hey thanks, COVID-19!

And that’s just a viral perspective of this COVID-19 pandemic…

Be safe out there (and wash your hands!).