Those of us who have followed with dread the antics of Donald Trump knew that sooner or later, his deceit, egomania and incompetence would catch up with him. It has, but unfortunately, it’s taken our entire nation with him. Trump’s response to the burgeoning COVID-19 crisis has had elements of cruelty, petty peevishness, incoherence and downright insanity. Over the past months, he’s called the pandemic a hoax, blamed Obama, blamed the media, appointed his medieval, science-hating vice president to handle the emergency, praised himself as a medical genius, rubbed shoulders with the infected and banned travel from all European countries except Great Britain where he has golf resorts. It would make for a great Monty Python skit if it weren’t so damn serious.
Once cannot imagine past presidents like Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy, Reagan or Obama reacting to a national disaster in this manner. Had Trump been president during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States would today be a radioactive wasteland. His “reassuring” speech the past week sounded like anything but the words of the leader of the Free World. The stock market reacted the next day by cratering with its worst loss since the 1987 Crash.
With the Trump Administration effectively out of commission, it now falls on state and local officials to handle the pandemic, the likes of which will be even more drastic by the time this piece is published. I see no need to relate my observations because by now, everyone reading this has their own. Whether Taos County where I live or my old home, Franklin County, will rise to the occasion remains to be seen.
Needless to say, pundits in both the political and spiritual communities have been standing on their heads expounding theories and philosophies as to how we should confront the current reality. Will stockpiling a hundred rolls of toilet paper keep us safe? Is this the time of radical growth we’ve all been awaiting? When does the theoretical stab closer to home with the harsh reality of loss? Because the United States has always enjoyed a soft and protected way of life, it will be difficult to imagine an epidemiological version of life during wartime.
Years ago, several of us in Franklin County, convinced that the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown would bring about a global disruption — it almost did. Tokyo was on the verge of being evacuated — came together to see how we could support each other. While we took preparations to stockpile food (for some reason, we forgot the toilet paper,) it was more important to form community and give each other emotional support. Although it was disbanded after a few years, friendships were formed and the commitment to community, wherever we found it, became embedded in our minds. I’ve lived in community most of my life and although I have no illusions that the bright idealism of communal cooperation can be challenged by human frailty, I believe community to be the cornerstone of a successful society. For an effective and equable community, everyone contributes and everyone is taken care of. Nobody sits on their butts while others work but no one in need is thrown out into the snow.
It seems certain that by the time this essay reaches print, most of the United States, if not the world will be quarantined or forced to remain in place for a while. We might think of this as an enforced meditation, a time to slow down, stop the endless scramble and reflect. Assuming the kids home from school aren’t driving us crazy, it can be an opportunity to re-examine our values and remind ourselves what is truly important. The Vipassana Center offers something called the “Ten-Day Silent Meditation Retreat” where you indeed sit in silence to 10 days. Friends who have done this tell me that it was the hardest 10 days of their lives because it forced them to deal with core internal messes they’d prefer to avoid.
The United States is about to undergo its own version of this ordeal. I won’t pretend that I will come out smelling like a rose, but I will respect the process. I will also keep tabs on my friends and my community, my students and my family.
As far as national politics, after we re-examine our core values, let’s weigh whether honesty, compassion, justice and intelligence is more desirable for America than corruption, hatred, selfishness and ignorance and act accordingly in the future.
Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and was a frequent contributor to the Recorder. He currently lives in Taos, N.M.