Being an author, my daily routine has not changed much with this virus outbreak. Writing is a solitary profession and so I can keep “going to work” each day and books keep selling. I’m one of the lucky ones and I realize that.
It’s only when I do go out or turn on the news, that the unprecedented nature of this crisis hits home again. It feels surreal in many respects. It will certainly be the defining moment for many of us. My grown children will remember this as their Cuban Missile Crisis or Berlin Wall.
We are being hammered daily by news reports of new cases and the rising death count, some predicting over one million plus deaths in the US alone. I don’t know if the pundits are right (I have no data from which to agree or disagree with them). For some calm reporting on the issue, I hope you have had a chance to listen to Dr. Deborah Birx in some of the daily presidential briefings. She has taken the prognosticators and media to task for amplifying worst-case scenarios. Her point is that the data, albeit incomplete, but being updated daily, just doesn’t support such extreme predictions. You can find those briefings up on Youtube.
Again, who really knows? But her voice is one to give a bit of balance to, what may be, overly hysterical predictions. But as one of my sons said, “if this virus turns out to not be as bad as we thought, it may be due to the precautions we’re taking now.” Good point.
I do worry though, about the effects of shutting down our economy. We seem to have had to do it but the longer it goes on, the greater the harm and longer the recovery. That said, I hold on to a positive attitude because I truly believe in the American entrepreneurial spirit. I was one once (maybe still am as an Indie author) and know up close how Americans are willing to start a business, to step up to risk themselves and their capital on filling an economic niche. And many are willing to risk going to work for those who do; to make their dream happen.
A friend said the US is an “applied science” country. He means we do things, get things done; we don’t stop with the theoretical. Less regulatory hurdles for small business will help that segment of the economy get going again and begin to fire up our strong economy.
I hope you, my readers, are all doing well. I hope your families are doing well. My general prayer for our country includes all of you. If you have been laid off, I hope you this aid bill will help you and that you soon will be able to get back to work. This will pass; let us pray it does so in a reasonable time frame.
Stay well.
