I want this to be brief. And yet I am not sure that it can be.
I’ll start here.
In the mornings, during most of our Covid-Life thus far, Chris and I wake with the baby and head downstairs for coffee and Wilfred time and the news circuit. It is basically an interface of joy/non-joy, but it keeps us real and oriented to life beyond our often idyllic- woefully sheltered- little mountainside. The news is grim. Through and through. Hopefully, that is in no way news to you.
There are many things that we should all be alarmed by right now. The federal agents occupying Portland and other cities across the country. The lag-time between Corona Virus testing and the arrival of results that essentially yields them useless. The anti-abortion legislation being pushed through in a shockingly high number of states. The glaring lack of leadership in this country in regard to the handling of any of it. Which brings me to the refusal of any governing body to lay down a hard line in regard to resuming schools in the next few weeks.
And why is this decision so fucking difficult? Why is it so hard for us to say of course we are not going to perpetuate the spread of this virus through the open conduit of our schools? Why are we willing to risk our children and our educators and really, every single person in the country?
If it isn’t clear by now, then, honestly, what is it going to take?
This easy decision is made so incredibly difficult because the schools and our complete dependence on them for: meals, childcare, connection, safety, and so much more, is the biggest symptom that we have of a system that is completely and irreparably broken, corrupt, and defunct. The kids have to go back to school because there is no relief. There is no more unemployment benefit, there is no more loan or rent forgiveness, there is no healthcare, there is no equity, there is no safety, there is no care. We live in a corrupt capitalist system that was built for the very few upon the backs of the very many and unless it affects their precious dollar then we are all, forever, on our own.
Today, we received an email from the local school district alerting us that the projected start date has been pushed back by 2 weeks. Further: “late last week the Secretary of Education issued a memorandum - Decision-Making for School District Operations During the 2020-2021 School Year - that delegates the authority for school district operations to Vermont’s school boards.”
There is no governance. The school districts are ON THEIR OWN. To me, this looks like a sick rendition of choose your own adventure. Emphasis on sick.
The other evening while we were walking up our road, Chris chatted with me a bit about what is happening in baseball. I have to confess, it was difficult for me to listen because I could really give a shit about baseball. But I think he said something like: they’ve started playing and already are canceling games because like 17 players on one team tested positive for Covid-19, despite being in almost complete isolation among themselves, receiving regular wellness checks, and, oh yeah, being super well fucking funded because they are major league fucking baseball. But they are still testing positive and, getting sick or not, helping to spread the virus around and around and around.
I am distraught. And not because I am as an individual particularly effected. We worked from home before, we continue to do so now. We homeschooled before, we continue to do so now. We had to pay for shit health care before, we continue to do so now. But just because we can limp through this disaster with our biggest wounds potentially being that of loneliness and a greater than optimal isolation, doesn’t make any of this acceptable. Maybe that is called empathy. Just a thought.
So, what to do???
If it were in my hands, which it clearly is not, I would start by closing everything down until the end of the calendar year at the very minimum. Yes, that sucks. But do we have a sense that there is a reasonable way to get ahead of this without doing so? We opened up again simply because the date that we had set for doing so rolled around. Not because there was any data to support it. We weren’t ready. But we did it anyway because nobody cares about you or me or any of us.
Yeah ok, so what about what that means for how sideways everything is going? Great question. My best guess is that it comes in the form of comprehensive relief for ALL PEOPLE in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES at EVERY LEVEL of need from a government that we aren’t even close to having in this country. It is not looking good folks. But like I said before if it isn’t clear by now that this country is broken in overt and subtle- but mostly overt- ways for every human living here save the few whose bank accounts were built on the inequity and systemic disregard we were indoctrinated into believing spelled freedom, then it is well past time for you, me, us to begin paying attention. The status quo has failed us all and it will only continue to do so on repeat forever unless WE STOP THIS BULLSHIT NOW.
So, if you aren’t fired up to vote in this year’s presidential election, hopefully before we hit the 200k death mark but that is looking unlikely, then it is time to begin educating yourself about the nation that we actually live in right this very moment. Stay awake. Pay attention. Use your voice.
Before I stick a fork in this bout of off-gassing it bears mentioning that the state of Vermont has really done quite well in it’s response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. I feel proud of this state and incredibly grateful to call the green mountains home. And yet, every time I head out anywhere- usually just the nearest swimming hole or hiking trail- I see license plates from all over the country, often in bigger numbers than the Vermont plates. And it makes me question any illusion of security or insulation that we may have built up as a state. Our case load has remained low. Outbreaks have been managed quickly and with effective contact tracing and I still think that schools should not be opening for in-person learning this fall.