9/13/20
I have often wondered how major world tragedies and horrors were allowed to unfold. Where were all the good people, those who objected or should have? How did life simply go on with a horror in their midst? How did the trans-Atlantic slave trade play out over hundreds of years? How did slavery thrive in this country? How was the Holocaust allowed to happen? How did the genocides in Rwanda or Darfur come to be? There is, of course, nearly always an explanation. Often it is official policy; often it is driven by propaganda. But I’m more concerned with how people in the society considered these events at the time, and how any semblance of normalcy could be maintained while events unfolded. It turns out that our current era is providing the unsettling answer: It was easy. As I write this, nearly two hundred thousand Americans have died — many of them needlessly — from Covid-19, in large part because the Trump administration has refused to sufficiently address the crisis, be honest with the American people and urge caution. Instead, Trump has lied about the virus, downplayed it, resisted scientists’ warnings and continues to hold rallies with no social distancing and no mask requirements.Things are poised to get worse: Models now predict that the number of Americans killed by the virus could double between now and Jan. 1.
And yet, Americans still flock to Trump rallies, Republicans continue to defend his pandemic response and it is not clear that he will be defeated in November. We have a climate crisis that continues to worsen. Storms are getting stronger. Droughts are severe. Rivers are flooding. The sea level is rising. Right now much of the West Coast is ablaze with hellish scenes of orange skies, and yet too many of us entertain climate change deniers. And yet, the world does little. Many look away. Life goes on. This is how these catastrophes happen — in full sight — and people with full knowledge don’t revolt. People sometimes think that the issue is far away, or if it’s not, that it’s too big and they are too powerless. “It’s too bad that those children are in cages, but I can’t worry about that now, the clothes in the dryer need folding.” “It’s too bad that an unarmed Black man just got shot by the police, but I can’t worry about that now, the yard needs mowing.” But this mustn’t be. Stop thinking of yourself as weak or helpless. Stop thinking that things will simply work themselves out. Stop thinking that evil will stop at the gate and not trample your own garden. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
