Rethinking "back to normal" when Covid-19 dwindles

At all levels of governance, United Nations, USA President Biden, many governors among the 50 USA states and perhaps among the territories, as well as from the mouths of (big city) mayors there is recognition of value in and pledging to "build back better" with a minimum wage that lifts a worker with a family above the statutory annual income poverty line (definition). Examples are the policing habits and mandatory sentencing (social justice), higher education and health care as a basic right (regardless of ability to pay), unequal access to clean air and water (environmental justice), and obstacles to building generational wealth ---burdens touching all lives, but proportionally more costly for those starting with fewest financial, informational, and social resources to drawn upon. In other words, using pre-Covid standards as the benchmark for restoring a state of 'normal' is not sufficient, not desireable, and not right.

 

In the video clip the carillon that plays at noon and again at 6 p.m. on weekdays at this church evokes many things about the pre-pandemic routines of the week that formerly comprised normal, proper, and generally pleasing parts of the social landscape. For example, the church annual cycle of events was one set of calendar markers that structured many residents' year. Dining out, vacation or business travel, and the many functions of consumer society all filled people's imaginations, budgets, and schedules. Focusing on the front end of those processes --- choosing what to eat, where to go, what to buy for self or as a gift for others --- there used to be an element of hunter/gatherer thrill of the chase: spotting the thing to satisfy one's goal. To complete the circuit from idea to pursuit to purchase to consumption there used to be a set of conditions (pre-coronavirus) that were taken for granted and now (during the pandemic) have been either prohibited, ill-advised, or otherwise abandoned. There was the fuel burned in driving from retail place to place (in Covid times substituted to some extent by online browsing, wishlists, and deliveries). There was the recycle or landfill burden of transport packaging and retail boxing that is discarded. And psychologically there was the imaginary land of endless purchase, use, disposal; as if one's individual indiscretions and feelings of wanting, deserving, or feeling obligated to go out and get something was disconnected from carbon footprint, energy consumption, food waste, and all the other components adding up to the USA 5% of the world's humans using up 20 or 25% of the planet's energy.

So what might this "build back better" look like? The list of issues, above, touches on some examples that may be engaged with seriously to find local expressions for attaining the goals and addressing wrongs of present and future (maybe even compensating for past wrongs, too). But from the experiential level of individual "life chances" or dreams and realities of people in all points along the social and economic status spectrum there will be other changes to look for; things that translate from the slogan level to the lived-in level.

For the sake of this argument and skipping over all the conflicts, obstacles, excuses, and special interest lobbying, suppose that minimum wage does go up and working hours go down. That could lead to more consumer activity - in direct contradiction to the Green Economy recognition that the carbon footprint must be reversed for this generation and for the burgeoning human populations on all continents that are yet to come. Not reining in the consuming of fossil fuels only worsens the extreme weather, expands the destruction of habitat --including water and air for humans, too--, and accelerates the extinction of diverse plants and animals of air, land, and sea (and non-salty waters, too). So from the experiential, first-person point-of-view, better laws and enforcement, along with income levels improving, results in individuals having greater social, economic, and aspirational reserves to face good times and bad, normal life and the times of disaster from natural source or human cause.

Supposing, further, that big consumers of the G-20 societies where much of the global energy and resources are used up (not just to survive, but for discretionary uses) were now to cultivate a mindset of conserving water, air, species, and material wealth (make it last, right to repair, barter and down-cycling before recycling). Then the limited resources and the renewable resources will be consumed at their HABU (highest and best use), rather than to be squandered in unsystematic, careless ways. At the personal level as well as at the organizational scale this new mentality would translate into amplified mindfulness about disposition of resource and its final disposal, and before that, careful use of the things one is in charge of using. Much more of the economy's services and products, and leisure pursuits will leverage the savings of time, knowledge/expertise, and fuel by using Internet for communication and engagement in a subject virtually instead of in-person, face to face.

Finally, if it were so that health care and higher/further education were guaranteed rights obtained in one's citizenship and in one's active contribution to society (paid or unpaid work, building rather than breaking the social fabric), then people from all walks of life could imagine bigger and better futures for self and others. The possibility of pursuing one's dreams would be actually within reach, unhindered by matters of net worth or generational wealth/poverty and social capital in the names and interpersonal debts and credits among the constellation of one's own contacts.

Taken all together, "building back better" instead of "back to normal" is exciting to think about. Some parts may actually take initial or even final form, but other elements will remain talking points to aspire to in the next generation of people participating in "the art of the possible," as the political arena has been characterized over the years.

Extreme weather in a big world with bad energy habits

 

about 8 a.m. on February 17, 2021: cold dashboard temperature

Reversing from the garage the car's thermometer on the dashboard showed 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 3.8 Celsius) but within a couple of minutes driving to work the number fell little by little until stopping at negative five degrees (minus 20.5 Celsius). That is cold enough for one's breath to land on eyelashes and freeze almost instantly, producing a decidedly unpleasant sensation.

Somewhere it is written that the USA population comprises something like 5% of the planet's humans, but that those citizens (and the undocumented people, as well) consume about 20 or 25% of the annual energy budget around the world. And of those 5% of Earthlings the wealthiest 10% of the richness pyramid probably account for an outsized part of the fuel consumed and carbon footprint produced each day and cumulatively for each year: luxury services and goods tend to require more energy than items of an ordinary status, or indeed by comparison to the alternative of doing without such luxuries all together.

Therefore, so long as old habits persist for transportation, gift-giving, leisure pursuits, plug-in conveniences, and so on, the disproportionate spoiling of water, air, and habitats will go on until no more remains. Let us hope that enough people see the insanity and injustice; and that peer pressure, government carrots and sticks (incentives and disincentives) can transition the consuming public to think twice before making a purchase, flicking on an electrical switch, or jumping in the car for little or no reason other than boredom or aimlessness. Such a transformed mentality would lead to fewer single-use (disposable) products, fewer one-stop trips (instead combining errands and appointments and commuting), and less landfill discarding of uneaten food or unloved chattels.

Big car at big store - the Walmart Cadillac

Expensive cars and trucks at Walmart Super Center 2/2021
 

Mid-morning on a cold day early in February, there were maybe 60 cars scattered through the parking lot. Interpreting the demographic profiles of Tuesday morning shoppers based on the cars and trucks they drive is a very imprecise and impressionistic exercise unless there is a way to get to know the drivers themselves. But for the purposes of stretching a few analytical muscles, there is no harm that comes from guessing at some of the forces at play now 11 months into the Trump Virus (pandemic scourge of USA and world-wide).

Walmart presents itself in its origin story and present-day marketing in such a way to appeal to shoppers seeking the most product (or service) for their money. The overall vibe is "buy in bulk," "choose in-store brand," and be unpretentious, although there are selected name-brand items also sold under the same roof. So if bargain prices and budgeting are uppermost among many of the shoppers, at first glance it seems out of place to see a new-looking car, particularly one that is more expensive that a modest or basic model: the Cadillac line of GM (above), or a European car, for example.

There must be many ways to interpret this scene of a pricey car (in 2020 MSRP of $75,000 -about the same price as an older house of 1500 square feet in the town) whose driver relies on Walmart for some of the products to use at their home or business. Here is a list of a few possible explanations, in no particular order. (1) Lottery or raffle contest winner - modest or big jackpot (at least one big winner lived in this town more than a decade ago). (2) Recent inheritance of financial assets or the vehicle itself. (3) Factory employee with discount or other incentives to allow purchase on easy and advantageous terms. (4) Budget-conscious shopper has saved enough money over the decades to finally purchase a car of her/his dreams (i.e. it is thanks to big-box retail stores like this one that the owner was able to buy this car. (5) The car is borrowed, is a rental,  is used for business, or was taken with a 3 year lease agreement such that the sight of an expensive car's driver shopping for inexpensive groceries is not anomalous after all: the appearance of great wealth is not actually true. (6) The car was bought or leased pre-Covid when income was good, but now with livelihood cramped or ended by the pandemic the once proudly owned transportation seems extravagant, but still it functions for transportation all right. (7) As a strategy for conserving a little wealth for someone seeking to qualify for Medicare to pay for nursing home, assisted living, or memory care, one's house and one vehicle are not calculated in the personal wealth inventory. So pouring some savings into a car that is premium price is one way to hold onto a little more owned wealth.

Whatever the real-life context that make possible this picture of a high-priced car parking at the budget-friendly Walmart Super Center, it is clear that there are many explanations that could apply alone or maybe even in combination. By contrast, though, most vehicles are modest and much less eye-catching. A few may look in very decrepit condition on the outside, but be maintained to a high standard on the inside. A few may be in the new years of their lifecycle. But most cars and trucks are somewhere between shiny and new on the one hand and falling apart on the other hand.

Spending time in the woods on the North Country Trail

 

[near the Rogue River state game area, Kent Co., Michigan]

On this Tuesday afternoon on February 2, there were Nordic ski tracks and boot-prints from perhaps 8 or 10 people since the most recent snowfall 5 days earlier. But on the two miles of the trail north and then going back to the parking area on Red Pine Road, just north of 18 Mile Road, there was no one else here. Most of the time in daylight, and probably all of the time in nighttime, the thousands of miles of North Country Trail (NCT) are undisturbed by people. This video clip illustrates the brief passage of a hiker, followed by abiding quiet for the rest of the time.

In recent years people around the world have recorded the ordinary sounds of forests they visit, https://timberfestival.org.uk/soundsoftheforest-soundmap/ And the practice of "forest bathing" (a complementary form of recreation or therapy to sunbathing), translated from the Japanese term (ShinYoku), also has attracted people into the forests both named and large along with others unnamed and small.

People's experiences of this habitat vary not just by season and the day's weather, but also with their relative depth of knowledge and familiarity with hiking and their personal limits, preferences, and interests. Some go on a segment of a long-distance (national) trail to add a notch to their walking stick. Others go at a quick pace for exercise mainly, but incidentally for the change of setting that it offers to  treadmill exercise. A few may be naturalists keen on observing plant or animal life as a refreshing change to engaging in human society. Still others may commune with nature and place value on abiding under the leafy canopy, not in a hurry to get to some predefined destination. Potentially, there are professional "gatherers" of wild mushrooms and other materials, too. So the relationships between people and hiking trails and the surrounding meadows, fields, streams, and forests are diverse. Turning away from the analytical parsing of "types," the empirical situation may well compound more than one type of relationship or motive among those who pass along the way. And the same person may shift their dominant motivation as they grow older or suffer serious or limiting health effects, too. So a composite picture of the people and the forest along this section of the NCT shows people of various ages, experience levels, and combinations of motivation and amount of interest in engaging and knowing the habitat and its many life forms.

In summary, those who show up at the parking area for a day-hike, or ones passing through on a multi-day trek form a subset of the wider population. During the pandemic Trump virus, outdoor pursuits have given coronavirus-chary people an outlet for their energy and attention as an alternative to quarantining or staring at Internet screens. But still there are relatively few people who go beyond a city or county park to walk on the NCT or another long-distance trail. Those who do hike, especially in bad weather (cold, wet, dark) seem to be respectful in their relationship to the habitat. Even if not card-carrying members of a conservation lobby or organization, they do seem to value the land and the life that goes on there largely unconcerned with human events in the world.

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See also this view of one of the creeks that form the river's headwaters, https://archive.org/details/rogueriver2021headwaters