Saturday, March 14, 2020
Corona News 3, Schools And Immune System
Some good advice from Sweden, from the Golden One.
In other news, though parents are officially allowed to keep their kids from school now, schools are still not closed, unlike in many other European countries, which brought with it a lively discussion about the 2 income family model and its consequences for society. An opposition leader posted a list of parties which voted for and against school closure. All the established parties, left, right and "Christian" were for keeping school open.
Those who voted for closing of schools were an interesting crowd: Muslim and Christian fundamentalists, immigration restrictionists (we have 2 varieties, for working class and a more sophisticated one), and a party for animals which is, surprisingly, quite good on many issues.
Now I have been following discussions on Twitter where people talk about how capitalism is detrimental for traditional family, as it's all about maximising profits, and I chiefly agree with many of their arguments. However, mainstream socialism, as we know it from the 20th century, supports the same two income model, as also proved by their voting patterns.
The conclusion: we need the Third Way. Fundie Catholics are right, distributism is probably the way to go!
Take care all of you and whatever happens, don't forget to wash your hands!
UPDATE:
As of now, all schools and nurseries are closed till 3 April, for the parents working in "essential" professions there will be care facilities functioning in school buildings. Our neighbours are organising volunteers to help the elderly, the sick and those who need childcare. My housekeeper offered to bring medicines around. I'm quite proud of them all.
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The conclusion: we need the Third Way. Fundie Catholics are right, distributism is probably the way to go!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this! it has been surprising to me to hear Americans (and see a couple of other Westerners write) about how we should be able to contain this the way China and Singapore have. So basically, people are either rabid capitalists, or when afraid, suddenly open to authoritarianism.
It's much easier to behave like a responsible human being and just stay. at. home. At least as much as possible, but since we seem to be unable to behave like anything other than toddlers without being coerced, people are willing to submit themselves to coercion.
Interesting the polling breakdown about whether or not to close schools. If we had economic systems which encouraged families to be structured with mom at home...
Lastly, we live in a place where it is easy to go outside (away from crowds of people), and enjoy fresh air and sunshine, which are very healthy things. I am encouraging people I know to do that when possible rather than spending all this newly acquired extra time online or in front of the TV.
On that note...stay healthy Sanne!
Thanks, Elspeth, we still have but one official case in my place but my husbands works out of town and the supermarket this morning was hardly a place where anyone kept any distance, but...very few kids playing outside and few people in the streets in general. Pity because it's been a first real spring day so far.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that warm and humid climate is not good for the virus (which they now say is a mutated common cold virus) so I hope you'll be fine. You are in Florida, aren't you? Here we can only pray and stock on aspirin. There have been folks who survived viral pneumonia without any treatment, but they were kinda younger than we...
As for authoritarian policies, I think it depends on who you are dealing with. Some Italians are STILL hanging in the streets, I read. Spain had the same problem (a cousin of mine is right now stuck over there) and now they sent the army to patrol.
It's not humid here yet, thank goodness. We're in the dry season. We don't have four distinct seasons as much as two distinct seasons: a hot, wet season (May through October), and a temperate, dry season.
ReplyDeleteIt's seasonably warm now (high 70s to lower 80s Fahrenheit), and dry. I suppose my declaration of "not humid" is relative to what you're used to, but in late May, the humidity kicks into high gear here, and then I'm sure the risk factor increases exponentially.
My thinking is that outside is better than inside so long as you're not in crowds. I could be wrong about that since this is a new and novel virus, and perhaps some conventional wisdom may need to be adjusted.
By *outside* I mean take a walk alone or with kids on nature trails and whatnot, where there are usually very few people anyway. We did that yesterday and didn't run into a solitary soul. We never do when we walk that particular trail honestly. I think we encountered a dog walker ONE time in the 5 years or so that we've been walking it.
ReplyDeleteI'm in no way suggesting hanging out on playgrounds with lots of other people or at parks,lest I am misunderstood. No walking in shopping districts or any of that type thing. No way!
I just happen to think our tendency to stay cooped up breathing recycled air is detrimental to health and immune systems in general.
Well, I guess I wasn't clear but it's apparently vice versa, humid IS good because this virus doesn't like humidity. You are lucky that you live outside, here it's full even if you go to a forest!
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