Soft reboot?
Anyone who has spent much time around computers has had some concepts burned into their lives. One is, in the case of some small but insurmountable problem in performance, it is necessary to “reboot” the computer. The power stays on, and if everything goes as advertised (never an absolute given), when the computer is ready to obey the User, function is restored and nothing has been lost. Think of the scene from Airplane when a passenger is given to hysterics and a simple shaking, then a slap, followed by a long line of “well-meaning” passengers attempt their own methods to silence her.
Not so the “hard reboot.” Nope. This is necessary when the computer completely freezes – nothing works, not keyboard, not mouse. Removing all power is required. Of course this means losing all work that has not been saved; and as if to prove karma, this only happens when the most critical work of the day is hanging in the ether and is lost forever. But, at least the computer, sufficiently chastised, assumes its humble role of servant once again.
Could this SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 be God’s “soft reboot”? Not a “hard reboot” like Sodom and Gomorrah. But just taking by the shoulders and shaking to tell an errant world that is not too far gone…yet. More like in the basket, but only half-way to Hell – still time to bail.
The rumor-mongering surrounding this pandemic, like someone said, is the only thing that is spreading faster than the virus itself. As if pulled from some B-movie, only the names have been changed to protect the poor acting and script, we have a man-made virus that has gotten out of control. A bio-weapon that has turned on its master and has wrecked havoc, not on the “bad” guys, but on the “good” guys. There are other conspiracies, but all involve unspeakable devastation, the bad guys hunkered down in some underground bunker, the innocent utterly destroyed, pillage the order of the day, the good guys down – but not out.
There have been other world-wide calamities, some in our recent past – apparently all forgotten, conveniently for the most part.
What makes this one different is the politics. For some reason, what we call it is important. Not that it has upset the world economy. Not that is makes people sick. Not that it kills people. But the moniker we hang on it. The ugly head of PC has been raised once again.
For about a hundred years, we have called the flu that appeared at the end of World War I – and killed more than the war did – the “Spanish flu.” No one has objected to insulting the Spanish for secretly unleashing the flu on a war-weary world. It seems we can’t associate this modern day flu with the country of origin because that is “racist.” Yet we never hear the mob that is so PC about today’s flu say that identifying that flu of a hundred years ago is racist. But what is sublimely ludicrous is that the “Spanish flu” did not originate in Spain at all. In fact, irony of ironies, it is the fact that the USA and Europe, fearing revealing their own military capabilities censored the news of this flu; while Spain, neutral during the war, reported it. Thus, by telling the truth, the Spanish have been discriminated against for a century. So of course, in the frenzy to not make Red China “feel bad,” we say that today’s flu magically appeared out of nowhere. We don’t even want to say that it ultimately came from the animal kingdom – oh no, don’t blame the bats, it is human behavior that created this virus. At least now I know what a “wet” market is. And any appetite to eat bats is forever off my plate (with apologies to Anthony Bourdain, of course).
But whatever we call it, could it be a “wakeup call” – one so desperately needed? It seems that governments learning nothing from the SARS pandemic of recent memory – stockpiles of commodities like masks just didn’t happen. Physical brick-and-mortar hospitals are being augmented by tents – yes, in March, the tail end of winter, when weather is, at best, “unsettled.” As far as health-care providers are concerned, some are surprised to learn that these people cannot work 24/7 for very long; and, shudder, they get sick too! How dare they?
As far as religion is concerned, the Roman Catholic Church has become, well to be kind, an embarrassment. At least here in the United States, the USCCB, so long attached to the Party of Death, and afraid of its own shadow, has closed churches in the name of “social distancing.” For 1,500 years, the Church has preached that attending Mass is an obligation – if not fulfilled, then that basket you’re in makes it all the way to the River Styx. Now, public Mass is not available – not even private Mass in a person’s home. Once again (not the first time, for those conveniently ignorant), the bishops are anything but apostolic. The Faithful Church is being driven underground, while the apostates run around on the surface like so many headless chickens (apologies to the fowl that were blamed – kinda – for that other flu).
Proof that the Stock Market is irrational (could anyone doubt that now?), the money world has suffered far worse than either medicine or religion. At least it will recover – it always has, the open market (aka capitalism) is ruthlessly efficient. And it will finance medicine. The Catholic Church on the other hand will never be the same – thank God. It is many months till November and the incumbent in the White House is in the perfect position to pave the way to another four years, while the Party of Death rearranges the deck chairs on its own sinking ship.
Yes, 2020 is turning out to be very “interesting.”
Eternity is a Long Time 