CORONAVIRUS: UNLIKE 9/11 - WE'RE SCARING OURSELVES TO DEATH!

Summary: After 9/11, we were encouraged to go out and support each other, but with coronavirus we’re being made to panic and ordered to isolate - despite the fact that isolation has a death rate ultimately higher than the virus. But, before delving into this, we start off with a story that ties 9/11 and coronavirus together in a personal way - the story of John Knox, a legendary FDNY Fire Marshall who succumbed to coronavirus because of his underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from his sacrifices at Ground Zero. There are similarities between 9/11 and coronavirus, in that the terror we feel from both events consists of a combination of vulnerability, helplessness and uncertainty. But, there are differences, too. For example, after 9/11, we were told that our patriotic duty is to go out and show those terrorists they’re not going to change our way of life, whereas for COVID-19, we’re told that our patriotic duty is to hole up. Yet for coronavirus, the key word is loneliness: the loneliness victims feel when they are ill and dying because of having to be isolated, and the loneliness most people feel when they are forced to stay at home. Hear how stuffed up sewer systems from people using substitutes for toilet paper is a metaphor for how mayors and governors aren’t taking into consideration the outcomes of their rash, ill-thought out makeshift new rules.