Thinking further about the Balancing Acts, as below, it occurs to me that it is diffficult to know where to draw lines. A person who becomes suicidal because he is a workaholic who defines himself by his employment but lost his job - do we call that a pre-existing condition? Wouldn't we think that all people who become suicidal have some sort of pre-existing condition? A lot of energy has been put into minimising C19 deaths that happen to people with such complicating factors as heart disease or obesity, that they were likely to die soon anyway (though I admit I don't read that as much anymore). So too with jobs that are lost. Some businesses are in industries that were hit so hard that even the strong ones are reeling, or even have gone under. Yet weren't some of them already on the edge, in danger of failing anyway? I think it would be blaming those business owners unfairly to not be sympathetic to their plight having shut down due to CoVid by shrugging them off saying "Well she made some bad decisions last year anyway. She was more likely to fail." Or "Yeah, you never should have taken a job in a vulnerable industry anyway."
It's one reason why I reject that distinction when discussing C19 deaths. If you do that for the disease, you have to apply the same standard to the economic pain as well, and I just think that's unfair.
I am contenting myself that I will likely be your age before we can really glean good information out of this pandemic. About 25 years out, should be a lot easier to see the impact due to shutdowns that didn’t need to happen, the impact due to shutdowns that did need to happen, the impact due to organic shutdowns, the impact due to excess deaths, etc.
ReplyDeleteI estimate we will have a better handle on excess deaths in about two years, so I am withholding a lot of judgment until then. People who are really insistent on trying to lock down root cause while the pandemic is still going on are chasing the wind, in my opinion.
On the positive side, the shutdowns give some cover to those who would otherwise feel like a failure in their lives. I remember the old guys who used that as an excuse after the Depression. And, fairly enough, the experience might just suck all the life out of those people for good.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I recall reading about a study of those who had graduated into an economic downturn and how their careers were measurably less good for the rest of their lives. I graduated into the downturn of 1975 myself, but up until reading the study, and always just thought of it as a temporary situation whose effects on my career had been accidental. It occurred to me then that perhaps such situations suck the life out of you, at least a bit, or cause your aspirations and feelings of self worth to drop. I had forgotten it since, but it does make some sense.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good opportunity for us all to encourage each other, I think.
There might be some practical as well as psychological effects. A lot of wage increases are percentage based so if you come in at a low starting salary or get stuck in a wage freeze during the early part of your career you miss the chance to compound those early bumps in pay in your later years.
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