Birthdays and Divided States of America

April 19, 2020

We made a spice cake because it is my favorite cake.  For Jacqueline's birthday (week after mine) we were to make cheesecake but the only cream cheese we found was the spreadable kind and it wasn't going to work.  So- another week to make the cheesecake.  We had a bubbly for Jacqueline's birthday that tasted ok but smelled like wet cardboard.  There is still some in the fridge.  But we liked that "this little piggy stayed home" as we do in the times of covid.

These mugs are from when Jacqueline and I drove from the Bay Area to New Mexico and stopped off in a fancy hotel (the Cromwell) in Vegas.  We both loved it there and each got a pair of commemorative mugs.  The blog is about wine but the truth is we drink a lot more tea than wine and in the picture below we are drinking my favorite tea, a French Earl Grey.

Jacqueline and I got to talking the other day about New Zealand vs United States approach to the corona virus and I think we both gained some insight.  I was explaining the side of people who are worried about taking the lock down too far, and Jacqueline asked about people not worrying about people dying.  I said Americans have a big worry of the government taking away freedoms and not giving it back.  Jacqueline said she wouldn't worry about that: was she too complacent?  "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death" is ingrained in the US culture, I explained.  I would totally have the same worry in general of government and of the United States in particular of abusing power.  But I don't have the same worry in New Zealand.  

Why don't I have the same worry about New Zealand?  Maybe part of the reason is everything has been clear and straightforward.  We were told right away: there are 4 levels of lockdown and that in a month's time they'd re-evaluate.  We were told a few days ago what level 3 might look like.  The government told us what they know as they figure it out and they tell us the plan as they know.  We were told from the get go we might go up and down the levels depending on how things go.  Also, I just don't see the Prime Minister of New Zealand as power hungry.  The only thing clear in the US is that things aren't clear and can change by the minute.

I was telling Jacqueline part of the problem in the United States is that we've told people to stay at home and for many people that means no work.  We've told them not to go to work but for people that live paycheck to paycheck that can be a problem as big as the virus.  Not being able to work and being confined inside and can result in depression, domestic violence and other issues.  The US doesn't have much of a solution for these people.  Here's where I worry about riots: we solve part of the problem (people dying from illness) but then a large portion of the United States are hit hard in another way.  Jacqueline said, "well- the government should take care of them."  I said they've gotten some money but the approach is different: giving money to businesses to keep them afloat and it is supposed to keep the economy going which means the job exist when we come out of the lockdown.  Or that is the theory the best I understand it.  There have already been riots in other countries that were hit with corona-19 before the United States so I think it is very likely the United States will have them too.  New Zealand feels much more like a united country with more sources for taking care of people who need it so my guess is New Zealand is probably safe from riots.

Another interesting parallel: the heath minister of New Zealand was caught breaking the lockdown and was demoted, the country was told they would have been fired him except they needed him.  Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who are in the Council to Reopen America, also broke lockdown, but the US government has justified it.  When looking for some link to show who was on the council to reopen america I found articles stating Trump said Ivanka and Jared *would not* be on the council.  Lots of mixed messages and confusion.  I think the difference in how these two very similar incidents will have an impact on their respective societies and the trust levels.

I was saying there could be several different systems that work but you have to find a way to solve all the different inherent problems.  And this is where I come to the Divided States of America: there is not one vision within the country of how to solve this so I think we end up with a hodge-podge of solutions that aren't solving all the issues.  It took forever in the country even to come to a consensus that the virus was a real threat.  In my opinion the virus is a matter of national security and should be treated so and has only partially been.  I think it is important in pandemics that people are incentivized to get tested and stop the spread.  When people can't afford medical bills (possibly due to losing their jobs) and have no incentive to get tested or go to the hospital then the whole country suffers.  I don't have the answers, though: I'm just good at pointing out some problems.  I also worry that riots will be excuses for more authoritarian government, exactly what people who are protesting are complaining about.  Protests haven't turned to riots but I think it is only a matter of time.

I'm betting there will be pandemic video games that do the simulations in a few years time.  Kids may grow up with an intuition of the different ways to solve this.  I've been playing a game with someone The Totally Accurate Battle Simulation and you pick a bunch of different people to fight another side, seeing its configuration.  If you lose, you iterate and pick until you find a combination that wins.  My analogy is that there are different possible scenario that could work.  I don't think there's one solution that works the best for all societies.

Well: tomorrow we find out if we go from Level 4 to Level 3.  Level 3 sounds about on-par with the shut down in California.  Our level 4 is way more strict: no fast food, no driving around, no moving house, online businesses are closed unless they are deemed essential.  If we have level 3 we can go to the beach: but not our favorite beach.  The closest beach.  We are in the middle of the north island so maybe that means we could go on a nearby hike or something.

April 22 addendum:
We were told on April 20th that we will go to level 3 in a week's time, something we are quite excited about.  Jacqueline shared with me a post of a New Zealander in America and his take.  It was very much similar to mine.