The Age Of The Fool

For months now I have been wondering what to put here.  I had a few ideas, then other writing projects took a hold, and I didn’t follow through.  Then with Covid-19 there is plenty to write about, but so is the whole world.  What could I add to the beyond massive pile of commentaries?

After reading an article at CNN today about young people throwing coronavirus “parties” and giving a reward to the first person that gets infected, I had my topic.  I have seen many off-the-wall crazy things in the past few months but this is something that should be out of FICTION not FACT.  It is sick and the most irresponsible action I have seen in a long time, if ever.

Add to that the lacking aspects in our government leadership.  It isn’t only in the USA but many countries have failed in either dissemination of information to the public, protection in general, or going overboard.
This whole thing feels like so many Science Fiction stories.  The sad thing is we got a lot right, except for the foolish leadership.  But then again, we did, or at least some authors did.  Most of said stories I have read, the fool is someone releasing the virus, not realizing it is there or what it will actually do.  Or some mad man releasing it for some crazy religious reason.

Back to the lack of leadership, I am not going to name specific names, as most people can point them out with ease.  But there ARE good people in our government, and was personally helped by some of them.  They are not all bad, but the problem is the bad apples stick out like sore thumbs and make the entire bag look rotten, which is not the case.

I will mention one specific failure though: No gym’s or similar facilities may open in New York state.  Now keep in mind they have reached phase four of reopening, which is the LAST one, yet gym’s and other businesses are not on the list.  Hence, not allowed to open.  Therefore gym’s have been effectively outlawed for the foreseeable future.  Considering there has been NOTHING said from the government about this, I doubt it is a simple oversight.  If it was, I suspect a phase 5 would have been announced by now.  Or some kind of information given to those businesses as to when they can open.  The main failure here is not telling them one way or the other.  What is the big secret?

And talking about secrets, this whole Covid-19 aspect feels like they are not telling us the whole situation.  If you check the mortality rates, Covid-19 is about the same as a regular flu.  It may be a little more contagious, but why shut down everything and kill the economy?  Like I said, it feels like they are not telling us something.  The whole reaction vs facts just don’t add up.

Now, I am NOT saying Covid-19 is not dangerous and something that doesn’t need attention.  Nor am I being dismissive of those that have died from it.  But to shut down the whole world over it?  It just seems a bit extreme.  Wear masks, gloves, be careful, and do a lot of cleaning.  But then we see people that are NOT doing these recommendations, and perhaps that is the reason for the shutdown.  The common person wouldn’t do it otherwise?  If that is the case, this world is in an even more precarious position than I thought if people in general are this foolish.

It sure feels like the Age Of The Fool is upon us, and I have to wonder if we will survive it.  And if people don’t wise up, I don’t see how we will.