MENU

Sections

  • Home
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
  • The Arts and Design
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
  • Community Opinion
  • Donate to the Chestertown Spy
  • Free Subscription
  • Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy

More

  • Support the Spy
  • About Spy Community Media
  • Advertising with the Spy
March 20, 2023

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

  • Home
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
  • The Arts and Design
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
  • Community Opinion
  • Donate to the Chestertown Spy
  • Free Subscription
  • Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy
Point of View Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Something to Fear in Addition to Fear Itself by J.E. Dean

March 21, 2020 by J.E. Dean

Share

Pictures of neighbors buying their 96th role of Cottonelle bathroom tissue offer clear evidence that many of us are fearing fear itself.  And try buying a bottle of Purell hand sanitizer without surrendering to legalized theft on eBay or elsewhere. Other examples could be given, but, unfortunately, suggestions to “Stay Calm and Carry On” won’t hack it this time. We’re in deep trouble. There is a lot in addition to fear, well, to fear.

The virus is spreading like wildfire. Death counts are rising. And if you are in a high-risk category, you better take protective cover if you want to survive the year. Many dire predictions of CDC experts are proving on the mark.  Among these are predictions of an overwhelmed healthcare system and that a vaccine may not be available for many months.  

Is this situation hopeless? The answer is no. Political leaders across the country are being bold in implementing steps to contain the spread of the virus and “flatten the curve” with the intent of reducing the possibility of worst-case scenarios. Congress and the Trump administration, with the lessons of both the Great Depression and the Great Recession in mind, are acting now to minimize economic pain for those of us with little buffer between feeding our families and true crisis. By the time you read this, many of these measures will have been enacted and some of them implemented.  

Awareness of the gravity of the situation is a first step to surviving it. The second step is to accept that we are all in this together.  By “all of us” I mean not only our neighbors here, but all our fellow residents in North America and the rest of the world. This crisis is not about a crashed stock market or millions of retail and hospitality workers (among others) losing their jobs, or even about preventing the pandemic from killing millions of us. Instead it is about action—personal, societal and global.  

Most of us already know that we must wash our hands, practice social distancing, and familiarize ourselves with the symptoms of coronavirus.  Advice is a click away at www.cdc.gov.  What some of us don’t know yet is that the ability to prevent the worst-case scenarios is within our own power. Simply put, if we accept what we need to fear but don’t over-react to it, we will get through this crisis.  

The Spy and other media outlets are letting us know what is going on. Suggestions on how to survive a “shelter in place” order, which yet may be coming to the Eastern Shore, are part of the solution.  Using advice on how to reduce risk and avoid infecting others requires staying sane and reacting to what is real while ignoring what’s not.

The next few months (or longer) will lead us into unchartered territory.  Restoring normalcy once the immediate crisis ends, will take longer. There is a new normalcy coming, but, as of mid-March, we don’t yet know what it is. Change is coming.  There will be challenges but, with them, opportunities.  

J.E. Dean of Oxford is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He is a former counsel to the House Committee on Education and Labor.  For more than 30 years, he advised clients on federal education and social service policy.  

 

 

Filed Under: Op-Ed Tagged With: coronavirus, JE Dean

USM Campuses to Shift to Distance Learning for Rest of Semester, Commencements Canceled The Great Slow Down List: Phil Hoon

Letters to Editor

  1. Maria Wood says

    March 21, 2020 at 6:47 PM

    Mr. Dean, thank you for this. I agree with your analysis and your conclusion that we are all in this together, and that navigating the uncharted territory we face will ultimately relocate us in a new normal, with plenty of challenges and even some opportunities. The distress between here and there is real, and the only way to get through it without increasing our suffering, fear, and confusion is to walk through it together. We are presented with a rare moment of clarity in our common humanity and the need to work together around the shore, around the state, around the country and around the world.

Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article

We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.

Copyright © 2023

Affiliated News

  • The Cambridge Spy
  • The Talbot Spy

Sections

  • Arts
  • Culture
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Health
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Spy Senior Nation

Spy Community Media

  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising & Underwriting

Copyright © 2023 · Spy Community Media Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in