The Comeback
There is a great deal of discussion these days about the wreckage of the economy in progress with the Lockdowns expanding by the day. The only thing that shows any variance is how long it takes for given state governments to realize that they have no choice but to declare stay-at-home mandates. It’s almost silly how fervently those more concerned about the economy think they can will their way out of a problem with COVID-19. All of the talk of late about unproductive older people and the need to think in terms of sacrificing them for the sake of our young and their ability to have a vibrant growth-oriented economy, is shocking.
This evening I am watching the movie Enemy at the Gates with Jude Law. Ed Harris and Rachel Weisz about the siege of Stalingrad. The opening battle scene has the Russian army bringing raw recruits into Stalingrad on the Volga and giving every other man a gun telling the others to pick up the guns of their fallen comrades. The clear message is one that the needs of the army is all that matters and that there is no room for the individual and his needs. The starkness isn’t about the Red Army throwing bodies at the Germans, its about the Russian leadership under the direction of the cold and beyond-cruel Khrushchev, forcing their men forward by setting up machine guns to fire on any Red troops that retreat and run back towards the rear. The needs of the army will be served, comrade.
That is what I think of when I hear the Lt. Governor of Texas or some such numbnuts talking about the wisdom of sacrificing the old to favor the young. This is so wrong in so many ways. Let’s not bother with the humanity or morality of the issue since we all know that people who think like this are missing those qualities despite all their rationalizations that they are doing it for the benefit of our grandchildren. Of course, these are the same people who deny climate change and profess that the hydrocarbon economy is what made this nation great and what will continue to make this nation great.
I recently saw a great National Geographic article about the social dynamics of an arctic wolf pack. Some animal behavioralists studied the pack and took drone photographs of the way in which they moved, using their manner of travel as a clear sign of the social hierarchy of the pack. Now, I am no zoologist, but it is hard for me to imagine a more primordial species than a predatory wolf pack. And the arctic is nothing if not a harsh environment which offers very little latitude for anything but pure survival instincts. If there were ever a pure machine of Darwinian natural selection it must be this sort of arctic wolf pack. I’m certain they do not tolerate unproductive members and either seize the initiative themselves or let nature do its worst to cull the herd. But strangely enough, the scientific evidence showed to the contrary.
The behavior the scientists observed was that the pack used the older, slower wolves to lead the pack and set the pace. The young alpha males brought up the rear and protected the flanks of the traveling “fleet” of wolves. There were more specifically noted and assigned placements within the traveling pack, like keeping the breeders and young wolves in the protected middle of the pack. But the wisdom and guidance of the old wolves was prized and protected as well by having them lead and having the pace of progress set by their pace. That could not be more telling of how nature performs its own triage of priorities.
Strangely enough, the main character in Enemy at the Gates, Jude Law, is a sniper in Stalingrad who is wrecking havoc on the German officers around the devastated city. His training in his Siberian village as a young boy was in hunting wolves in the wintery countryside. His training was at the hand of his grandfather, who teaches him patience and steadfastness. But he also teaches him compassion and the importance of humanity. The irony of this movie, at this time, compared and contrasted with the wolf pack study is stark.
Nature values wisdom and experience as equally as it does youth and vitality. This seems lost to some in this moment of urgency. That seems particularly strange in a world where every viable final round candidate for the next presidency is a septuagenarian who will end his likely term as an octogenarian, for the first time in American history. Those of us who feel we should be putting up a younger candidate have had to bow to the electorate preference for presumed wisdom and experience over youth. That is who we want to lead our world and that is why Putin, Xi, King Salman and others who increasingly rule the world are either already old (Salman is 84) or their term of office extends until they are old. It may be that the various citizens are just too scared to object, but there is also a tacit approval of the stability that a long-term leader represents.
Right now the concern that is building around the world is the concern that if we let the engine lie idle for too long it will not be so easy to start again. That is a fair concern and there is some truth that every day of a Lockdown will turn into more than one day of hangover in the recovery. But this is a very different sort of Lockdown than anyone has ever experienced and I suspect it is harder to calculate the physics of recovery. I see that delivery companies and food and consumer staples companies are operating at double-time. Utilities (especially communication utilities like internet, cable and satellite) and any sort of at-home entertainment are showing no slowdown. So, strangely, some of our most important infrastructure is staying well-oiled and perhaps even honing their ability to expand capacity.
I hear that one of the things that is in short supply in New York City right now are rescue pets. It seems that people who are home-bound are finding the need for animal companionship. That’s an interesting and hard to have anticipated phenomenon. It makes me think about our own little rescue mutt, Cecil. He is 12-13 years old now and has just had his second ACL knee surgery, He’s been home for over a week now and he’s starting to put weight back on that leg and limp less than he did either before or after the surgery. The secret to this recovery has been to keep him from licking and self-administering to his wound. This is what the circus cone is all about and the veterinarian orders were very strict that it stay on.
The analogy is that with the right discipline, the comeback is made easier and more assured. You cannot will a torn ligament into repair. You cannot heal a wound by biting it. Our world will not fix its economy and come back faster by shedding itself of its most valuable members, its wiser, more experienced elders. It will not fix itself faster by biting and licking its wounds by indulging our wishes to unlock our mobility. The more Cecil tries to run today, the longer before he will be able to run and regain his leg strength. Forget about humanity and the worth of each and every individual no matter how infirmed, aged or handicapped he may be. Just think in your normal self-centered and greedy way and realize that the wound of Coronavirus must heal properly with time before the economy can get back on its legs.