Saturday, April 4, 2020

The Emperor's New Clothes....


I'm beginning to wonder.....is the Emperor, perhaps, naked???

Our world has been turned upside-down.  Every state in the nation is under lockdown, the world is in a frenzy and the prognosis for our future is nothing shy of apocalyptic.  The Coronavirus has brought us to our knees.

I've watched with wonder, as our nation and its citizens respond to this pandemic.  First, we responded with disbelief and caution.  People bought a few more packages of toilet paper, a gallon or two of bleach and a couple bottles of hand sanitizer - just in case.  As the news outlets grew more and more vocal the politicians became more and more involved.  Soon cities, counties and states called special meetings.   Emergency measures were enacted and the news cycle grew.  Twenty-four hours a day....pandemic....death.....pandemic.....death....economic collapse.....depression......pandemic....death.

And we responded.  Toilet paper is gone.  Hand sanitizer is a thing of the past.  Gloves, face-masks, bleach....it's all gone.  The food supply chain is breaking down, jobs are collapsing, lives are being irrevocably changed....and yet....?

I have to admit, I live in the middle of nowhere.  I'm not near a city center.  I don't live near the West Coast or the East Coast.  I'm not in Detroit or New Orleans or New York City.  I live 15 miles outside of a tiny town, on the top of a mountain.  I'm well outside of mainstream America.  But....I have a LOT of family in the original epicenter of this disease in the United States.  None of them are ill.  None of them know anyone who is ill.  None of them know anyone who knows anyone who is ill.

I'm not denying that we have been exposed to a devastating illness.  I have a dear friend that is married to a surgeon who is in the thick of the battle.  People are sick and people are dying.  However, I'm not seeing the widespread devastation that I keep hearing about on the news.  Is it real? Is it hyped up?  I wish I knew!

As I sit here, on my mountaintop I do wonder, if perhaps, the Emperor has new clothes....or is, indeed, naked.

The Emperor's New Clothes

A vain emperor who cares too much about wearing and displaying clothes hires two weavers who claim to make the most beautiful clothes and elaborate patterns. The weavers are con-men who convince the emperor they are using a fine fabric invisible to anyone who is either unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The con lies in that the weavers are actually only pretending to manufacture the clothes. Thus, no one, not even the emperor nor his ministers can see the alleged "clothes", but they all pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions. Finally, the weavers report that the suit is finished and they mime dressing the emperor who then marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Finally, a child in the crowd blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is then taken up by others. The emperor realizes the assertion is true but continues the procession.

Hans Christian Anderson
1837
(from Wikipedia)