Lessons (to be) learned

April 1, 2020. What might we learn from the pandemic? One lesson, for sure, is that I can walk more than five miles, and I can do that at a pace under 15:00 per mile.

There are more important lessons to be learned. What follows is more of a mind dump of ideas that have surfaced over the last four weeks, in no clear order of importance, urgency or impact. All of them merit serious consideration, by individuals, by households, by cities and towns, and by national politicians.

First, we need a return to faith. More traditional values, including faith, family and personal responsibility need to be renewed. Meanwhile, Harvard is organizing a conference to propose banning homeschooling, including fundamental Catholic and Christian schools. 'Another speaker and co-organizer is James Dwyer of William and Mary School of law, who holds that “fundamentalist Christian and Catholic schools may be damaging to children,” ironically accusing them of the “instilling of dogmatic and intolerant attitudes.”' The lockdown has reduced civil rights and personal freedom and has empowered liberal "progressive" leaders to think in terms of increasing government control over our lives. The irony of all this interference with private lives -- not that social distancing is a bad thing -- is that the government is destroying the very economy that funds all their programs for the unemployed while also massively increasing unemployment.

I find attending daily Mass, reciting the rosary, and making a commitment to service within my parish as a strong, positive guiding light amidst what pal Fr. Hank Hilton calls "the jumble."

Second, people need to pay more attention to their personal health choices and to preventive measures and to demand less in terms of medical treatments and cures. As my personal physician, Vince DiPietro, MD, told me years ago: "Healthcare is what you do for yourself; medical care is what the doctor does for you." The old cliche, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is probably an underestimate of the value of prevention or of the cost of the cure. People need to eat less and better, to exercise longer and more often, to build and maintain strong, positive, personal social networks (socially distanced, virtual or not) for moral support and stress relief, and to be more charitable, generous and kind in their daily 'trivial' behaviors, and less selfish and self-centered. This last point is part of what for years I taught as "prosocial behavior," where individuals can benefit by benefitting others, and not simply by sharing or giving up resources, but by teaching, coaching, and empowering others.

Social entrepreneurship, for example, can benefit both the entrepreneur and the social and financial capital of those impacted by social enterprises and social entrepreneurs. In fact, most traditional businesses, large and small, should view their work is being mutually beneficial to the customer and to the provider. This is NOT social responsibility, charity, the 'sharing economy,' or the hyper-cliched concept of "giving back." There is nothing to give back; the goal is to create something of value for both parties in the exchange. This is NOT trickle down economics. This is not a call for more NGOs (non-governmental organizations), more foundations, or more charities.

Third, we all need to take better care of and to take more responsibility for our bodies and our lives. And not just in terms of nutrition and exercise. We all need to learn better how to think and to analyze, how to detect when a person is 'speaking rot' (see full quote, below, although I am not convinced that a 'liberal arts education' does any such thing; it is more leftist indoctrination than the so-called 'critical thinking' they claim to ), how to educate yourself, and more self-development concepts.

"Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you in after life, save only this, that if you work hard and intelligently you should be able to detect when a man is talking rot, and that, in my view, is the main, if not the sole, purpose of education." John Alexander Smith, 1914

Fourth, spend less time on frivolity and more time with family. Less time watching mindless television shows or video streaming, and more time reading or conversing with your family.

Fifth, reflect more often. The Jesuit Examen is a brief, daily routine for this behavior. And there is more: Look back at your past decisions and do a reality check? Did things happen as were expected? Were the projections accurate? Was the experience as enjoyable as what I thought it would be? Listen to Peggy Lee sing, Is that all there is? [Okay, she is even more cynical than I am, but she has some points to make and it is an interesting take on expectations.]