Apocalypse Now?

It is hopefully too apocalyptic to say that society is on the verge of crumbling due to Covid-19 but what is not too soon to say is that what we are witnessing is an abject lesson in the destructiveness of Donald Trump’s attack on the underpinnings of our government and on the mainstream media. While our lives may hinge on the ability of the nation as a whole to abide by a unified adherence to strict measures to limit the spread of the virus, Trump’s unremitting attack on the media and upon anyone and anything that he views as not aligned with his malignant thinking and abject ignorance has turned what should have been a nation acting with unified purpose to one torn along political lines borne of  the paranoid distrust Trump has sown. Consequently while those who have understood who and what Trump is and what he represents adhere to procedures intended to reduce risk, those on the other side of the political divide not only reject those procedures, they flaunt their willingness to continue as usual regardless of the risk that they are creating for those trying to reduce that risk. It is a recipe for disaster. The danger that Trump has posed prior to our current situation...the rejection of norms, the attacks on the media and the constitution and the willingness…nay, the desire to tear the country apart for some perverse political and financial gain...is inconsequential in contrast to the threat that his behavior now poses to our very survival. How did we get here and how do we get out?