Keep Calm, Salutem Protegat & Libertatem Protegat
The good news is, if you’re reading this, you have survived a worldwide pandemic. The bad news is, unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you won’t succumb to it in the future. The virus has not run its course and we have no cure for it, but in recent weeks we’ve identified some treatments which seem to be effective for most people. Your chances for long-term survival are very, very good.
In any crisis, large or small, we may observe a wide range of very human reactions. Tears come easily to those who have an abundance of empathy, for example. Others become angry, shouting orders and cursing circumstances beyond their comprehension or control. Some people become catatonic and complacent, some combative. Some seem less concerned with quelling the immediate emergency than with lashing out at those at fault. Still others deny that there is even a crisis at all. The list of possible human reactions to tragic events could go on and on.
Healthcare professionals are the heroes of this worldwide crisis. When dealing with a contagious virus like this one, they risk their own lives to save strangers. Nothing could be more heroic than that.
In a pandemic, with schools and businesses closed, other heroes emerge: food bank operators, teachers, small business owners, public servants, mask-makers, artists, musicians, poets….People from every walk of life transform into heroes as they seek to alleviate the suffering of others.
Because of all of these possible reactions and the proliferation of heroes among us, I’ve tried not to politicize this pandemic. There are lessons to be learned, for sure – things we will want to do differently next time, if there is a next time, and we all hope there won’t be.
Early on, when projections estimated millions of deaths in our country, people voluntarily (for the most part) shuttered their businesses and sheltered in place. They held out for as long as they could, even though most of them knew they were not at great risk themselves. They did it to prevent deaths among the elderly and people with existing health problems. They were, in a word, heroes.
The federal government sent checks to almost every home. They sent checks to small businesses, and they are now sending more. State governments waived unemployment requirements to put money in the pockets of people who were laid off. None of this happened perfectly or smoothly or without increasing debt, but it happened, because federal and state governments wanted to alleviate financial suffering.
Despite all of these efforts, many businesses will fail as a result of the pandemic, and many people may be out of work for a long time. They have their lives, but not their livelihoods.
The words “lives” and “livelihoods” are similar, because you can’t really have one without the other, since a livelihood is “the means of securing the necessities of life.” People must be allowed to earn a living without condemnation or recrimination.
Nationally the re-opening of businesses is happening to different degrees in different places, sparking debate, but it is happening, as it inevitably must.
We often use the phrase “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) regarding financial transactions. As we step back into normal life again, we will need a renewed awareness of our own health and measures we may take to guard it. I propose a new Latin phrase: “Salutem Protegat” (protect health). If we safeguard our own health and actively care for the health of others more fragile than ourselves, we can do normal life again.
One more thing: let’s not allow our hard-won freedoms, which many have died for, become a casualty of the pandemic. “Libertatem Protegat”! (protect freedom)
A wise observation by former Utah Governor and HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt from early in the pandemic (March 2, 2020): "Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate."