POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH
By Kyle Kramer
Crisis and Crossroads
Kyle Kramer
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it hits hardest those on the margins—those without friends and loved ones to lean on and be with, those without the capacity to reach out and connect. A MOMENT OF CHANGE
Even after social distancing requirements are lifted, there is a danger that the draconian societal measures we have taken to manage this pandemic may largely remain in place, just as more intrusive security became the norm in a post-9/11 world. Think, for example, about our newfound collective germophobia and all of the extreme precautionary behavior it has caused us to adopt. I know that I have a new level of paranoia that I wouldn’t have believed possible even a few weeks ago. I’m not sure how easy it will be for me—or any of us—to turn that off and find a sane balance between good social hygiene and meaningful social contact. In the absence of that balance, I fear we’ll be tempted to convince ourselves—as we had already begun to do even before COVID-19— that Netflix, Zoom, Google, and Facebook Live are adequate substitutes for real human contact. I hope the point is clear: We, too, face many dangers and temptations to let our fear get the better of us—witness the hoarding of toilet paper and many other goods. At the
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s I write this column, the coronavirus is spreading exponentially in the United States, and almost all of the country is in lockdown. I have no way of knowing what the situation will be by the time you read this, many weeks later. What I do know is that the monumental crisis of this pandemic presents us with great danger and great opportunity— and, therefore, with consequential choices between fear and hope. Many of the dangers presented by the coronavirus are obvious: danger to those who contract the virus, to the frontline health-care workers who care for them, and to overburdened, under-resourced health-care systems. Even with massive programs of aid and assistance, this pandemic could nonetheless mean the financial ruin of many individuals, families, and businesses that don’t have the resources to weather the storm. As if those weren’t enough, consider the social dangers we face. The United States already had a loneliness epidemic, with almost 30 percent of US households containing just one person and 50 percent of our population indicating in a recent poll that they sometimes or often feel isolated and alone. And now we—who are social, relational creatures by our very nature—are being told to fear being around other people. This is incredibly hard on everyone, but, as always,
LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: MOTORTION/FOTOSEARCH
Kyle is the executive director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, which offers interfaith educational programming in meditation, ecology, and social compassion. He serves as a Catholic climate ambassador for the US Conference of Catholic Bishopssponsored Catholic Climate Covenant and is the author of A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt (Ave Maria Press, 2010). He speaks across the country on issues of ecology and spirituality. He and his family spent 15 years as organic farmers and homesteaders in Spencer County, Indiana.
