Columnists

We're halfway through the worst year most of us can imagine and it's difficult to feel optimistic about the future. In the United States there has been a resurgence of coronavirus cases. The economy teeters on the brink of a depression. And President Trump has abandoned his post. Nonetheless, there's a ray of hope: once you acknowledge the social order is broken, you can set about rebuilding it.

A June 30 Pew Research Poll (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/06/30/publics-mood-turns-grim-trump-trails-biden-on-most-personal-traits-major-issues/) found Americans to be angry and unhappy: "As the United States simultaneously struggles with a pandemic, an economic recession and protests about police violence and racial justice, the share of the public saying they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country has plummeted... to just 12% today." Citizen understand that we have a serious problem. Conditions are ripe for change.

At this point it appears certain that the November 3rd presidential election will be held in the middle of a pandemic and an economic depression. It looks like Joe Biden will win and that Democrats will take control of Congress. On November 4th we'll still be in a deep hole, but we can begin digging out.

Because we're experiencing a catastrophe, there's opportunity for transformational change. Change in three areas: personal, communal, and societal. -more-

To tell you what you already should know:

The current decade is shaping up to become one of the most challenging in human history. In the past, people have already seen challenging times, and yet the things we face in the present day have the potential to shape the future, possibly into the next century--if we make it that far.

The U.S. and other countries have been put to innumerable tests in the past. WWII tested the resolve of good people who needed to fight and defeat the Nazi's or be destroyed. The Cold War tested the resolve and sensibility of the U.S. and other countries in standing up to Russia, (which was then the Soviet Union) and not backing down, but at the same time, implementing a modicum of caution. (And, by the way, the Cold War, because of the ambitions of Vladimir Putin seems to have reappeared.) -more-

Nhew daily cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. approach 60,000 with surges in Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas. At least 36 states have experienced a spike in new cases. Dr. Anthony Fauci focused on three main failings by both the public and authorities: Many states have reopened too quickly, people are not abiding by rules of social distancing, and the authorities could do a better job at contact tracing to track people who’ve been in contact with those who test positive. -more-

Chalk It Up to Experience

Lots of chalk on the sidewalks these days as enterprising youngsters shelter-in-place and engage in curbside bursts of instant messaging on family driveways. One grand announcement on Berryman Street (complete with colorful hearts and a rainbow) read: "Celebrate Violet's socially distanced birthday!"

On my morning run up Hopkins St., I watched as a young lady running a half-block ahead of me encountered a chalk-drawn hopscotch grid on the concrete. Without skipping a beat, she immediately executed a perfect seven-hop/ten-box maneuver and continued running at full speed.

Be All that You Can Bee

It's heart-warming to see all those colorful grad-placards adorning porches and front yards around town. Congrats graduates of 2020! Cheers for that pandemic-enforced diploma enforcing the dream that: "You can be whatever you want to be!"

Unless, that is, you're matriculating from Berkeley High School where the campus motto (proudly featured on BHS' graduation placards) stoutly declares: "Once a Yellow Jacket always a Yellow Jacket." -more-