Observations on the Great Hunkering (2)

• I imagine many readers caught the headline that Mexico is thinking of closing the border with the United States to prevent spread of the coronavirus. This is clearly Trump’s greatest 3-D chess move yet. Looks like Mexico is paying for the wall after all.

• I’m surprised I’m not seeing more headlines and declarations from the climatistas that COVID 19 is yet another sign and wonder of the climate apocalypse. There have been a few, but no one seems to be paying much attention that I can tell.

But Extinction Rebellion, the charming people whose idea of “street theatre” is literally to block streets, decided to cancel a “die-in” last weekend:

It would be “irresponsible”? But it’s not irresponsible, apparently, to block ambulances and other important traffic the rest of the time? Got it.

• There have been a few stories observing that the temporary collapse of economic activity in China and, starting last week, here in the U.S. is having the benefit of lowering emissions! Sooner or later some environmentalist is going to indulge the view that the mortality from COVID 19 isn’t all bad since it reduces population.

Actually, someone already previewed it for us. Back in 1989, a research biologist for the National Park Service named David Graber wrote in the Los Angeles Times:

“Human happiness, and certainly human fecundity, are not as important as a wild and healthy planet. I know social scientists who remind me that people are part of nature, but it isn’t true. Somewhere along the line–at about a billion years ago, maybe half that—we quit the contract and became a cancer. We have become a plague upon ourselves and upon the Earth. It is cosmically unlikely that the developed world will choose to end its orgy of fossil-energy consumption, and the Third World its suicidal consumption of landscape. Until such time as Homo sapiens should decide to rejoin nature, some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along.”

Remember: this was a Federal government scientist. Think of it as the Deep-Six State.

• I should have known the postmodernist court jester Slavoj Zizek would show up at some point, proclaiming that the coronavirus is a great excuse to bring back Communism! No, seriously, that’s his argument. (Though on close inspection it turns out to be another iteration of “True Communism has never been tried! I’m sure we’ll get it right this time!” Which is why I still wonder whether Zizek is putting us on all the time.)

‘If you add to this a possible new wave of refugees you get the perfect storm, and I think that Europe is so weakened that it will not be able to react in a unified way, and that’s what I mean when I say coronavirus gives a new chance to communism,’ he said. ‘Of course, I don’t mean the old-style communism. By communism, I mean simply what the World Health Organization is saying. We should mobilize, coordinate, and so on…like, my God, this is a dangerous situation. They’re saying this country lacks masks, respirators, and so on. We should treat this as a war. Some kind of European coordination…maybe even wartime mobilization. It can be done, and it can even boost productivity.

‘What I mean is that it is possible to keep the good sides of capitalism, but nonetheless, through a coordinated state, social effort to mobilize. Not just with coronavirus, this is needed with other ecological crises, refugees and so on.’

I’ve offically retired from doing “Hitler Learns About. . .” parodies, but that doesn’t mean I can’t link to a new one about the coronavirus here.

Charles Lipson passes along this tidbit, which he swears is true:

The mayor of Bugliano, Italy has responded to the viral outbreak by prohibiting orgies inside the city limits. He has gone even further, banning threesomes and sex involving more than two people “for the foreseeable future.” The fine, as you can see, approaches $1000, although I’m guessing you can split it up among the group.

Now if the Romans had done this in 476 AD, the Roman Empire might still be with us today.

Vaccine trials are starting today. Faster please.

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