I blame The Quarantine for coinciding with my being fully retired: too much time to reminisce, re-evaluate, ponder my vulnerabilities.
I recalled reading Population Bomb, by Paul Ehrilch in 1968. Overpopulation raised risk of pandemics. Then came Earth Day. April 22nd is the 50th anniversary. Thinking back to that era, one premise generated from environmental studies was that ‘predators keep their prey healthy‘ by eliminating the old, weak, and infirm. That premise led to reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone among other National Parks and greater tolerance and appreciation of large predictors like mountain lions, bobcats, even coyotes.
Well, all those concepts seemed perfectly acceptable to me as a biology teacher during my 20s and early 30s. Now aged 76, retired and quarantined, it occurred that covid-19 might be a clever predator, especially honing in on the old and infirm humans. I am now “at risk”! Yikes!
Time to reconsider: eugenic efforts to create a master Arian race by selective culling were fortunately unsuccessful. Would we have been a heathier, happier, or better situated species had Hitler prevailed in WW11? Perhaps there exists an essential human nature and human spirit that can and did prevail. Who might have thought that during this epidemic and unforeseen shortages of PPE and ventilator, some of us might be tempted again to choose among who might live or die? Save the young and healthy? Perhaps also the wealthy? Why not allow designer babies using CRISPR? Perfect babies! Blame it on this New Corona Virus that some are tempted again to consider making those life and death choices. But let’s remember our lessons from the past and reconsider our essential human nature as not amenable to genetic tinkering. I thank The Quarantine for providing ponder time. Covid-19 will not make us better! Get a vaccine! ASAP!
–Ross Greenlaw