WASHINGTON, D.C. A few idle observations about these interesting times (Originally posted March 16):

• People seem much more anxious at the up-market Whole Foods than at the much-less-posh Food Lion. There’s a story there.-
• There was a WaPo op-ed by a Harvard “political theorist’ saying Americans aren’t sure what to do because there’s no leadership at the top (headline changed since this morning.). That is of course hilarious nonsense. No self-respecting soul, after three-plus years, looked to this man’s leadership. This crisis is starkly personal – family and community are the places of action. Useful, truthful information is more important than any political leadership. Say what you want about mobilizing big government, but what Washington does now is minor compared with our own personal conduct. The enormous, constant flow of information we’re getting – some of it wrong, most of it very right and very useful – ain’t coming from a federal agency, much less the White House.
• We are at a moment in which this social-media sphere finally has a single, unifying matter to focus on. We got a no-BS subject worthy of the medium. Facebook has been pretty banal and silly most of the time, emotional popcorn since coming into our lives 15 years ago. I know it’s early, but there’s something about this moment that is both promising and inspiring. (I know, easy for me to say – I’m not sick yet. But I still believe it, whether I get sick or not.)
• It is an amazing relief to watch scientific expertise re-emerge,and be taken seriously again.
• The leading media – to me, The NYT, The Post, the WSJ, Bloomberg and others like the Seattle news outfits – are reminding us of the importance of journalism as a public service. After years of being maligned in our partisan times, they too are re-emerging – news people are being looked to for their skill and expertise in identifying, organizing and prioritizing important information, and at a critical time. It’s fantastic to look to them at this moment, and to see the renewed public respect for such hard work.
• I know it’s scary, and the disruptions will be tough, but there are some bubbles that will be bursting in the next few years because of what’s happening now. The health care cost bubble, the education-cost bubble, the debt bubble, the declining effectiveness of our central banks – developments that are healthy and overdue.
• I’m no epidemiologist but based on comments from a friend in the biotech world, this too shall indeed pass. Says he: “The tech community is moving fast – they know Covid binding site, Ace2…there are lots of drugs to that pathway … Hopefully, there will be some good news in a couple of weeks.” I don’t know exactly what the hell he meant by some of that, but it sounds encouraging.
• Based on all the reports from the supermarkets, I didn’t realize so many folks do their pooping at the office or at school.
• Someone once said “May you live in interesting times.” We finally got them! Take care of yourselves!

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