{"id":10071,"date":"2020-12-27T02:16:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T02:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=10071"},"modified":"2021-01-10T00:45:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-10T00:45:22","slug":"2020-a-christmas-like-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=10071","title":{"rendered":"2020 \u2013 A Christmas like no other?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cSeattle police wearing masks in December 1918.\u201d\u00a0 Is this a case of\u00a0\u2018deja vu all over again<\/strong><\/a>?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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It\u2019s the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, 2020. Which leads to a question: \u201cWas this past Christmas Day in the crazy, pandemic-plagued year of 2020 truly one\u00a0\u2018like no other<\/strong><\/em>?’\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer? \u201cActually, no.\u201d There was for example Christmas in 1918\u2026<\/p>\n

Which led me to this article,\u00a0Was Christmas celebrated during the 1918 Spanish Flu<\/a>?<\/p>\n

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A largely unheeded warning from 1918\u2026<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

For some background, the\u00a01918 Spanish flu pandemic<\/a>\u00a0started in February that year and lasted until April, 1920. (So, roughly two years and two months?) And in another \u201cdeja vu all over again,\u201d the culprit was the\u00a0H1N1 flu virus<\/a>. (It also caused the\u00a02009 swine flu pandemic<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

But back to 1918, when there was a little thing called\u00a0World War I<\/a>\u00a0going on. The first recorded such \u201cflu\u201d case in the U.S. was said to come on March 4, 1918, as America geared up to send “our boys” overseas. It was Albert Gitchell, an army cook at\u00a0Camp Funston<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Kansas<\/a>. (Although there were likely unreported cases before him.) First observed in\u00a0Haskell County<\/a>, Kansas, a local doctor – \u00a0Loring Miner – warned the\u00a0US Public Health Service<\/a>, but to no avail. Within days, 522\u00a0men at Camp Funston had reported sick. By March 11, 1918, the virus reached\u00a0Queens<\/a>, New York. And in a sign of things to be repeated:<\/p>\n

Failure to take preventive measures in March\/April was later criticized.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But wait, there\u2019s more!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Because the war was raging, censors minimized early reports. That is, they did so in the major countries\u00a0involved<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0in the war, but not in neutral Spain. There, reports of the disease weren\u2019t censored, which is why the epidemic got the name \u201cSpanish flu.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Camp Funston the disease spread through the\u00a0American Expeditionary Forces<\/a>, who brought it to Europe and the\u00a0Western Front<\/a>\u00a0by mid-April, 1918. It then spread from France to Great Britain, Italy, Spain and beyond. After the March\u00a0Treaty of Brest-Litovsk<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 between Germany and Russia \u2013 \u201cGermany started releasing Russian prisoners of war, who then brought the disease to their country.\u201d From there it spread to the rest of the world in four \u201cwaves,\u201d with a much-deadlier second wave in late 1918. (With a third wave in 1919 and a fourth in 1920.)<\/p>\n

Later that year \u2013 on November 11, 1918 \u2013 the war ended, and people were so happy they \u201ccouldn\u2019t be stopped from gathering to celebrate.\u201d Then too the number of Spanish Flu cases went\u00a0down\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>toward the end of 1918, so restrictions were eased and many churches \u201cswelled with the joyous music of the [Christmas] season once again.\u201d But as one site noted, \u201cHistory suggests that celebrating holidays during a pandemic by gathering in large groups, as one might during normal times, could have harmful and long-lasting effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which may explain the second, third and fourth \u201cwaves.\u201d On the other hand, back then \u201cthey\u201d had some advantages, as noted in\u00a0A Look Back at\u00a0Christmas\u00a0During the\u00a0Spanish\u00a0Flu\u00a0Pandemic<\/a>. For one thing, Americans in 1918 were \u201cmuch<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0more familiar with epidemic disease:\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026 epidemic disease was very familiar to the early 20th century public. Families, many of which had lost a child to\u00a0diphtheria<\/a>\u00a0or watched a loved one suffer from\u00a0polio<\/a>, were generally willing to comply with some limitations on their activities. Most public health departments wore badges and had police powers, and this was generally uncontroversial. \u201cThey could forcibly quarantine you or put you on a quarantine station on an island.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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So much for the \u201cadvantage\u201d being familiar with deadly epidemic diseases. But at least they were \u201cwilling to comply with some limitations on their activities.\u201d And another point to remember is that \u2013\u00a0be all that as it may<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the United States and the world survived. So much so that if it hadn\u2019t been for this year\u2019s\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 illustrated at right \u2013 few people today would have any reason to recall the\u00a01918 Spanish flu pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which brings up a link from my last post,\u00a0December 2020 \u2013 and \u201cBad things to good people<\/a>?\u201d The gist of that link \u2013\u00a0Bad Things to Good People? | Psychology Today<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 was its \u201cscientific\u201d answer: That\u00a0\u201cthe universe has no inherent purpose or design<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the pointy-headed scientist-slash-probably-an-atheist-as-well who came up with that conclusion\u00a0did<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0offer up some good advice. (\u201cBless his heart<\/strong><\/em><\/a>,\u201d as we say in Georgia):<\/p>\n

There is much we can do to alleviate each other\u2019s suffering when adversity strikes. Our support and\u00a0empathy<\/a>\u00a0toward our fellow human beings in their time of need helps them not only materially but demonstrates to them that they matter\u2026 When we act kindly, it also gives meaning to our own life, as we see that we matter to others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which brings up \u201cChristmas spirit.\u201d\u00a0I\u00a0Googled<\/a>\u00a0\u201cwhat is the Christmas spirit\u201d and got 4,180,000 results. One answer, from\u00a0What is Christmas Spirit? \u2013 Scientific American Blog Network<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The code of generosity, kindness, and\u00a0charity toward others is enforced by\u00a0no one other than ourselves<\/strong>. There are places where this code is strong, and these places (or people) are said to have strong Christmas spirit\u2026 After all, we are the sum of the individuals around us who generate the\u00a0collective force<\/a>\u00a0that governs and organizes our social structure\u2026\u00a0When we \u201cact out\u201d Christmas spirit, we\u2019re making visible this collective force, and we give it power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then there\u2019s\u00a0Christmas Spirit \u2013 Its Real Meaning | 7th Sense<\/a>, which defined that spirit in three simple actions: Giving, Appreciating, and Doing service. Which is pretty much the same advice \u201cpointy-headed scientist-slash-probably-an-atheist-as-well\u201d offered a few paragraphs back\u2026<\/p>\n

Which in turn brings up the “mystery<\/a>\u201d of why this particular plague hit us at this particular time. The short answer?\u00a0Such \u201cmysteries\u201d \u2013 even pandemics \u2013 seem to be a part of life. But\u00a0from<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0them we can learn valuable lessons, like how to develop and grow stronger, spiritually and otherwise. Which means the \u201canswer\u201d to such mysteries largely\u00a0depends on us<\/em><\/strong>. \u201cWhat will we do with this unexpected calamity? Will we go forward and grow stronger, or turn back the clock\u00a0and<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0start turning on each other?\u201d In turn, \u201cour\u201d Covid-19 can remind us of our \u201cfragility as human beings,\u201d as noted in a quote from\u00a0The Plague<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Camus<\/a>, in Part 1, early in the book:<\/p>\n

Everybody knows that\u00a0pestilences<\/a>\u00a0have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which certainly seems true of this latest\u00a02020\u00a0pestilence<\/a>. It certainly came as a surprise. Which brings up a book review from the Salt Lake Tribune on\u00a0\u201cThe Plague<\/a>,\u201d with this relevant point:<\/p>\n

Being alive always was and will always remain an emergency; it is truly an inescapable \u201cunderlying condition\u2026\u201d This is what Camus meant when he talked about the \u201cabsurdity\u201d of life. Recognizing this absurdity should lead us not to despair but to a tragicomic redemption, a softening of the heart, a turning away from judgment and moralizing to joy and gratitude.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One possible lesson? The current pestilence\u00a0might\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>lead to a massive change in our present national life, and especially our national political life. The present\u00a0Coronavirus<\/a>\u00a0might<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0lead to a general and sweeping American \u201csoftening of the heart.\u201d So with all that in mind:<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas, 2020, and may 2021 be a WHOLE lot better!<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

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A \u201ctime of pestilence\u201d can show there are more things to admire in people than to despise\u2026<\/em><\/figcaption>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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The upper image is courtesy of Wikipedia on the\u00a01918 Spanish flu pandemic<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cinfluenza\u201d image was accompanied by a caption: \u201cRules to reduce the spread of Spanish flu posting by the US Public Health Service. Cough or sneeze into your mouth with a handkerchief, avoid crowded places, do not spit, do not share the use of cups and napkins\u2026. Typographic poster; Unites States, Washington, DC 1918. (Photo by Fototeca Gilardi\/Getty Images).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The image \u201cCOVID-19<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 illustrated at right\u201d is captioned: \u201cA testing team responds to a confirmed case in a nursing home in\u00a0Charleston, West Virginia<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0The Plague \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSeattle police wearing masks in December 1918.\u201d\u00a0 Is this a case of\u00a0\u2018deja vu all over again? * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * It\u2019s the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, 2020. Which leads to a question: \u201cWas this past Christmas Day in the crazy, pandemic-plagued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10071"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10166,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071\/revisions\/10166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}