{"id":9167,"date":"2020-05-11T00:38:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T00:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=9167"},"modified":"2022-03-26T18:29:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T18:29:41","slug":"on-week-8-of-the-coronavirus-shut-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=9167","title":{"rendered":"On Week 8 of the Coronavirus shut-down…"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u00a0Voltaire<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0a new figure – the\u00a0intellectual recluse<\/strong>\u201d – during a time of “destruction let loose…”<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Sunday May 10, 2020, and we’re at the end of eight full weeks of the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>. And since\u00a0wisdom begins with the definition of terms<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 as\u00a0Socrates<\/a>\u00a0said\u00a0\u2013 I\u2019ll clarify.<\/p>\n

To me, the pandemic hit full swing \u2013 the “‘stuff’ hit the fan\u201d \u2013 back on Thursday, March 12. That\u2019s when the ACC basketball tournament got cancelled, and March Madness and college baseball were called off. Also about that time the NBA, NHL and other major professional sport seasons all ended.\u00a0(For what those college sports\u00a0mean<\/strong>\u00a0to me, see June 2018\u2019s\u00a0\u201cUnintended consequences\u201d \u2013 and the search for Truth<\/a>, and February 2019\u2019s\u00a0On my \u201cmission from God<\/a>.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

So\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>my\u00a0definition of the \u201cFirst<\/em><\/strong> Full Week of the Covid-19 Pandemic\u201d has it starting Sunday, March 15 and ending Saturday, March 21. (Meaning we’re actually starting the ninth full week of the pandemic.)\u00a0<\/em>And that pandemic shows no signs of abating, which means we need continue adjusting to a \u201cNew normal<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0(With social distancing, extreme caution and shortages of all kinds.)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Which brings up the question: What did people do in the\u00a0Olden\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Days when disaster struck?<\/p>\n

For more on that see below, but for now let’s just say that\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0personally have been “busier than the proverbial one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest.” Aside from working three days a week – at the local branch of Keep America Beautiful – I’ve been exercising eight hours a week.<\/p>\n

That includes two hours of high-intensity exercise. (Stair-stepping 30 minutes a time, wearing a 28-pound weight vest and ten pounds of ankle weights.)<\/em> Plus an hour or so of yoga a week, plus calisthenics, sometimes interspersed with at least 200 minutes of medium-intensity workout. That can include kayaking or hiking an hour or so at a time.\u00a0 But it also includes lots of time stretching and bending, while watching lectures from\u00a0The Great Courses Plus<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I signed up on May 3, and been loving it. And<\/em> <\/strong>putting my “shelter at home” time to good use.<\/p>\n

\"FundamentalsSome of the courses I’ve begun so far:<\/p>\n

‘Fundamentals of Photography” (at left)<\/em>, “Understanding the Old Testament,” “Understanding the New Testament,” “Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques,” “America’s Founding Fathers,” “Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything,” and “Liberty on Trial in America: Cases That Defined Freedom.”<\/p>\n

But the course I’ve latched onto most recently is “The American West: History, Myth, and Legacy.”<\/em> And that course begins with this, that the “conquest and settlement of the American West transformed the United States from a regional republic into a continental power.”<\/p>\n

\"TheLecture One included a quote from Frederick Jackson Turner<\/a>, one of the “most influential historians of the American West.” He said key elements of the American character came from the encounter of settlers with the frontier.<\/p>\n

Domesticating the frontier … forced Americans to live by their wits, to cooperate,<\/em> <\/strong>to revert temporarily to earlier stages of civilization, and to embody a more wholehearted democracy than anything on offer in the Old World.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And speaking of cooperation, he added that Americans taming the frontier learned to “adapt, to cooperate with one another<\/em><\/strong>, and to treat each other as equals<\/em><\/strong>.” (Emphasis added.)<\/em> By such means as mutual cooperation and treating each other as equals, they “subdued the wild lands around them, working out ideas and techniques unknown to their ancestors.”<\/p>\n

Needless to say, I was struck by the words “cooperate with one another” and “treat each other as equals.” To which I can only say, “What the hell happened?”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But enough of politics. (For a while anyway.)<\/em> For the time being I’ve decided to revert to making this post more like a series of\u00a0personal essays<\/a>. That is, where the writer “explores his or her own thoughts, often as related to an organizing idea or subject.” Which brings back what I’ve learned about\u00a0what people did in the\u00a0Olden\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Days, when disasters like our pandemic<\/a>\u00a0struck?<\/p>\n

One answer came from the 1759 novel\u00a0Candide<\/a>, by\u00a0Voltaire<\/a>. It opens with the hero \u2013 Candide \u2013 \u201cliving a sheltered life in an\u00a0Edenic<\/a>\u00a0paradise<\/a>.\u201d But from there things go downhill:<\/p>\n

The work describes \u2026 Candide\u2019s slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes Candide [by] advocating a deeply practical precept, \u201cwe must cultivate our garden,\u201d in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, \u201call is for the best\u201d in the \u201cbest of all possible worlds<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or as Voltaire put it in another setting, \u201cLife is bristling with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to cultivate one\u2019s [own] garden.\u201d\u00a0(Voltaire\u2019s Solution to a Life Full of Thorns<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/em>And speaking of Eden \u2013 as in \u201ca place or state of great happiness [or] an unspoiled paradise\u201d \u2013 that seems to be what we\u00a0used to have<\/em><\/strong>, before Covid-19. Or at least it seems so in hindsight\u2026<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s what historian\u00a0Kenneth Clark<\/a>\u00a0said\u00a0in his 1969 book\u00a0Civilisation<\/a>, about what some did during a time of great upheaval.\u00a0(Like today\u2019s.)<\/em>\u00a0Writing about the violence brought on Europe by the\u00a0Protestant Reformation<\/a>, he said that whatever the long-term effects,<\/p>\n

\u2026the immediate results were very bad; not only for art, but bad for life. The North [of Europe] was full of bully boys who rampaged around the country and took any excuse to beat people up\u2026 All the elements of destruction were let loose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

So a great upheaval \u2013 with elements of panic and destruction \u201clet loose\u201d \u2013 can come from either other people\u00a0(\u201cbully boys\u201d)\u00a0<\/em>or from nature itself. So what do we do, in the process of\u00a0riding out\u00a0this<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0storm<\/a>? Or as Clark put it, \u201cWhat could an intelligent, open-minded man do in mid-sixteenth-century Europe?\u201d Or for that matter, here in America this 2,020th \u201cyear of our Lord<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

His short-and-sweet answer, \u201cKeep quiet, work in solitude, outwardly conform, inwardly remain free.\u201d Which as a result of the European wars of religion created a figure new to Europe but \u201cfamiliar in the great ages of China: the\u00a0intellectual recluse<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d\u00a0(Which at this point evokes \u2013 to the writer anyway \u2013 the old\u00a0Maynard G. Krebs<\/a>\u00a0repeated line, \u201cYou rang?<\/strong><\/a>\u201c)<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet another answer is to \u201cKeep on keeping on<\/a>.\u201d As in, \u201cto persevere<\/a>,\u201d which means\u00a0to persist or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement<\/a>. Or maybe “cooperate?” Or get back to “treating each other as equals?” Or at least with a bit more respect. See\u00a0Treat each other with respect – Communication and Conflict<\/a>. Of which more later…<\/p>\n

Or as Voltaire<\/a>\u00a0once said, “Treat other people with respect, even the Dumbasses!<\/em><\/strong>”<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 *\u00a0 \u00a0*<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Voltaire\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>. This particular image accompanies an article, “Rodama: a blog of the 18th century,” subtitled “Houdon: ‘Seated Voltaire’ at Les D\u00e9lices.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Here are some pictures of Houdon’s Seated Voltaire, the beautiful centrepiece of the Mus\u00e9e Voltaire at Les D\u00e9lices in Geneva, which I was lucky enough to visit last Easter. This version is among the finest examples of Houdon’s famous statue, and is particularly unusual in that it is made of terracotta.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I chose this image because to me it seems most similar to what I might have looked like, had I gone through Voltaire’s particular trials and tribulations. (Instead of just my own.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0 The full quote reads as follows:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Frederick Jackson Turner<\/a>, one of the most influential historians of the American West, argued that the distinctive elements of the American character came from the encounter of settlers with the frontier. Domesticating the frontier, Turner wrote in an 1893 essay, forced Americans to live by their wits, to cooperate, to revert temporarily to earlier stages of civilization, and to embody a more wholehearted democracy than anything on offer in the Old World.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Re: Personal essays. See also\u00a07 Helpful Tips on How to Write a Memorable Personal Essay<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: The ending of Candide.\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0had the ending \u2013 \u201cwe must cultivate our garden\u201d \u2013 translated into French,\u00a0<\/em>\u201cil faut cultiver notre jardin<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0But see also\u00a0Candide Conclusion Summary & Analysis from LitCharts<\/a>, which worded the ending as \u201cAll that is very well \u2026 but let us cultivate our garden.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Kenneth Clark. The quotation from\u00a0Clark<\/a>\u00a0is from the\u00a0hardcover book version<\/a>\u00a0of his\u00a0Civilisation (TV series)<\/a>, at page 161. For an interesting sidelight on \u201cSir\u201d Clark, see\u00a0A new\u00a0book\u00a0reveals\u00a0Kenneth Clark\u00a0was also a bed-hopping, wife-stealing rogue<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Though ostensibly a happily married man with a dutiful and caring wife \u2026 he couldn\u2019t keep his manicured hands or his swooning heart away from other women. He was a serial adulterer, a constant seeker of affairs, even [the] wives of his close friends.\u00a0This upright pillar of the Establishment was \u2026 as one of his detractors put it most succinctly, \u2018a frightful s**t\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Re: The “dumbasses” Voltaire quote. See\u00a0State Farm TV Commercial, ‘The Internet and French Model<\/a>, illustrated at right, and State Farm … Bonjour\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Treat Each Other Respect\u00a0–\u00a0Image\u00a0Results<\/a>. See also\u00a0Live Life Happy – Inspirational Quotes<\/a>, etc.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Voltaire,\u00a0\u00a0a new figure – the\u00a0intellectual recluse\u201d – during a time of “destruction let loose…” * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * It\u2019s Sunday May 10, 2020, and we’re at the end of eight full weeks of the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic. And since\u00a0wisdom begins with the definition of terms\u00a0\u2013 as\u00a0Socrates\u00a0said\u00a0\u2013 I\u2019ll clarify. To me, the pandemic hit full […]<\/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\/9167"}],"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=9167"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12627,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167\/revisions\/12627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}