Plexiglass May Save Us
Plexiglass May Save Us
By Lou Ford
We are in the mist of a global pandemic. A health crisis that has ravaged us in almost every way. It has smashed our economy, bludgeoned our social structure,
and dismembered OUR political system resulting in a nation that is more divided than ever before. Yes, an actual health crisis that should demand cohesiveness, has actually drawn and quartered the nation even further into factions. While we tear ourselves in pieces over the horrors of wearing a face mask, and the question of whether it is really a form of population control instituted by Bill Gates, we have forgotten about another scourge (Lozada) One that has benefited greatly from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. That crisis is the opioid epidemic.
Is there away to lessen the catastrophic devastation created by both health crisis?
Maybe there is something.
As the entire globe was (and still is) being mauled to pieces by the coronavirus( like a hyper active dog trying to eat a pillow?), there was something that was over -looked. That was a pandemic that began in the 90s and continued to pick up momentum due to a growing economic climate of unstable inequality. It was a system that had turned away from the common man and had gone to the companies. It was a system of despair that was destroying the working class. That collapse combined with the shutdown by the pandemic resulted in an uptake of deaths that have been driven by loneliness, a loss of purpose, and desperation ( Lozada). The worse part is that while some officials believed that the virus would slow down the drug trade, instead it just forced that industry to mutate and evolve, exactly like a virus. People went different ways. Smugglers, and cartels took different avenues, and addicts found other inroads resulting in not just morgues being filled with pandemic casualties, but with more victims of the unending opioid epidemic that has been shredding us since the late 90s ( Wan and Long). And what’s more, as we watch confirmed cases in the south and west continue to skyrocket daily, we only make that already existing crisis worse through the continued isolation, and the unrelenting economic disaster that the COVID outbreak has caused. And, as discouraging as that may be, the sad aspect is that we had been warned of the harm.
That warming came in the form of a book written by Anna Case and Angus Deaton. THIS book, Deaths of Despair and The Future of Capitalism, is an examination of our health care system, and how the economy factors into how healthy we are (Lozada) While The book didn’t directly focus on a pandemic, what it found a growing mortality rate among a certain demographic. At first glance, it seemed that it shouldn’t be so. That demographic is whites who are 40-50-year old. And several of the important factors that play into this rising death rate, besides employment and health, are education, or lack thereof. In other words, those who are white, working class Americans, with no college education, were more likely than any other group to die from drug overdoses and suicides, That is some pretty telling information. This Unexpected mortality rate was discovered before the Covid 19 pandemic. What makes this even more catastrophic at this moment in time is that The ever-growing pandemic has increased the level of despair felt by that demographic is only worsened by the strict precautions used to prevent the virus’spread. Now in case that was a tad bite to wordy, I’ll put it to you like this: if you don’t have a college degree then you are going to pay a heavy price especially if you are white. That is what the statistics say. And that begs the question, with all the restrictions needed to stifle the pandemic enflaming the the opioid crisis, what can we do?
As Deaths of Despair and The Future of Capitalism shows for those without college degrees, who are working-class, everything is in someway about work (Lozada). It is about ritual; employment is about customs and routines in working- class life. Work could even be seen as an identity. Without it, the job, those working-class communities have nothing, and few alternatives to move forward. So maybe the real question, and this is one that can apply to everyone,, is how can we, as a society, help to lessen the isolation? How can we safely social interaction that won’t risk furthering one crisis as we curb another?
Maybe the answer is simpler than we are making it out to be:plexiglass. Yes, plexiglass. What I mean by that is visiting areas. Now I know that sounds quite possibly insane, but just consider this for a second, hypothetically speaking. With a virus that is airborne it is not a necessarily a smart idea to encourage socializing. I mean right now social distancing and maskS are the best things. These methods helped to fight influenza during the pandemic of 1918. Those cities during that time didn’t enact social distancing or lockdowns suffered The worst consequences. Philadelphia is a perfect example of this. Instead of locking down, The city had a parade. The result was death and suffering. We need to remember this and think of solutions that are outside the box. We need to think about better ways to do deal with the issues that have resulted from extended isolation. If there were safe zones where people could interact without as much fear of spreading Covid 19 the currently ignored is of the ever-growing opioid crisis might very well be curbed too. The importance being that isolation is a trigger for some thing like addiction, and social interaction can help to prevent relapse (Wan and Long).
Now I know what you are probably thinking as well, and that is plexiglass visiting areas, isn’t an extreme? Isn’t that one of the ways visiting is conducted in the prison system? To both I will answer yes, but also ask you to remember that this virus knows no bounds, and isolation (while effective in preventing the virus) is extremely detrimental to those who are vulnerable to addiction and depression. While plexiglass may seem outlandish it would offer the social interaction without risking lives. People can meet, talk, interact and socialize. Sure people will be pressing their hands against glass, and I’m sure it might feel even feel like a punishment; but I’ll ask you this: is a ventilator better?, When isolation for an extended period of time can result in so much damage, then maybe something not so unfavorable can do some good. We. as a society. are starting something totally new. Our communities are suffering from something that is unprecedented, and that may mean that we have to try unprecedented actions to protect us as a whole, to protect those who are vulnerable --those who might catch the bad end of this if they catch Covid 19. So, yeah plexiglass visiting areas might sound terrible, but it might save lives. It might help to flatten the curve. Plexiglass could be something that might help save us.
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