PANDEMIC-RELATED

What Isn't?
   A quantitative analysis by me has not been done, but I think that among the most popular news topics -- right up there with the Middle East situation, the U.S. presidential election, the colour of one of the candidates and Taylor Swift -- the Covid pandemic still maintains a high ranking. Our era is likely to be divided for study by the historians into pre- or post- chunks. Our plague period seems to have had an impact on everything. 
   We learned from the pandemic, for example, that people do not like to work and really find it inconvenient to go to it. All kinds of social changes and behaviours are now attributed to the Covid years. To prove my point I will show some results quickly found by doing this simple google search: "Pandemic related."

Pandemic-related stress affected babies' brain development;
School's in for summer; Reading, math program helps young students close pandemic-related gaps;
Pandemic-Related Disruption and Positive Adaptation: Profiles of Family Function at the Onset of the Pandemic;
Pandemic-related impacts and suicidal ideation among adults in Canada: a population-based cross-sectional study (CDN);
The contribution of pandemic relief benefits to the incomes of Canadians in 2020 (CDN);
The impact of pandemic-related stress on attentional bias and anxiety in alexithymia during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Pandemic-related experiences, mental health symptoms, substance use, and relationship conflict among older adolescents and young adults from Manitoba, Canada (CDN);
Pandemic-related stress (OMA);
COVID-19 and your mental health;
Pandemic-Related Violence;
Pandemic-Related Workplace Violence and Its Impact on Public Health Officials;
COVID-19 pandemic related supply chain studies;
The impact of pandemic-related worry on cognitive functioning and risk-taking;
Internet use and COVID-19: How the pandemic increased the amount of time Canadians spend online (CDN);
Pandemic-related behaviours and psychological outcomes; A rapid literature review to explain COVID-19 behaviours;
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the postsecondary graduating class of 2020(CDN);

   I am not sure what all of this means, but the good news is that the people doing all of these studies were likely able to work from home and present the results via Zoom. 
   Perhaps I am a bit suspicious. I did recently provide a post where I questioned the degree to which we can generalize about people within a particular generation. I suppose one can also question the degree to which a society has changed because of one cause, even a big one like the pandemic. 

When Was It?
   The pandemic, that is. In case you have forgotten, as I did, exactly when our plague started and how long it lasted, I will provide an answer here. 
 A beginning point: "On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this novel coronavirus outbreak a public emergency of international concern. A few weeks later, on March 11, 2020, it declared COVID-19 as a pandemic."
An ending one: "On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced it will end the COVID-19 public health emergency declarations on May 11, 2023."
Sources: Here are two Covid timelines:
"COVID-19 Timeline" (CDC)
"COVID-19 Pandemic Timeline"

The Culling of Things

   A couple of years ago, I called to your attention the fact that at the beginning of World War II, hundreds of thousands of household pets were euthanized in Britain (see in MM, "Brits and Their Pets", or, The Great Cat and Dog Massacre: The Real Story of World War Two's Unknown Tragedy, by Hilda Kean.) The reasons for such pet destruction varied, but you can be assured it was done more out of concern rather than cruelty. No one wants to see their pet cat bombed or their dog wandering about in the rubble of London, to be killed by the invading Huns. 

  Perhaps it was because I was aware of this episode, that I noticed an article about an earlier mass culling in Britain. Thousands of dogs and cats were ordered "to be immediately killed" by the Common Council of the City of London during the Great Plague of 1665 (there was no such order during the WW II episode. It was done voluntarily and often opposed by officials.) For more details see this article, where other historical culls are also mentioned: "The War on Dogs: The Dog Cull of 1760 Divided London: Were Dogs Man's Best Friend, Or Plague-RIdden Pests?" Stephanie Howard-Smith, History Today, June 6, 2023. 
   The article also points out something of which I was not aware, that during our own plague, "the UK government considered "that we might have to ask the public to exterminate all the cats in Britain." Apparently I just missed this news during covid, since it was easy to substantiate: "The U.K. Briefly Considered Killing All Pet Cats Early in the Pandemic," Armani Syed, Time, March 2, 2023.
   I do recall that there were cullings of animals that were not pets. Millions of minks in Denmark and thousands of hamsters in Hong Kong were disposed of out of fear that a virus mutation might spread to humans.
   My knowledge of zoonotic diseases is close to nil, but I am aware that diseases can be spread between species (in both directions) and that such episodes are being studied. 
   Culling is also worth our consideration. Current instances of it are easy to find. Buffalo are being culled in Yellowstone, deer in Tasmania and millions of chickens in France because of fear of avian influenza or for industrial farming reasons. There are too many deer in a graveyard near my house and there are far too many non-migratory geese leaving evidence of their existence throughout London. Culling is an option and the proceeds could benefit the homeless. (This recent headline is from Cleveland: "A Dozen Cuyahoga County Cities Now Use Sharpshooters to Reduce Their Deer Numbers.")
  The culling of deer in London, even if recommended and done by the Indigenous, would be difficult to implement politically. Generally attitudes toward animals are more humane, one would think, and some argue they even have rights. Peter Singer has just updated his book on "Animal Liberation" and the culling of things, even during a plague, may no longer be an easy remedy, especially if your pet is involved.

Canadian Content: 
   A culling of stray dogs in St. John's in 1815 is reported. See, "The Newfoundland Dog." 

Welcome to 2023

1907 - Some Things Don't Change

Patient: "I can't afford it Doc. I'll simply have to wait until prices come down."

Clearly there were also health care and inflationary concerns back near the beginning of the last century. (London Free Press, Oct. 31, 1907.)

1923 - Some Things Do Change

This advertisement is from the LFP 100 years ago. Clothes are not much of a concern these days. The pandemic didn't help and a large segment of the population now shows up in public in pajamas. Fifty years after this ad., fellows were still wearing suits and fedoras to a ball game.

Now people in airports look like they just came from a garage sale and I gather that even in churches, parishioners arrive in sweat pants and tee shirts. 

   We can do better than this. Perhaps in 2023 we can at least tuck in our shirts and strive to conceal that thong. 

The Bonus:

   Apparently these sartorial issues are not just of concern for those of us in the colonies.

"Very recently a kind friend from New York asked us to dinner at Claridge’s. It has been magnificently enlarged and redecorated, but not, thank God, ‘re-imagined’. The dining room, however, came as a shock. Who were these people, sulky of visage, lounging at tables in tracksuits and T-shirts? The service was impeccable, but my fellow diners looked like they were on their way back from the gym. Later, ruthlessly going through my wardrobe, I came upon a grubby T-shirt and a pair of torn denim shorts. As I flung them into the rubbish box, I had second thoughts. ‘Hang on Barry!’ a voice said. ‘Don’t chuck those away. Someone might invite you to Claridge’s.’"

Source: 
"Why Does No One Dress For Dinner at Claridge's Any More?" Barry Humphries, The Spectator, Dec. 17, 2022. 

Factlet (6)

 

Extraordinary Times....         Desperate Times.....

That's Billions With a 'B'

   For review, a Factlet is true, whereas a Factoid is only widely believed to be true. I have not provided a Factlet for a while, so here are a bunch of them in one post. My last one was about the Opioid Epidemic and was negative, and this one is about the Covid Pandemic, but is positive. The pandemic has been profitable for some and not just the manufacturers of Purell or the makers of plexiglass. To wit:

   To put the chart in context, consider this:

A Wealth Tax??

   Jeff Bezos has already decided to give $10 billion to causes relating to climate change. He started by donating $791 million to various organizations, including $100 million each to: The Environmental Defense Fund, The National Resources Defense Council. The Nature Conservancy, The World Resources Institute and The World Wildlife Fund.  This will certainly help, since in 2019 only 2% of the $730 billion given globally was for the fight against climate change.

   Elon Musk has decided to move from California to Texas. The decision may be related to the fact that the Lone Star State has less regulations and lower taxes.

   Short of pleading for these individuals to be more philanthropic, what could be done? Instituting a wealth tax is one option and it is being considered in the UK. It is suggested that the tax could be a one-time one and there appears to be a fair amount of public support for it. That would likely be true here, but perhaps not in the Lone Star State during the time of Trump.

Sources:

   The chart is from a report produced for Americans For Tax Fairness and The Institute for Policy Studies. The title: "Net Worth of U.S. Billionaires Has Soared by $1 Trillion - To Total of $4 Trillion - Since Pandemic Began." A sub-heading indicates that the "Wealth Increase in 9 Months Exceeds Likely $908 Billion Cost of Covid Relief Package GOP Has Stalled as Too Costly."

   The charitable actions of Bezos are reported in the Washington Post - see: "Bezos Makes First Donations From $10 Billion Earth Fund For Fighting Climate Change," Steven Mufson, Nov. 16, 2020.

Bezos owns the Washington Post.

   The title of the Wealth Tax Report is: "A Wealth Tax For the UK", Wealth Tax Commission Final Report, by Arun Advani et al. The full 126 pp final report is available. 

The defining feature of a one-off wealth tax is that it would be a one-off exceptional response to a particular crisis. Individuals would only be taxed once based on the wealth they owned valued at a particular date. They would still be allowed to pay the tax in instalments over a number of subsequent years, to reduce the cost in any single year, but the amount of tax would be based on their wealth on the initial assessment date.

For two articles about the report: "Economic Cost of Covid Crisis Prompts Call For One-Off UK Wealth Tax," Richard Partington, The Guardian, Dec. 9, 2020 and "U.K. Urged To Levy $350 Billion Wealth Tax to Fund Pandemic," Andrew Atkinson, Dec. 9, 2020.

The Bonus: 

   You will have noticed the names of three Waltons in the chart. To see what Alice did with a bit of her money a few years ago, read this earlier post or, when the pandemic is over, travel to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.