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COVID-19 Is Forcing Us to Face Death
And not in the way you think.
I’ve been watching the turmoil unfold in our country as people become increasingly agitated, divided, and even violent as our quarantine order stretches on.
And then it hit me. I’m watching our country face death.
Some of us, of course, are facing literal death. Our frontline healthcare workers put their very lives on the line each day they go into work. Those with high-risk profiles know that one unfortunate face-scratch could result in a trip to the ICU.
The rest of us are facing a less-straightforward version of death, and overall, I’d say we’re not handling it very well.
Let me explain.
As humans evolved, our organizational structures evolved with us to ensure greater and greater physical safety. Now, for the most part (with some unregulated parts of the world/country notwithstanding), we don’t need to form into roving bands to ensure our survival. Our governments and social structures (again, for the most part) uphold the notion that we all have a right to life.
During the rise of civilizations, money, not brute force, became the greatest predictor for survival. This meant that the fatal effect of wars, famine, and other natural disasters were (and are) mitigated by what you’ve got in your bank…