Life isn’t cheap | Guest Opinion

Someone wiser than I once said that when an older person dies, it’s like burning down a library.

I don’t take the loss of humanity’s memory banks lightly. Neither should anyone else.

I’m distressed so many among us feel that the folks more likely to die of COVID-19 are disposable. I can’t and won’t accept that.

And I’m tired of people noting most or all of the dead had pre-existing conditions that made them more likely to die. I don’t think that shorthand phrase somehow makes it more acceptable.

As for me and thousands of other retired folks, I’ll be doing my best to stay out of harm’s way. I’m more at risk because I’m 72, though otherwise healthy. And even during this crisis, I continue to do many things I think are important to my community, as do many others I know who are in the at-risk age of over 60.

We may not work full time any more — though many of us do in order to make ends meet or to satisfy our need to work. But we sit on many boards of nonprofit organizations that promote educational opportunities for today’s students, work to ensure the hungry get fed, the homeless have a safe place to shelter and kids don’t go to school hungry or endure a weekend without much to eat.

I’m interested in staying active in my community because mostly I care about those in need and I try to make it a better place.

As for slowing the spread of the coronavirus with state-imposed social distancing, we can get this right if we work on things together, whether we prefer to vote Republican or Democrat.

However, we’ll get it wrong if we don’t work together and continue to demean, insult and ignore one another.

How can I say such a thing? Exhibit A is Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican.

“There are more important things than living,” Mr. Patrick said recently. “… Lots of grandparents” would be happy to sacrifice their lives to COVID-19 for the economic comfort of their grandchildren, he insisted.

“There are more important things than living, and that’s saving this country for my children and grandchildren and saving this country for all of us,” he said, adding, “… but man we gotta take some risks.”

Now, I have to point out, of all the public offices in the land, having watched lieutenant governors function over 50-plus years as a journalist, that a lieutenant governor is close to the most useless electoral post in virtually every state.

So, at first I thought Mr. Patrick was simply someone whose wealth, family ties and such had elevated him beyond his abilities and intellect. It turns out that’s not the case. He’s not alone. More than a few in his party are suggesting we sacrifice our elderly and others with medical conditions that make them likely to die if they contract the deadly virus.

And yet we have a White House full of folks who are tested regularly and who wear masks on the job and observe social distancing — with two notable exceptions — our president and vice president, both of whom appear allergic to the idea of wearing a mask.

But really, if Mr. Patrick thinks it’s such a great idea — maybe even patriotic — to simply rush onward without precautions, he ought to be the first in the parade. I have a few suggestions for useful employment for him — mopping up the floors and sanitizing the hallways of our COVID-19 wards for starters.

And he could use his state salary to pay for something useful — buying protective gear such as masks, face shields, surgical gowns, etc., for the doctors and nurses working to save COVID-19’s victims.

Those who want to put the economy ahead of public health need to realize that we don’t need a faster iPhone or a speedier search nearly as much as we need more people who can think and analyze a set of facts.

We need people who can pass on wisdom.

This story was originally published May 25, 2020 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Life isn’t cheap | Guest Opinion."