The Good News and Bad News
Published in El País
(Spain) on 12 July 2020
by Francisco G. Basterra (link to original)
Without a hint of distinction or empathy, the deflated balloon that is Trump’s presidency reveals an empty footprint.
Good news never arrives by itself, it’s balanced by bad news. This is what's been going on since the beginning of this strange summer. We learn something from the pandemic and wake up to a new world, one more unified, egalitarian, and with a greener conscience. That’s the good news, but we hope in vain. The virus is still with us, spreading without a vaccine or effective cure. This is certain, and it’s bad news.
The U.S. and its absurd virus management led to 60,000 new cases and 800 deaths a day during the last three days of last week. Donald Trump keeps lying, claiming everything is under control, while he simultaneously withdraws the U.S. from the World Health Organization. Injecting bleach, disinfectant, or taking hydroxychloroquine prescribed by the president cannot overcome this crisis. In the U.K., Boris Johnson uses tricks similar to those used by his twin in Washington to fight the virus. The Anglo-Saxon world is losing its historic standing as the winner.
In Spain, the good news is that we’ve gone on vacation. Now it’s up to the regions that condemned the government in Madrid for how it dealt with the pandemic, to struggle with it, having thought they could do it better. And the bad news is that Catalonian President Quim Torra’s government in Lleida has let the virus get out of hand, as foreign fruit pickers living deplorable conditions become infected and contagious. In Galicia, the coastal region of Lugo has locked down. And there have been dozens more outbreaks in other regions. The news is worse in Latin America, which has less than 10% of the global population but counts for almost 50% of global deaths.
The false construct of a return to a new normal is deceptive. It has been generated by a Western society that has little in the way of endurance, accustomed to a painless and rapid cure for any kind of ailment, wherever it may come from. Globally, we stumble back to an impossible yesterday, which if it’s new can’t be yesterday as we’ve known it. No man ever steps in the same river twice.
In Europe, the good news is that Angela Merkel is at the helm and ready to carry out a great economic recovery plan, because solidarity in a crisis isn’t just a humanitarian gesture, it’s also an investment in the future. But Germany, even with France, can’t overcome the national economic divergences within the European Union, as demonstrated by the bad news concerning the failed attempt of Spanish Third Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Nadia Calvino to become president of the Eurogroup.
Without a hint of distinction or empathy, the deflated balloon that is Trump’s presidency reveals an empty footprint. Trump is an individual who baptized an era in which truth and lies are indistinguishable. The good news is that if voting were to take place now, Joe Biden would replace Trump, who has been hobbled by COVID-19 and economic disaster. And the bad news is that there’s still 3 1/2 months until the election. Wear a mask.
Good news never arrives by itself, it’s balanced by bad news. This is what's been going on since the beginning of this strange summer. We learn something from the pandemic and wake up to a new world, one more unified, egalitarian, and with a greener conscience. That’s the good news, but we hope in vain. The virus is still with us, spreading without a vaccine or effective cure. This is certain, and it’s bad news.
The U.S. and its absurd virus management led to 60,000 new cases and 800 deaths a day during the last three days of last week. Donald Trump keeps lying, claiming everything is under control, while he simultaneously withdraws the U.S. from the World Health Organization. Injecting bleach, disinfectant, or taking hydroxychloroquine prescribed by the president cannot overcome this crisis. In the U.K., Boris Johnson uses tricks similar to those used by his twin in Washington to fight the virus. The Anglo-Saxon world is losing its historic standing as the winner.
In Spain, the good news is that we’ve gone on vacation. Now it’s up to the regions that condemned the government in Madrid for how it dealt with the pandemic, to struggle with it, having thought they could do it better. And the bad news is that Catalonian President Quim Torra’s government in Lleida has let the virus get out of hand, as foreign fruit pickers living deplorable conditions become infected and contagious. In Galicia, the coastal region of Lugo has locked down. And there have been dozens more outbreaks in other regions. The news is worse in Latin America, which has less than 10% of the global population but counts for almost 50% of global deaths.
The false construct of a return to a new normal is deceptive. It has been generated by a Western society that has little in the way of endurance, accustomed to a painless and rapid cure for any kind of ailment, wherever it may come from. Globally, we stumble back to an impossible yesterday, which if it’s new can’t be yesterday as we’ve known it. No man ever steps in the same river twice.
In Europe, the good news is that Angela Merkel is at the helm and ready to carry out a great economic recovery plan, because solidarity in a crisis isn’t just a humanitarian gesture, it’s also an investment in the future. But Germany, even with France, can’t overcome the national economic divergences within the European Union, as demonstrated by the bad news concerning the failed attempt of Spanish Third Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Nadia Calvino to become president of the Eurogroup.
Without a hint of distinction or empathy, the deflated balloon that is Trump’s presidency reveals an empty footprint. Trump is an individual who baptized an era in which truth and lies are indistinguishable. The good news is that if voting were to take place now, Joe Biden would replace Trump, who has been hobbled by COVID-19 and economic disaster. And the bad news is that there’s still 3 1/2 months until the election. Wear a mask.
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