BRATTLEBORO — As we've moved past yet another grim milestone - 500,000 pandemic deaths - the comparisons to wars in U.S. history reveal another horrific reality.
In World Wars I and II, the entire society organized to protect this country. Where is the mobilization today?
On the home front, citizens volunteered, funded war bonds, rationed fuel, etc. They planted victory gardens, a symbol of the country's commitment to persevere.
Today, we have a coterie of pandemic deniers who regard masking as an infringement on liberty, and we have one political party that has “rediscovered” its deficit-hawk-ish fear of spending too much to help our people. One supposes that if citizens were corporations, such fears would evaporate.
The pandemic death rate is approaching the combined death totals of both world wars. What would it take as citizens and leaders to truly meet the challenges before us?