Black Plague & COVID 19
A historical Connection post - by RKT
(SP-20_HIS1313-WA01B Western Civilization to 1500 - A. Biles)I was asked to connect the past with today...
The question at hand is from the Book Sherman D, & Salisbury J (2014). The West in the world: a history of western civilization. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.
Chapter 9 page 289...
Think about the chapterās discussion of the disruptions caused by natural disasters and disease.
1. What are some recent instances in which pandemics have disrupted (or have threatened to disrupt) societies? How have people responded to such threats?
My answer is below...
History repeats itself? by Richard Thompson - Tuesday, April 21, 2020, 9:07 PM
The Disease! This description causes most historians to identify the disease as bubonic plague, caused by a virulent bacillus (Yersinia pestis) that infected rodents in Manchuria, then spread to black rats. (Sherman, pg 267) In thinking about the chapter's discussion on disease and recent instances in which pandemics have disrupted and threatened societies and how people have responded is quite poignant today April 21, 2020.
The bubonic plague or the black plague, that started in 1348 in Europe spread by rats,(let's connect that to bats in the COVID pandemic today), disrupted life as it was known. The disruption in Europe was catastrophic as it literally killed Ā½ to ā of the population. That is estimated 20,000,000 - 35,000,000 dead. The connection today as of April 20, 2020, at 8:11 PM EST the death toll of the COVID-19 is 177,413 deaths. Of course, the pandemic is not over and this data will take a very long time to acquire.
My point is that the relationship of the Black Plague to the COVID is linked by the fact that it has disrupted an entire world.
Also, the facts of the plague were brought over on a ship from a foreign land that is connected to the Americas as the COVID-19 was also brought over from a foreign land.
Another connection isā¦ The psychological impact of so great a plague was perhaps even more important than the actual loss of life. (Sherman pg 268) Think of the connection today with the COVID and the psychological impact it is having and will indeed continue for years to come. People today will never be the same and life as humans knew it will transform into something new.
One thing is the fact of what a hero is and priorities. The fame of sports and entertainers being bloody heroes has gone to the real heroes of humanity and those are the people on the front lines of essential workers especially in the hospitals and the workers that create the bottom of the pyramid of Maslow's Triangle of survival essentials.
How have people responded to such threats?
The way people responded to the threat of the Black Plague was varied, An eyewitness account can be found on page Page 268
Agnolo di Tura del Grasso lived in Siena, Italy, when the plague struck in 1348. He wrote a chronicle of events from 1300 to 1351 that provides an eyewitness account of the horror. His description of the disease helped historians to identify it with bubonic plague. This document is like the ones of the people on the front lines today.
Consequently, another way people dealt and responded during the plague was can be found on Pg 280
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313ā1375), who witnessed the devastating plague as it swept through his city. In his most famous work, The Decameron, Boccaccio offers a poignant eyewitness description of Boccaccio the plague, with insights into how various people responded to catastrophe, for he said some shut themselves off from everyone else, others prayed diligently in hopes of avoiding early death, and still, others denied themselves nothing, ādrinking and reveling incessantly from tavern to tavernā¦. The stories reflect a new, permissive attitude that arose in the wake of the plague, for the stories talk frankly of sex, lies, and ordinary people.ā
An interesting fact isā¦
The famous nursery rhyme Ring around the rosey, I remember singing as a child has its roots in the Black Plagueā¦ Is it folklore or real?
What it really meansā¦
Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses is all about the Great Plague; the apparent whimsy being a foil for one of Londonās most atavistic dreads (thanks to the Black Death). The fatalism of the rhyme is brutal: the roses are a euphemism for deadly rashes, the posies a supposed preventative measure; the a-tishoos pertain to sneezing symptoms, and the implication of everyone falling down is, well, death.
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ring-around-the-rosie-metafolklore-rhyme-and-reason/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaspFUkcPjo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2QN3kzA6rg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFbsbfHa0F4
Today people are making up songs about the COVID pandemic as one is still sung today from the Black Plague.
Here are a few of 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMBh-eo3tvE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7iNEyoNBzE&list=PLHy97livTv7FjPKvqbd3E6CHMCO4ppuw2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDv9eBqu-zg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAfqCq3JIWg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH4TVYT1OYQ
āThe heroes are not knights or philosophers, but clever men and women who live by their wits, and their stories were intended more to amuse than to teach moral lessonsā¦ In these dark times, many found a lighthearted tribute to pleasure particularly satisfying.ā
The reality is that the connection is very real and indeed history does repeat itself if we think it does not, look at the above connection and challenge your thinking. The sense of hopelessness and powerlessness is what happened then and is rapid today in society across the world.
Richard
Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses
Here is one from
An interesting fact isā¦
The famous nursery rhyme Ring around the rosey, I remember singing as a child has its roots in the Black Plagueā¦ Is it folklore or real?
What it really meansā¦
Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses is all about the Great Plague; the apparent whimsy being a foil for one of Londonās most atavistic dreads (thanks to the Black Death). The fatalism of the rhyme is brutal: the roses are a euphemism for deadly rashes, the posies a supposed preventative measure; the a-tishoos pertain to sneezing symptoms, and the implication of everyone falling down is, well, death.
Today people are making up songs about the COVID pandemic as one is still sung today from the Black Plague. Here are a few of 2020
***
COVID 19 NEWS
More interesting facts on Nursery Rhymes
More writings about Covid and the concept of change
Ex Malo Bonum - Out of bad Comes Good
by Richard Thompson - Wednesday, November 4, 2020, 2:24 PMNumber of replies: 0The article Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Hereās How. written by By POLITICO MAGAZINE
03/19/2020 07:30 PM EDT was indeed interesting on many fronts. One is the fact that it was written when the entire world shut down and ignorance, uncertainty, shock, and fear swept every human that realized that this is something that is science, not a man-made crisis. The article spoke of 34 predictions that are eye-opening and indeed after 7 months many are coming to fruition and many more should be added. Of the major categories of the articleā¦
-Community
-Tech
-Health Science
-Government
-Elections
-Global Community
-Lifestyle
I am disappointed in the lack of vision of the writers that Education is not a category, education is mentioned but not as a real topic of interest as Covid literally changed the entire educational system on all levels. Education is mentioned but not as a real topic of interest. (at least those that were not already utilizing online learning)This category will affect more people and society due to the failure that will happen and will affect all the other categories. That being said I will stop my pontificating on the deficit of the article and journey towards the two perspectives from two different categories to share my insights.
The two perspectives I have chosen areā¦
Community - A new kind of patriotism.
Government category - The rules weāve lived by wonāt all apply.
1- Why did you choose this perspective (why did it resonate with you)?
For the Community - A new kind of perspective I chose this perspective because indeed as I respect our veterans beyond comprehension, a new hero has emerged. This hero who always been there but on the backburner to the acknowledgment it deserves. This acknowledgment goes to the essential workers in the health field who literally put their own lives on the line to help others. The battle is not tangible as in a war against other humans but the war on a virus. Note: this concept is not new as Hollywood has portrayed this for years in movies and yet we always thought it was just in the movies. Well, the movies are now reality TV shows that affect all the human race and the earth itself. These concept movies of a virus have indeed been brought to the forefront from fantasy to reality. Hee is a link to the best 79 pandemic movie that will make you think. (Link below for your further information)
The dominant heroes in these movies are not military yet as the article we are focusing on statesā¦ āPerhaps, too, we will finally start to understand patriotism more as cultivating the health and life of your community, rather than blowing up someone elseās community.ā
This resonates with me and has my empathy because finally these unsung heroes have been recognized by the general population. Heroes, as it were before Covid consisted predominately of sport, entertainment, and musicians. The Ex Malo Bonum (Latin translation - Out of Bad Comes Good) of this aspect of the pandemic is that no longer will the sport, entertainment, and musician be on the same level and real heroes, real patriots for the greater good of humanity has finally been recognized.
2- How will the changes outlined in this perspective alter career pathways in your vocation?
The changes in this perspective will only enhance my career path and in my vocation, as I work with at-risk, marginalized, poverty-stricken students in the inner city. I say this as it confirms my statements that a musician, sport, or entertainment person who has not done anything for others as opposed to the ego of themselves is not worthy of being a hero. this conversation and awareness are crucial in empathy and growth mindset.
3- What kind of knowledge and skills will you need to develop to adapt to the new world order described?
The knowledge and skills to adapt to this new world are to continue the awareness of what it truly means to be a patriot, a person to defend against the enemy. This enemy is of science and biology so yes, health care workers are true patriots as they battle against the virus. The new world is that of a changed mindset of what is truly important! In an article by the US News Heroes Need Help, Too By Zinaria Williams, Contributor Aug. 19, 2020, at 4:24 p.m. it speaks of the health care worker as a hero and also what is really need as they are human as well and in need of mental health support as well as extrinsic support.
My second perspective is in the Government category - The rules weāve lived by wonāt all apply. This perspective was mind-blowing and also speaks to the concept of why a rule is put into effect, to begin with.
1- Why did you choose this perspective (why did it resonate with you)?
I chose this perspective because it resonated with my advocacy for the common man and the concept of survival. Also, the fact that a government is to be of, by, and for the people, this means ALL people, not just the top 10%. The perspective in the article speaks about how the rules were so stringent that after a person misused a payment or I would like to add an airline company if you missed the flight you received no refund. Now, the airlines are at the mercy of the people and the socio-economic world as opposed to being black and white thinking and never really took into consideration the LIFE HAPPENS!
2- How will the changes outlined in this perspective alter career pathways in your vocation?
This perspective will alter my career path and my vocation by using the same essence in my life as a principal because the rules we used are now being challenged to its core. A school that is not utilizing online will fail. Also, those that don't use exemplary practice in online learning are going to encounter mutiny, failure, and frustration from their students and families at large. I see this affecting my world by empowering more as I have been in crisis mode and using online for the last 20 years. So as the educational world was still 200 years behind in its delivery and mindset, I was light years ahead utilizing the world of online learning before it was the only way.
3- What kind of knowledge and skills will you need to develop to adapt to the new world order described?
The knowledge needed to develop and adapt to the new world will be an opportunity to empower my students and myself is to think even further into how to empower the self-discipline and grit of my school kids to be able to survive. The rules we lived by do not apply in this new world, yet in my world, I was already there. The rest of the educational world is catching up.
The article statesā¦ āItās clear that in a crisis, the rules donāt applyāwhich makes you wonder why they are rules in the first place.ā This crisis will change everything going forward and will never go back to the way it was. Change then is the only thing that is constant and rules change due to the circumstance. In the journal article Rule of Law in Times of Crisis: A Legal Theory on the State of Emergency in the Liberal Democracy
Andrej Zwitter speaks of the concept of why the rules (laws) change in a crisis. Specifically, I connect this article to the assigned article by this quoteā¦ āthe rule of law and about its definition by looking at situations where the rule of law is put to the test ā states of emergency. States of emergency and laws of exception have specific characteristics, one fundamental characteristic being that legislative power is shifted to the executive ā in other words, democracies become less democratic.ā We are in a new world of rules and laws because the human race has never experienced this type of pandemic on this scale.
Note: Times during The black Plague created the crises to change the rules and all the rules they lived by did not apply as well. The link below to research on just that topic I wrote for conversation and critical reflection.
In conclusion, the two perspective of the article has proven to open up discussion and realization that indeed we as humans have come to a point in history where all of life will be changed due to a virus that is still not understood or conquered. Thus the rules we live by won't apply and patriotism in all countries will prove to have a different operational definition. Yet through bad comes good, ex malo bonum, out of bad comes good. This pandemic not counting the terrible sickness and deaths has made the human race rethink everything.
Thank you
Richard
References
https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/best-pandemic-movies-on-netflix-hulu-prime-and-more.html
https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-08-19/health-care-workers-are-heroes-and-they-need-help
Zwitter, A. (2012). The Rule of Law in Times of Crisis: A Legal Theory on the State of Emergency in the Liberal Democracy. ARSP: Archiv FĆ¼r Rechts- Und Sozialphilosophie / Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, 98(1), 95-111. Retrieved November 4, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24769102
Black Plague & COVID 19
A historical Connection post - by RKT
https://www.smore.com/rupsc-black-plague-covid-19