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SURVIVING THE PANDEMIC: “If you have a flexible attitude, you can help others quite easily.”
By
Published: Apr 21, 2020
Category:
Pandemic: Dispatches and Essentials
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Jimmy Kimmel: “I’m starting to think these characters who support Trump might be suicidal. They seem to fight hardest for the things that will kill them. They want freedom to gather in large groups during an epidemic, they want guns, they want pollution. I figured it out — they want to die and they’re taking us down with them. It’s like if the Titanic was headed towards the iceberg, and half of the passengers were like, ‘Can you please speed this thing up?’”
VIDEO OF THE DAY
This guy — in real life, he’s a comedian — put it succinctly:
I was on the phone last night with P, my only friend who deals with business for a large media brand. The conversation turned to the bailout, and the experience of D, an entrepreneur/owner of a small business. He applied for one of the government grants, requesting $47,000 from Chase, where his business has banked for 24 years. He has 2 Chase bank accounts, 2 Chase lines of credit, and a Chase credit card. Chase rejected him. When he called to ask why, he was told that Chase used all its money in the first 2 minutes. A friend who used a small bank: approved in one day.
P was sympathetic but unsurprised. And irritated by me. “It’s amazing to me that you don’t understand what you’re writing. It’s all about money. Always was. Always will be.”
Despite five decades in media, I have resisted believing there is no moral factor in decision-making. Last night, I took a spin about the possiity P has it right. And….
From the Las Vegas Sun: Gov. Sisolak says Nevada prepping plans to reopen economy
Officials are working on plans to reopen Nevada following more than a month of a statewide closure out of concerns for the coronavirus, Gov. Steve Sisolak said Thursday.
from Yahoo Finance: Wynn CEO: Coronavirus lockdown in Las Vegas should be partially lifted in May
The head of Wynn Resorts called on Nevada’s Governor to open the state’s economy in early May. “Begin with reduced occupancy, physical distancing measures in place, temperature checks and no large gatherings,” Maddox wrote in the report, adding, “We all need to wear a mask. Wearing a mask is uncomfortable; however, it will allow our economy to reopen faster.” In the 23-page report, Maddox also laid out Wynn’s guidelines on how to safely “reopen” and “recover” Las Vegas while cautioning that its procedures are “not applicable” to all resorts in the industry. These guidelines include making sure resort doors are propped open or manually operated by an employee, no more than four guests allowed in an elevator at a time and that each guest gets proper sanitizing equipment and face masks.
And now we get to the WHY.
From the Guardian: Sheldon Adelson to donate $100m to Trump and Republicans, fundraisers say
Adelson, who in tandem with his Israeli-born wife, Miriam, donated more than $100m million to Super Pacs and dark money groups in each of the last two presidential cycles, could wind up contributing close to $200 million in 2020 given their recent spending patterns and appreciation for Trump’s policies.
What is $200 million to Sheldon Adelson? Nothing. He has $37.7 billion — he’s the 24th-richest person in the world. Most of his money comes from casinos. His Palazzo, in Las Vegas, is the tallest building in Nevada. In terms of floor space, it’s the biggest building in the country — 383,000 square feet larger than the Pentagon.
What is a casino? A money machine, of a very specific kind: the house wins. [Exception: Trump.] And yet people flock to play.
In Georgia, the Governor is opening tattoo parlors and bowling alleys and gyms. Next? Much more.
Stacey Abrams, in Twitter: “Georgia: 14th highest infection/7th lowest testing rate; less econ resilient & 1000s of low-wage workers already forced to risk their lives to make a living. Weakened healthcare w/closed rural hospitals, no Medicaid expansion & a doctor shortage. Reopen? Dangerously incompetent.”
And never forget the grift.
from Bloomberg: Kushner Cos. Gets $800 Million Federally Backed Apartment Loan
Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has received about $800 million in federally backed debt to buy apartments in Maryland and Virginia — the company’s biggest purchase in a decade. The loan was issued by Berkadia, a lender co-owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., in a deal that’s backed by government-owned Freddie Mac.
And, of course, there are cheerleaders to distract us from what’s happening with bullshit reports about a few conservative-financed protests.
From MSNBC: Fox News has had 87 individual segments in the past week discussing, advocating, and promoting the protests for stay-at-home orders. But the Fox News hosts themselves are staying home.
So… what are we to do?
I don’t meditate, but I love Eric Ripert’s video. Intention is the secret sauce in everything. “When you aim for the highest things,” a spiritual leader told me, “the highest things happen.” That is, to underscore, not just in your spiritual development. In the world. In reality.
I take Ripert’s message to mean something more now. Don’t ignore the terrible reality: the virus and the legal criminals. But don’t stop doing your absolute best.
I’ve been having a stupid dialogue with friends — maybe former friends by now — about the meaning of recent events, the origin of the virus, and other topics which have a lot to do, on their side, with assessing blame and predicting a totalitarian future. Last night, one wrote me: What is the world you envision for your daughter? My reply:
I divide time into Before, Now, and Future.
Before no longer matters to me, because I can’t do anything to change it.
Future is unknown, more than ever not susceptible to vision or planning, so I don’t go there.
Now is where I live. Kind of Enforced Mindfulness. I spend as much conscious time as possible tending to loved ones, trying to be useful to others, doing my work, which includes writing a novel (!!!) that has required me to review 60 Buddhist texts and biographies.
I see a connection between that research and what I’m doing: Applied Buddhism. “If you have a flexible attitude,” Shunryu Suzuki says, “you can help others quite easily.”
My daughter’s possible future? No idea. She has made a website for a school project. I am her official supervisor, but she made it without my help and I never saw it before she launched. If she continues this school project after graduation (!!!), she can monetize it. (Yeah, she’s my daughter.)
In the world I envision for Helen… she’s alive.
My friend Frances — who reached across the table in a chic restaurant, took my hand, and prayed with me — says, “Nothing happens between the couch and the refrigerator.” Wise words. I commend them to you. Sorry if you hoped for more. This is what I’ve got.
TODAY’S BOOK
Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki
The first thing that fascinated me about Shunryu Suzuki — the Zen monk who’s mostly responsible for bringing Zen to America — was his response when he was asked to summarize Buddhism in a sentence.
The audience laughed at the impossibility of that challenge.
Suzuki had a ready answer.
“Easy,” he said. “Everything changes.”
But then, in his life, easy was the way he was. Or seemed to be.
He didn’t tell neophytes they needed to learn much before setting out on the Zen path. “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities,” he explained. “In the expert’s mind, there are few.” He believed in the importance of whatever you were feeling, in the moment you were feeling it. There were no hard and fast truths. For him, the secret of Zen was: “Not always so.” Which is just another way to say “Everything changes.”
You could almost say he didn’t care about Zen. Sitting in the lotus position and watching your thoughts —- nice, but not crucial. Ditto walking meditation. “The most important thing is to be able to enjoy your life without being fooled by things,” he said.
A NEW CATEGORY: ALIVE TO ME
From M: “Reading the Sephora story over the weekend reminded me of the 7 years I spent working part time at the Body Shop, but not because the two were similar; quite the opposite. I don’t know if TBS is still like it was (back then many stores were franchises but I believe they are all now corporate). I worked at TBS from 1995 through 2002. In addition to being ahead of the curve on refilling, recycling, and no animal testing (by or on behalf of the supplier for any product or product ingredient), I admired how the store treated employees. We started above minimum wage. Over my time there I climbed to almost double minimum wage. We had paid breaks (an hour on an 8 hour shift), our uniforms were supplied (I’ve come across so many places that require staff to buy their uniforms), and all of our time spent on product training was paid. But the biggest part to me was that each store was required to contribute minimum community volunteer hours. Staff had to spend a minimum number of hours volunteering with an approved community organization (we did Big Brothers/Big Sisters), and the owner was required to pay the staff for their time. It wasn’t publicized, but it was mandated by head office and we had to regularly report our partner organization and our hours. After 8 years working in a mall, it became clear that TBS’s approach was the exception. So I’ll cross Sephora off the list but until I hear otherwise, TBS will be there.
JOSH RITTER: 7 PM TONIGHT
“Tonight at 7pm ET I’ll screen my 2011 concert documentary “Live at the Iveagh Gardens.” I’ll be there watching along and hanging out in the comments and trying to remember some stuff about that wild time.” Click here.
ESSENTIALS AND DISPATCHES
Everything, all in one place.
UPDATE: EO Hand Soap is available again.
UPDATE: I spoke with a NYC lung specialist. He endorses Vitamin D, but warns you not to double/triple dose. In large doses, Vitamin D becomes toxic.
