COVID-19 scare stories continue, sensationally spurred by media, even as we collectively reopen and return to a more normal existence. To provide context, TV talking heads often mention the devastating Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
The reference ignores health challenges over the intervening decades. In fact, pandemics have plagued the world’s populations throughout time, including the 20th century. During 1957-1958, the Asian Flu was a major public health problem. The pandemic originated in China, as the misnamed Spanish flu of 1918 probably did as well.
The Hong Kong flu came to the United States in 1968, spread by several hundred thousand mostly young men in our military rotating home, generally after one-year duty tours in Vietnam during our long war. The disease spread rapidly. Like many, President Lyndon B. Johnson became seriously ill and hospitalized, for a time in intensive care.
Mercifully, young people appear to be relatively immune to COVID-19. That was not the case with these earlier pandemics. Yet generally, there were no mass isolations, detailed severe restrictions or media fearmongering.
People are also reading…
People viewed disease as an unfortunate part of life. After all, the Salk Vaccine to defeat the horror of polio had only become available in 1955. The last case of smallpox in the U.S. was also recent: 1949.
In that earlier time, for the vast mass of employed people there was no alternative to going to work, in literal terms, in a group location. If you failed to show up, you would be out of a job. The extraordinary computer and telecommunications revolutions that permit remote work were just beginning, and public health problems in any case were regarded with stoicism.
The good news is we are so secure today that anything less is a shock. The bad news is we have become extremely vulnerable to fear.
Extraordinary prosperity permits the extraordinary measures taken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and other ills once regarded as unavoidable. Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal is particularly insightful regarding this important neglected dimension, along with the Brookings Institution, the World Bank and others.
As recently as 1980, approximately one-half of the population on the planet lived in “extreme poverty.” The World Bank defines that condition as below $1.90 per day valued in 2011 dollars, an estimate that endeavors to include drastically different cost and price structures in various countries and regions. Less than that amount prevents essential conditions of human life.
That is not news. Through the long sweep of human history, the vast majority of the population lived in undernourished, often dangerous environments. That reality drove powerful reform movements, some of them extreme, violent and destructive.
Destitution no longer is the norm. Under ten percent of the world’s population is now in extreme poverty, though there are serious disruptions. COVID-19, climate change and armed conflict are among current challenges. The long-term downward trend nevertheless continues.
As this implies, the poorest parts of the globe are successfully playing economic catch-up. The influential, respected Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. currently is devoting instructive in-depth attention to the “Africa Growth Initiative.”
Related to economic progress and development, democracy is becoming the desired way of life for the world’s population overall, not just the privileged few. As recently as three decades ago, the people of Latin America lived almost uniformly in authoritarian regimes. Today, Cuba’s dictatorship is isolated.
Nonetheless, fear remains an infectious public menace. If unchecked, fear can kill individuals, institutions, and eventually civilization.Arthur I. Cyr is author of “After the Cold War” (NYU and Palgrave/Macmillan). Contact him at acyr@carthage.edu.(tncms-asset)0c666aa8-daa8-11eb-8681-00163ec2aa77[2](/tncms-asset)
Today in history: Jan. 7
Video
1927: Telephone Service

In 1927, commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.
1955: Marian Anderson

In 1955, singer Marian Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera.”
1959: Cuba

In 1959, the United States recognized the new government of Cuba, six days after Fidel Castro led the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.
1989: Emperor Hirohito

In 1989, Emperor Hirohito of Japan died in Tokyo at age 87; he was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Akihito.
1999: Impeachment

In 1999, for the second time in history, an impeached American president went on trial before the Senate. President Bill Clinton faced charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; he was acquitted.
2004: George W. Bush

In 2004, President George W. Bush proposed legal status, at least temporarily, for millions of immigrants improperly working in the U.S.
2012: Drew Brees

Ten years ago: Record-shattering Drew Brees threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints poured it on in the second half for a 45-28 NFC wild-card victory over the Detroit Lions.
2012: Mitt Romney

Ten years ago: Three days before the New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney brushed aside rivals’ criticism in the opening round of a weekend debate doubleheader that left his Republican presidential campaign challengers squabbling among themselves and unable to knock the front-runner off stride.
2015: Charlie Hebdo

In 2015, masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French newspaper that had caricatured the Prophet Mohammad, methodically killing 12 people, including the editor, before escaping in a car. (Two suspects were killed two days later.)
2019: Amazon

In 2019, Amazon eclipsed Microsoft as the most valuable publicly traded company in the U.S.
2019: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In 2019, for the first time in more than 25 years, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was absent from oral arguments as she recuperated from cancer surgery.
2021: The Capitol

One year ago: Hours after Congress certified Joe Biden’s victory, President Donald Trump acknowledged in a video that a “new administration will be inaugurated” and said he’d focus on “ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power”; Trump condemned the violence from his supporters who stormed the Capitol but did not address his role in inciting the violence. Lawmakers of both parties spoke of ousting Trump from office, possibly through the action of his own Cabinet under the 25th Amendment. President-elect Joe Biden denounced the rioters at the Capitol as “domestic terrorists” and blamed Trump for the violence.
2021: Tommy Lasorda

One year ago: Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda died at 93.
Arthur I. Cyr is author of “After the Cold War” (NYU and Palgrave/Macmillan). Contact him at acyr@carthage.edu.