Pandemic reveals cracks in nation’s foundation
United States map that shows state flags on top of their respective states.
Over the time we’ve spent in the pandemic, many ugly cracks have appeared in our national foundation.
We have witnessed more waves of violence, greed and discord than we have in a long time. Realistically, you would hope that in a time as hard as this, people would try to come together, but instead many have ignored public safety rules, resorted to violence and flat out made trouble for others and themselves.
This says a lot about the instability of our national foundation and how much needs to change.
Change can be achieved through everyone thinking about the common good, but our government also plays a role. While the government never has condoned any of the negative behaviors, neither has it done enough to stop these actions.
For example, so much time was spent arguing about the reality of COVID-19 and where it came from. that people were left confused and panicked about what to do. Over one year later, we are still missing solid plans and consistent rules to help prevent the spread of this virus. As of April 12, 2021, people still are debating the mask mandate, with 25 states requiring masks in public spaces, 6 states requiring masks in certain facilities, 5 states requiring employees of certain industries to be masked, and 14 states where masks aren’t required at all (according to MultiState).
The lack of unity and the abundant confusion proves that we have cracks in our foundation that need to be fixed.
The fact that chaos that ensued after the pandemic started to go into full swing isn’t only the government’s fault. In viral videos from early in the pandemic, you can see people fighting over resources and fully clearing out stores of basic things like hand sanitizer, toilet paper and many other things that really didn’t need to be bought in bulk the way they were.
All this is just about the pandemic itself, so don’t even get me started on the topics of racism and police violence we faced during this already dark time.
Although I may make it seem like nothing good happened over the pandemic and that the past year was just a huge train wreck, a few good things did happen.
For example, I think about how people around our nation came together in protest of police violence, and how the Supreme Court ruled that LGBTQ employees must be protected under civil rights employment statutes.
So the pandemic year wasn’t all bad.
![Photo of Freddie Gist](https://mccaravan.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/freddiejournalism2-790x900-1.jpg)
Freddie Gist is a 17-year-old who lives in Chicago, Illinois. During high school, Freddie attended University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and then transferred...