[2006alum]

“De facto failed state”. Please. We are dealing with some tough situations.  We will move past it.  One of the major problems is we dwell constantly in the negative.  Fueled by politicians, media and social media intent on dividing us.  We’ve survived worse.  Courage.

Let me clarify what I mean. When I think of a failed state, I think of a government that is unable to guarantee basic health and safety for its citizens, forcing all of us to seek out costly workarounds and non-optimal substitutes. Wikipedia says that "[t]ypically, the term means that the state has been rendered ineffective and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly or provide basic goods and services to its citizens." And indeed, that is precisely what I and my close friends and family have been experiencing over the past few months.

Here are a few examples I had in mind when I said this:

Our inability to control COVID-19 means that the start date for my new job -- one I was hired for over a year ago -- has been moved up and back three times in the past month because the organization has been adapting to do onboarding and training remotely. And at least I am fortunate enough (so far) to have a job - literally tens of millions have no immediate path to employment.

That wouldn't be too big of a deal but for the fact that, as a result of our government's inability to control the virus, I have had to buy a (used) car and plan to drive across the country, as I don't want to fly, and I don't want to have to rely on public transportation to get to my new job. So I've had to reschedule my hotels twice now as my estimated departure date shifts back and forth. These are all expenses I would not have to undergo if I felt it safe to get on a plane and access domestic travel.

It also wouldn't be too big of a deal if I didn't have to liaise with building management of my old employer to find a limited, 4-hour window to get into the building where my old office is located. It's been completely shut for over three months now, and no one has been allowed in, so I have been unable to freely and legally access my own possessions. 

I will also be working from (my new) home for the foreseeable future, as my organization has mission critical employees who are older and high risk. This means I needed to get a nicer new housing situation than I would ordinarily seek out for a time-limited gig, as I anticipate I'll be spending 23 hours a day there between work and living. I opted to trade up to a larger apartment with a den/home office. So that's another unanticipated expense. Again, I do not feel comfortable trusting public transportation.

Meanwhile, my spouse, who will not be able to easily fly across the country to visit me for the foreseeable future, is worried about the threat of rolling blackouts because PG&E is so inept that their only solution to increased wildfire & downed powerline risks is to shut off transformers entirely. We are investigating buying a generator because we can't rely on the state to provide us with power.

Meanwhile, relatives who live in a more rural part of California are in a community with an aquifer that is nearly tapped. When it goes, which they are predicting will be in the next year or two, they will have to have all water transported to them from outside the community. So water, too, is something the state is not able to provide to its citizens. (To say nothing of Flint, etc.).

Last week, my pharmacy was completely shuttered for three days because of risks from protests/rioting/looting. As was my local target. So the state could ensure security for businesses to a sufficient degree that they feel comfortable staying open. As a result, I was unable to access prescription medicines for several days, and I couldn't have them refilled elsewhere because they had already been filled but were stuck in the barricaded pharmacy.

My friends in Seattle live 6 blocks from CHAZ. Their local grocery store, Trader Joes, cannot get deliveries because the trucks need to run through the CHAZ route and have been blocked. It will run out of food imminently if something doesn't change.

Another family friend who lives in Seattle lives on one side of the West Seattle Bridge. She is an ICU nurse who works at a hospital on the other side of the bridge. The bridge shut down in March due to serious concerns that it could collapse. What used to be a 45-minute commute is now 1.5 hours, as she has to drive far south and then back north due to the closure. Given her already long work hours, this is a big burden for her, so she considered buying an electric bike. But then she realized the bike bridge runs beneath the West Seattle Bridge, so instead of collapsing with her, it would collapse on and around her. (Strangely, the bike bridge has remained open. So the state has also failed to provide safe and adequate infrastructure.

One of my best friends from undergrad has had to postpone his wedding twice: first, from this spring to this summer, and now, from this summer to sometime next year TBD. Both sides have international relatives and with travel restrictions and COVID-19, they cannot reliably promise their families that they can safely attend (to say nothing of possible international travel restrictions). 

So, to recap: My family and close friends have had to doubt their safety on public transportation, basic road infrastructure, domestic travel, and international travel because the state has been unable to manage this pandemic and maintain safe public infrastructure. We/they have been concerned about maintaining access to safe groundwater and power, because the state has been unable to safely provision basic public utilities. And we have had food and prescription drug supply chains significantly disrupted because the state cannot provide sufficient security and public access for those businesses to remain open.

I will be the first to admit that any one of these things alone is really not a big deal. And we've been rolling through most of them with relatively minimal complaints. But these are all symptoms of a failed state.

Finally, I'm hardly the only person to have said this:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/1252283857136750594?s=20[/tweet]

[2006alum]

“De facto failed state”. Please. We are dealing with some tough situations.  We will move past it.  One of the major problems is we dwell constantly in the negative.  Fueled by politicians, media and social media intent on dividing us.  We’ve survived worse.  Courage.

Let me clarify what I mean. When I think of a failed state, I think of a government that is unable to guarantee basic health and safety for its citizens, forcing all of us to seek out costly workarounds and non-optimal substitutes. Wikipedia says that "[t]ypically, the term means that the state has been rendered ineffective and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly or provide basic goods and services to its citizens." And indeed, that is precisely what I and my close friends and family have been experiencing over the past few months.

Here are a few examples I had in mind when I said this:

Our inability to control COVID-19 means that the start date for my new job -- one I was hired for over a year ago -- has been moved up and back three times in the past month because the organization has been adapting to do onboarding and training remotely. And at least I am fortunate enough (so far) to have a job - literally tens of millions have no immediate path to employment.

That wouldn't be too big of a deal but for the fact that, as a result of our government's inability to control the virus, I have had to buy a (used) car and plan to drive across the country, as I don't want to fly, and I don't want to have to rely on public transportation to get to my new job. So I've had to reschedule my hotels twice now as my estimated departure date shifts back and forth. These are all expenses I would not have to undergo if I felt it safe to get on a plane and access domestic travel.

It also wouldn't be too big of a deal if I didn't have to liaise with building management of my old employer to find a limited, 4-hour window to get into the building where my old office is located. It's been completely shut for over three months now, and no one has been allowed in, so I have been unable to freely and legally access my own possessions. 

I will also be working from (my new) home for the foreseeable future, as my organization has mission critical employees who are older and high risk. This means I needed to get a nicer new housing situation than I would ordinarily seek out for a time-limited gig, as I anticipate I'll be spending 23 hours a day there between work and living. I opted to trade up to a larger apartment with a den/home office. So that's another unanticipated expense. Again, I do not feel comfortable trusting public transportation.

Meanwhile, my spouse, who will not be able to easily fly across the country to visit me for the foreseeable future, is worried about the threat of rolling blackouts because PG&E is so inept that their only solution to increased wildfire & downed powerline risks is to shut off transformers entirely. We are investigating buying a generator because we can't rely on the state to provide us with power.

Meanwhile, relatives who live in a more rural part of California are in a community with an aquifer that is nearly tapped. When it goes, which they are predicting will be in the next year or two, they will have to have all water transported to them from outside the community. So water, too, is something the state is not able to provide to its citizens. (To say nothing of Flint, etc.).

Last week, my pharmacy was completely shuttered for three days because of risks from protests/rioting/looting. As was my local target. So the state could ensure security for businesses to a sufficient degree that they feel comfortable staying open. As a result, I was unable to access prescription medicines for several days, and I couldn't have them refilled elsewhere because they had already been filled but were stuck in the barricaded pharmacy.

My friends in Seattle live 6 blocks from CHAZ. Their local grocery store, Trader Joes, cannot get deliveries because the trucks need to run through the CHAZ route and have been blocked. It will run out of food imminently if something doesn't change.

Another family friend who lives in Seattle lives on one side of the West Seattle Bridge. She is an ICU nurse who works at a hospital on the other side of the bridge. The bridge shut down in March due to serious concerns that it could collapse. What used to be a 45-minute commute is now 1.5 hours, as she has to drive far south and then back north due to the closure. Given her already long work hours, this is a big burden for her, so she considered buying an electric bike. But then she realized the bike bridge runs beneath the West Seattle Bridge, so instead of collapsing with her, it would collapse on and around her. (Strangely, the bike bridge has remained open. So the state has also failed to provide safe and adequate infrastructure.

One of my best friends from undergrad has had to postpone his wedding twice: first, from this spring to this summer, and now, from this summer to sometime next year TBD. Both sides have international relatives and with travel restrictions and COVID-19, they cannot reliably promise their families that they can safely attend (to say nothing of possible international travel restrictions). 

So, to recap: My family and close friends have had to doubt their safety on public transportation, basic road infrastructure, domestic travel, and international travel because the state has been unable to manage this pandemic and maintain safe public infrastructure. We/they have been concerned about maintaining access to safe groundwater and power, because the state has been unable to safely provision basic public utilities. And we have had food and prescription drug supply chains significantly disrupted because the state cannot provide sufficient security and public access for those businesses to remain open.

I will be the first to admit that any one of these things alone is really not a big deal. And we've been rolling through most of them with relatively minimal complaints. But these are all symptoms of a failed state.

Finally, I'm hardly the only person to have said this:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/1252283857136750594?s=20[/tweet]