The 'convenient' error of COVID-19

Try to look at our situation through the eyes of Xi Jinping, sitting at his desk in Beijing, at the apex of the Politburo, his every word heeded by 1.4 billion Chinese. Xi says "Fetch," and the order goes down the Central Committee through the relevant ministry, and into the ears of a thousand bureaucrats, standing at the ready like so many terra-cotta warriors.

Xi need not face a yapping press corps at a daily briefing or consider the needs and sentiments of provincial governors or indeed worry about the next election, not due until his next life. As a result of the contagion, our stock market has plunged by a third, and our people have been thrown out of work. The hum and clatter of our economy has become a hush as we stay home and ponder our inventory of toilet paper. Church services have gone online, clinics and schools and playgrounds and cinemas are closed, conventions have been canceled, airliners grounded, restaurants offer only drive-through and delivery service, and in sports the longest and most annoying timeout has been called. Our government has gone deeper into debt, our warships and police and hospitals have been compromised.

Meanwhile, during the frenzy of the Spring Festival, 5 million people managed to leave Wuhan before the city was locked down. Heading in all directions and carrying their symptoms, they transmitted the virus to folks in northern Italy and Iran and Seattle and New York and New Orleans.

Europe is reeling from the disease, and America, his country's archrival, is rattled and weakened, without any apparent effort by the People's Liberation Army. President Xi taps the red-and-white button in front of him, in the shape of a steamed bun.

"That was easy." says the button in perfect English.

Alexander Lee

West Chicago