COVID-19 is our World War II – to fight it, we need to reconnect to our sense of social responsibility.
Coronavirus is an existential threat that could inspire individuals, businesses, and governments to act like they haven’t since World War II. In 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt planted a “Victory Garden” on the White House’s lawn, with the intention of encouraging Americans to grow their own vegetables, to reduce food and labor shortages as a result of World War II. By the end of World War II, some 40% of all vegetables consumed in the United States were grown in Victory Gardens. One poster read: “PLANT A VICTORY GARDEN. OUR FOOD IS FIGHTING.” Social responsibility is in our veins. Our concept of connectedness after World War II, while notably racist and exclusionary (something that should always be addressed and considered when forming new policies), allowed us to build some of the most effective social infrastructure the world had ever seen in the 20th century. The financialization of our economy and our political lives in the 1980s tricked us. After the Civil Rights movement won many of its battles to include everyone in that incredible social infrastructure, we were suddenly told it doesn’t matter. That every individual is an island. That government was the problem, and that there was no such thing as “society.” [...]