Mel Kallal
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
The Opinion Page (Thursday, April 2) was a refreshing read! The NT Opinion, thoughtful letters from Dan Schnieders, Tom Ault and Harry Trickey plus George Will at his best. Jim Dyke with one of his best cartoons!
Some say that God is with us and wonder why we are tested. I have no answer but some of us were shorted on patience. Sometimes, even me. Patience. Water, electricity and telephones function. Gas prices are down. Bread, milk and dairy products, veggies, toilet paper and even meat, are in better, but not unlimited, supply. Organic or not, CAFOs and family farms are providing meat, eggs, and poultry in similar quantities as last week, month and year. Your food store is at the mercy of the food industry which is now re-balancing institutional markets (education, medical, employer cafeterias and restaurants) with traditional groceries. I believe the food industry is producing with all burners on high. (OK, frozen pizza production has not caught up but pizza factories are working on it!) The nations' families are learning to dine at home, not schools, work, or restaurants. Scanning our favorite cookbook changes our shopping lists. We want it today (preferably sooner) but the nation's food industry needs days, weeks and for some foods, months to adjust. Patience.
Some pundits imply that the nation fought and won wars easier than COVID-19. Our wars since the Civil War were "over there," not in our country, businesses and homes. We won those conflicts by spending money and losing lives over several years. Politics and business rarely create foresight. We have given the health care industry more than 17 percent of our GDP and we expect quick solutions for a problem we can't see. The nation did not see this problem coming or we might have taken 10 or 20 percent of our defense budget, built warehouses and financed protective gear we might never need. I believe our industry and scientists will find the answer to COVID-19, not this month, maybe this year.
The hard part is prevention and patience! Stay home, avoid unnecessary contact, mask up. Read Bloomberg Businessweek, March 30, 2020. Peter Coy, an economist who writes in many newspapers is worth a Google search. Our governor has handled the problem well. Patience.