Gloomy weather – Two abandoned children – An advocate for senicide – Women return to the labor workforce – Evening statistics
A dreary day! The temperature was actually warmer than it had been yesterday morning, but yesterday was sunny and dry and absolutely delightful; today the gray sky and the continual patter of the rain for hours without respite lowered the spirits, and the chill seemed to creep into one’s bones. The hike I had planned to do was canceled, and that was quite a relief to me. Shenandoah National Park closed its roads, for in those elevations the precipitation took the form of snow.
I saw a sad story today. Raven Yates, like Ibsen’s Nora, walked out of her house (located in the small town of Roman Forest, TX) late last year, leaving two children behind. Unlike the children of Ibsen’s Nora, there was no faithful old nursemaid and no father to look after them once she departed; they were left on their own from September 28 to November 14, 2022. The police are still searching for Ms. Yates, who is believed to be roaming somewhere in the vicinity of Mobile, AL. The father of the 12-year-old girl called police when he became concerned upon being informed that the children were home alone. The father, who lives in California, said he had been ordering food for the children. And why, it may be asked, did the 12-year old daughter not notify her father that she had been abandoned? The answer is that she and her three-year old sibling have different fathers, and she was frightened by the prospect of her father coming to take her away and leave her little half-brother completely alone and helpless. She did her best to look after herself and her brother for more than six weeks on end; but of course a twelve-year old child cannot be expected to keep house and be caretaker of a three-year old all on her own. When the police arrived in November, the refrigerator and food cabinets were nearly empty and the little boy’s room smelled heavily of urine. Ms. Yates, in the meantime, has blithely posted on social media during this quest for self-identity, scarcely mentioning her children at all. One can imagine the terrors that this unfortunate young girl must have undergone after concluding, with only too much supporting evidence, that neither of her parents could be trusted with the welfare of herself and her brother.
Yusuke Narita, an assistant professor of economics at Yale University, has made a “modest proposal” concerning the issue of how to deal with the burdens of Japan’s rapidly aging society: namely, mass suicide and seppuku. This statement is not quite as bizarre as it sounds. There are locations in Japan when senicide (or ubasute, as it was called) may have taken place in times of famine; it is not certain whether this custom actually occurred or whether it is merely legend, as the evidence is conflicting. In any case, if it did occur, it did so very sporadically and long ago, and it certainly is not in use now. Somewhat disquietingly, despite being virtually unknown in the U.S., Narita has a wide following in social media among the Japanese, especially among frustrated youths who believe their economic progress has been held back by a gerontocratic society. Critics worry that his comments could replicate the sentiments that led Japan to pass a eugenics law in 1948, under which doctors forcibly sterilized thousands of people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, or genetic disorders. In 2016, similarly, a man who believed those with disabilities should be euthanized killed 19 people at a care home outside Tokyo.
On a brighter note, as the pandemic continues to lessen the depressing trend of women leaving the labor force is being reversed. The percentage of prime-age (25-54) women in the labor force has steadily risen in the years since World War II, from 39% in 1953 to 77% today. The pandemic interrupted this trend, causing women to lose 2 million more jobs than men did during its first months. Health care, education, retail, hospitality, and leisure, in which women have a higher representation than in many other industries, were all severely affected. But at this point women are rapidly re-entering the workforce. Now the schools are re-opening, the problem of child care has to some extent been eased, while increased opportunities of telecommuting have enabled pregnant women and mothers of young children to work from home.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 677,594,767; # of deaths worldwide: 6,782,387; # of cases U.S.: 104,766,853; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,140,017. Those who are curious enough to compare today’s death toll in the U.S. with that of the preceding day may notice that COVID apparently claimed only two lives today. Unfortunately, that does not of itself indicate a favorable trend. Deaths tend to be reported less during the weekends, particularly on Sundays, with the statistics from the succeeding weekdays making up for the loss. The daily death toll remains in the hundreds – an improvement, it is true, from the thousands of deaths during this season a year ago, but still a good deal higher than is pleasant to contemplate.