Revisit to the American Chestnut Land Trust – The concept of the rentier – Lori Lightfoot of Chicago – Preparations for the Republican Convention – Optimism and Donald Trump may prove incompatible – Evening statistics
The American Chestnut Land Trust sustained a great deal of damage from the Isaias storm, but it is recovering rapidly. I joined AD and others to hike along the southern portion of the park today. The trails are intact and not much washed out, although the raft that is used for crossing the creek has been swept away by the storm. We covered about 10½ miles, with perhaps 1500 elevation gain. And afterwards, as usual, we snacked together on the fresh produce AD supplied from the local Calvert County foodstands. The peaches especially were delicious. The fruit was greatly appreciated, for the day was very warm, and humid as well; and we were all tired by the end as a result of hiking in the heat, even though the trails are well-shaded. It was a relief, however, to pace along paths that are more or less rock-free after several days of hiking on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. The area is as beautiful as ever, with the luxuriant vegetation of the lowlands close to the Chesapeake Bay. And afterwards, upon my return, I rested for a bit, read a bit, did some laundry, prepared dinner. It was a quiet, uneventful day, whose pleasures were greatly amplified by meeting again with various friends from the Wanderbirds.
It will be seen both from the above account and from preceding entries in this journal that I am leading the life of a rentier. It is difficult to translate this word. Technically it describes a person living upon income from property or investments, but the French word has overtones that are lost in English. It conveys the sense of being at ease with life, free from concerns about earning a living, and sometimes it can also convey an impression of an idler. I have been fairly industrious for the greater part of my life and I do not feel particularly guilty about taking matters more easily in my retirement, but it is true that my manner of living is now being largely sustained by the efforts of others. Others are working to produce the monthly allotments from my pension and interest payments obtained from my savings. Then, too, many people are at work so that I can enjoy such peaceful pleasures and quiet safety. Several guard the streets along which I walk and drive, and it is thanks to them that I sleep at nights in the reassurance that no one will attack my neighborhood while I slumber. I cannot, therefore, feel any great respect or liking for those who have been maligning the police in recent months; and I feel particularly resentful of those whose lives are as sheltered as my own who march in protests to defund the police.
Which brings me to the case of Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, the very same who insisted receiving personalized haircuts while banning all visits by Chicagoans to barbers and salons during the height of the lockdown restrictions. She recently ordered police to stop protestors from gathering at her home, saying that “in the nature of the threats that we are receiving on a daily basis . . . I have a right to make sure that my home is secure.” Her desire for security is understandable but she doesn’t seem to realize that, as the city’s mayor, she has an obligation to ensure the security of her fellow-citizens as well. Rioters have been looting the city now for months on end, with one shop-owner describing conditions there as being “under siege.” Many Chicagoans, and especially many black Chicagoans, have expressed great resentment at her refusal to take action against the rioting that is wreaking havoc in the city, especially in the poorer neighborhoods. In the words of Bishop Aubrey Shines: “I was born and grew up in Chicago and it pains me to see the city torn apart like this. What a callous, tone-deaf thing for the mayor to say, and how hypocritical of her to ban protesters by her house but not bothering to ban the rioting that is burning her city down. Chicago deserves better! The people who’ve been assaulted and lost income because of Black Lives Matter deserve better.”
In the meantime, Donald Trump is preparing for the Republican Convention; and frankly, he will have a difficult time in outdoing the splendid performance of the Democratic Convention this past week. Biden looked anything but “sleepy” – Trump’s favorite put-down for him – by the end of the four-day Convention this past Thursday and even his political enemies concede that, on a personal level, he is a man of high moral character. Nor is it possible to place him in the “radical Left” whom Trump likes to conjure as a bogeyman to guard against. It was a nice touch that the selection of Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate was announced just a day after the hundredth anniversary of women winning the right to vote. And of course the inclusion of several Republicans who have been alienated by Trump’s administration promises to broaden the Democrats’ voting base considerably.
Trump has promised to deliver an “optimistic” message, but what is there in his record that inspires optimism? Setting aside the abysmal handling of the situation created by the coronavirus, the economy has faltered, millions are currently unemployed; little has actually been built of the much-vaunted Wall between the U.S. and Mexico (and at this point Mexico is actively attempting to prevent people leaving the U.S. to enter on account of concerns over the virus); and while Trump may advocate a well-funded military, many military leaders loathe him for his high-handed treatment of their agencies. There is also the question of how the Republicans are going to be able to adapt to the new combination of virtual and live presentation. The Democrats realized from the start that much of their format would have to be virtual, and accordingly they spent weeks of preparation to ensure that their speakers would show to advantage when discoursing from a screen rather than upon a podium. Trump, on the other hand, wasted months in his insistence on searching for a city that would be willing to host a traditional convention; and now he and his supporters must hastily scramble to imitate the Democrats’ mastery of the new medium.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 23,576,642; # of deaths worldwide: 812,157; # of cases U.S.: 5,873,298; # of deaths U.S.: 180,580. Less than 40,000 new cases today! And a little over 400 deaths. These are considerably lower than the figures of the last several weeks. Will it be possible to keep up this lowering trend? It certainly is high time. The average rate of infection for the global population at this point is 0.3% but in the U.S. nearly 1.8% of the population has been infected. The average American is thus about six times as likely to be infected with the virus as a member of the global population at large.