Episode 8: Lunatic Fringe
I’m done! I’m over it! To hell with social distancing and isolation! Time to return to my routine. Those were the words I’ve been screaming for two weeks after months of self-quarantine and social distancing. And then, Life, like it usually does, reaches back and delivers a roundhouse kick to the jaw and says “hold on cowboy, let’s be clear who is in charge and it ain’t you.” I became a statistic this past week when diagnosed with COVID-19, and while my symptoms have been moderate to date, I can assure you the virus is real, and it sucks. At my ripe age and with a history of bronchial asthma, COVID is scary to see on test results. I’ve come to terms with the fact that the road ahead is shorter than the one behind, but I hope I’m cruising on a freshly paved boulevard in an affluent suburb and not redlining on a pothole-marked dirt road in the inner city. The last week with COVID has felt closer to the dirt road. I would encourage all of you to take precautions and exercise good judgment and do your part to protect yourself and others from this virus. And when those you know contract the virus, have compassion, and offer support because it’s a lonely condition and the mental and emotional toll is as significant as the physical one.
I battled bouts of COVID-related delirium to get this episode of my newsletter out the door, so hopefully, my editorial lens is clear. If not, pour your favorite beverage and imagine you are reading a Hunter S Thompson blog post after a weekend in Vegas. This week’s news cycle featured spikes in COVID cases in the Sunbelt and the debate around the safety of returning to schools and campuses in the Fall. SCOTUS had a flurry of opinions and rulings in its last week of activity before breaking until October, including the landmark ruling that half of Oklahoma is Native American land. Uber acquired Postmates for $2.65 billion as the mobile home food delivery sector consolidated to three players—DoorDash, Uber Eats, and GrubHub. Privacy concerns surfaced over the use of app TikTok (and its Chinese parent company). Secretary of State Pompeo and President Trump even suggested banning the app in the US to the chagrin of teenagers across the land. And, of course, TMZ just got a little juicier with the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell. Ghislaine, who was Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend, confidante, and alleged accomplice in several rapes and sexual assault charges, faces life behind bars if convicted. The expectation is Maxwell will drop the names of co-conspirators to save herself. I’m just hoping this results in another Prince Andrew meltdown interview.
I. Below are the articles I found interesting the past week:
Stanford did a test with five-year-olds to offer them either one marshmallow now or two a few minutes later. Most chose the marshmallow now. Follow up studies showed that the kids who waited a few minutes for two marshmallows were much more successful in their adult lives. Well, when it comes to COVID, the US has failed the Stanford Marshmallow Test. Collectively, we have shown little patience when it comes to social distancing, and our impulse to open up too quickly may delay economic recovery later this year and impact the presidential election. America looks like the fat kid on the playground that ate his marshmallow and stole everyone else’s. It’s no wonder we have a bellyache, a bruised conscience, and marshmallow all over our face.
The humbling of the Anglo-American world
The PPP program had such a remarkable appeal. Free money from Uncle Sam! Make it rain! Billed as a way to support small businesses, PPP would help employers avoid layoffs and pay for a portion of non-payroll costs such as rent and utilities. Follow the criteria of the program, and the loan forgiven. But the reality is this government program has been a clown show from the start and promises only to get more confusing with time. Rules are changing, and now the secondary market has emerged for PPP loans, which is typically the “jump the shark” moment for any financial product. Businesses that took out PPP loans from local banks where they have strong relationships and were assured by bankers that they would be there to support the loan forgiveness process are now wrapping up these loans and selling them on the secondary market. I’ve seen this movie before and didn’t like it the first time. Or, as Regan used to say, “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
PPP forgiveness process may leave big mess behind
Normal Rockwell wouldn’t recognize America today. The iconic painter and illustrator, known for his post-WW2 depictions of everyday American life, showcased what typically looked like “white America.” That is not America today. Whites, as a percentage of the population, have been dropping since 1950. Latinos and Asians are rapidly increasing in size. Whites are forecasted to become a minority in the US by 2045, and by 2060 Hispanics and Blacks will outnumber Whites in the total population. These demographics shifts will have far-reaching implications in the US for culture, fashion, business, and politics.
3 ways that the US population will change over the next decade
If you look at demographic trends in the US, the Republican Party is in trouble. The Party of Lincoln traditionally anchored around concepts such as strong defense, free trade, a balanced budget, and conservative values. But today’s Republican Party has abandoned many of these principles in favor of something that looks like Populist Nationalism at a Monster Truck rally. But Populist rhetoric and policies rarely endure, and while a Monster Truck rally may be entertaining on the first visit, I can’t imagine holding season tickets. Republicans need an issue that can unite the party and rejuvenate the brand to attract young voters and minorities and go beyond “the party for old, rich white people.” This fictional article suggests “Climate” could be the issue that saves the Republican Party. I agree.
What if Republicans pivoted on climate?
I’m not sure I understand the logic of calls to “defund the police” related to police reform. Best case, this nouveau battle cry suggests that funds are redirected away from law enforcement to prevention programs lessening the need for policing (a big assumption). In the worst case, this means tearing down the system and abandoning the rule of law. Either way, it’s a scary proposition and, as this article suggests, ripe with perverse incentives for police departments to find creative and dysfunctional methods to generate revenue that may violate constitutional rights and perpetuate the very behavior that protestors are looking to curtail.
Cutting American police budgets might have perverse effects
A new company called Grail that utilizes DNA sequencing on blood samples can identify 50 different types of cancer, which is more than half of all known cancers, well before symptoms show up and when therapies are cheap and effective. Early detection matters because five-year survival rates can approach 9 in 10 if cancer is detected early, compared with 1 in 5 for a stage four diagnosis. The tests will roll out in the next 12 months and cost $1,000.
Cancer screening leaps forward
In this time of social unrest, gun violence, recessions, soaring COVID infections, and election-year political dogfighting, it’s easy to get sour on life in America. However, despite our many flaws, it’s essential to realize how privileged it remains to carry the blue passport and call America home. Unfortunately, most citizens take for granted our religious freedom, free speech, economic and social mobility, and the rule of law. Those things do not exist in most places outside the US. The story of an Indian man’s desire to immigrate to the US is a good reminder of why the US remains the greatest country on the planet.
The long, perilous route thousands of Indians have risked for life in the US
I am beyond bored with TV at the moment. The fun of reciting lines from movies on TBS such as US Marshall and Con Air has passed. Every Marvel movie is the same garbage. Premium channels such as HBO and Showtime have taken the path of least resistance (ostensibly to save money) and showcase a library of such crap that I have no idea why I’m still subscribing. Netflix was fun for a while, but there are as many awful shows as good ones. This list is an attempt to guide you to better content on Netflix and make the dog days of COVID more tolerable.
50 best show to watch on Netflix
II. Stats that made me go WOW!
- In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS ruled that half of Oklahoma is Native American land. The area spans three million acres, includes the city of Tulsa, and impacts 1.8M residents (15% of which are Native American). Only federal prosecutors will have the power to prosecute Native Americans accused of crimes in the area, and tribe members found guilty of crimes committed on the land can now challenge their convictions.
- America’s 1 million international university students are from these top 10 countries: China (370k); India (200k); South Korea (52k); Saudi Arabia (37k); Canada (26k); Vietnam (24k); Taiwan (23k); Japan (18k); Brazil (16k); Mexico (15k)
- Food delivery mobile app market share: DoorDash 45% / Uber Eats & Postmates 31% / Grub Hub 22% / Other 2%
- Telehealth visits should exceed 1 billion this year, per Forrester, which initially expected just 36 million for 2020.
- Six hundred thousand people die from cancer in the US each year, and 80% of cancer deaths are from cancers that we don’t currently screen.
III. Name that Tune!
As I write this email, I am listening to one of my all-time “get-fired-up!” songs, “Lunatic Fringe,” by Red Rider.
For anyone who played sports in high school in the 80s, you know the song “Lunatic Fringe,” featured in the 1985 coming-of-age movie Vision Quest, starring Mathew Modine. In the film, Modine played a high school wrestler, Louden Swain, obsessed with trying to shed 23 pounds to take on the best wrestler in the state, a beast by the name of Shute. Red Rider is a Canadian band and lead singer, Tom Cochrane, wrote the song which debuted on the 1981 album, As Far as Siam. The inspiration behind the lyrics was what Cochrane felt was a resurgence of antisemitism in the 1970s. Red Rider released six albums but never gained much acclaim, but Cochrane had a brief stint as a solo artist and gained international acclaim for his hit song “Life is a Highway.” Cochrane, now 67, is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.