Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand

I think I have found the perfect anti-Trump! She is his opposite in every imaginable way. Her name is Jacinda Ardern and she is New Zealand’s Prime Minister. Maybe being at the bottom of the world map allows a clear view of what is happening in the world above.

Breaking news from The Lancet, May 9th:   “New Zealand has recorded its first day of no new cases of Covid-19”

Donald Trump is mean-spirited. Jacinda Ardern radiates empathy. His language is incoherent gibberish. She is clear-headed and articulate. She let the science lead and has built public trust. Her initial aim, which was controversial, was not to control the virus, but rather to eliminate it.

In late March, about one month after the country’s first reported case, Ardern imposed a strict national lockdown. At the time, New Zealand had only 102 cases and no deaths. The nationwide effort included extensive testing and contact tracing focused on problem areas. Now, with only 1500 recorded cases, they are slowly opening up. New Non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Christchurch start on October 20th.

Jacinda is the mother of a little girl whom she treats firmly and lovingly and her approach to governing is much the same: compassionate but effective.

Trumps’s main concern is “How is this virus affecting my image?”  Ardren is trying to find ways to stop its spread. Trump believes nothing has changed in the world whereas Arden knows that nothing will ever be the same again.

Donald Trump wants to reopen the US economy in the next few weeks and is not worried that this reopening might lead to more Covid-19 deaths. But the situation is far beyond his control. In New Zealand, effective and early testing and tracing have brought the virus to a “near zero” status which can now be controlled with continuing testing and contact tracing.

Donald Trump’s strategy might be his undoing as more people see him as the selfish, self-centered self-promoter that he is.

Paris, 1945. Waiting for a bakery to open during a period of rationing

Just after the Second World War, my husband David and I lived in France. Food was scare and a system of rationing was put in place. People had ration cards and distribution of various items was announced periodically as well as which cards entitled to us to particular foods.

The days when we got butter were particularly appreciated. It was also great to get chocolate because sweets were rare. On the other hand vegetables and fruit were grown locally and were readily available.

We could and did exchange one food for another by bartering. I remember trading milk and getting rice instead. Of course as is always the case, you could obtain almost anything on the black market at exorbitant prices.

Despite that somewhat challenging bit of history, I have to say today’s situation is unprecedented. I’m 98 years-old and I don’t think I have ever used that word except as a synonym for unusual.

But what is happening now has really never been seen before in my lifetime. When have we ever been required to separate from friends at the very moment when an embrace or a hug is needed as never before?

And why, I wonder, has French President Emmanuel Macron decided it is time to reopen schools and other institutions on May 11th? I question the wisdom of this. It is hard to keep children from playing and touching each other and spreading the infection.

Still, the world is slowly restarting. In Austria and Denmark, schools and universities are reopening. Germany is slowly returning to normal. Italy is reopening its bookstores. In Spain, construction work restarts. In the USA, there are spotty reopenings and a lot of fear.

So we have two contradictory forces at work; the wish to return to normalcy as soon as possible and the high risk of spreading the infection.

I tell myself to be patient. I tell myself that things will be good again. But, oh, waiting is so hard when you don’t really know how much more waiting is in store.

Midland Michigan, December 2019. The BlitzCreek Robotics team, as a money-maker, built the world’s largest toilet paper pyramid. (27,434 rolls). In January they sold the rolls and made a nice profit for their club. They should have waited a few months.

Editor’s Note: We’re happy to share a guest post from Simone’s daughter, Dina Cramer

In 1956 an American actress named Grace Kelly went to Europe and married a prince, Prince Ranier of Monaco, thus becoming Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco.  She gave up a highly successful acting career after her marriage although she was still offered acting roles and was tempted to accept.  But in the end the palace pressured her to resist going back to acting, and she acceded to the pressure.  She devoted her life to royal duties and to raising her three children. 

Grace Kelly

Another American actress, albeit less famous than Grace Kelly, Meghan Markle, has taken an opposite tack.  She too married a European Prince. When we last looked in on the adventures of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of Great Britain, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they were in the process of engineering their exit from Great Britain. 

A year and a half into their marriage they informed the Queen and the world that they were setting up a new life in North America.  The Queen, who seemed to be presented with a fait accompli, let them go without a fuss. But when they announced that they wanted to represent the Queen from their base abroad, she denied this request, saying they could not be half in and half out of the royal family.

So why did they leave?  In England the Duchess, who is half-black, faced racist comments from individuals, a vicious tabloid press, and a relentless social media. She was also criticized for being an American, divorced, and older than the Prince. The couple compounded their troubles by keeping secret the birth location of their baby, the christening details, and the identity of the godparents.  The British public was not pleased, especially after having just spent over $3 million to renovate their house.

But why did Harry so readily agree to abandon his country and family?  We know that the Prince was deeply traumatized by his mother Diana’s death when he was only twelve, and that he blames the press for that death.  He was then brought up by a succession of nannies when not in boarding school.  He was left bereft in a family and a culture that believes in a stiff upper lip.  He admits that he couldn’t deal with any of it until his late twenties and today has a great interest in causes dealing with mental health.  

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 07: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Harry, who is both a Prince and a Duke, was the second son in his family. His mother produced two sons, known as “an heir and a spare.”  Harry’s older brother, William, was the heir to the throne.  Since his brother already has three children, Harry is only sixth in line to the throne.  

His flight reminds me of younger sons of landed nobility, in earlier days, who couldn’t inherit because of primogeniture.  The whole estate would go to the first-born male.  Thus the younger brothers would have to find a role for themselves if they didn’t want to live in their older brother’s shadow, perhaps managing the estate. There was a tradition of leaving the country by moving to the colonies or joining the military.  Then they could potter about the family tea plantations or ride around with their regiment.  

Nonetheless the flight of the Sussexes is without precedent.  British royals, no matter how miserable they are, at least stay in England.  The Queen’s four children have always lived there, through various ups and downs. Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister, rebelled against the family by refusing to carry out her royal duties, but she never moved out of the country. 

The only expat was the Duke of Windsor, who was exiled by his family after he abdicated the throne, and forbidden to return to England despite his desire to do so.  The status of the Sussexes is different because they left voluntarily and without rupturing their relationships.  The Queen even issued a statement praising Meghan for the work she had done as a royal.  

The Duke of Windsor

After a short sojourn in Canada, the Sussexes moved to Los Angeles, the Duchess’s home town, the home of her mother, and the home of the movie industry in which they are interested.  The Duchess has already recorded the narration for the Disney film, Elephant, and hopes to take up her Hollywood career once again.  We have not been told what the Prince’s plans are, but together they have launched a charity and are interested in supporting causes they believe in, starting with contributing to the fight against COVID-19.   

Why do we care about all this?  The question answers itself.  Because they are royals – rich, good-looking, titled and entitled   –  and because they left one glamorous life – Buckingham Palace, for another – Hollywood.

Friedrich Nietzsche

“What does not kill us makes us stronger.” That notion is attributed to the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Nietzsche thought we could turn misfortune to our advantage and seek to build up strength by overcoming adversity. This would help us in future battles. We could become invincible and who doesn’t want that?

This is a very alluring concept also sometimes called the school of hard knocks. Kids who grow up in tough neighborhoods learn how to defend themselves against present and future bullies.  People who recover from an infectious disease usually develop antibodies that circulate in the blood and kill the pathogen if it shows up in the future.

Of course, bacteria can get strong too. If they are not killed by antibiotics, they can mutate and become immune to them. Did they study Nietzsche?

Marcus Aurelius

All of this relates to the Stoic philosophy which says that we do not control events but we can control ourselves and our reaction to them. The Spartans of antiquity adopted that idea and taught themselves how to confront challenges head on, perform rigorous exercises, accept pain and learn from it. The idea was to practice misfortune to be ready when it came. Some Romans like Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca were converts to this idea. So was George Washington.

You know who

But can we apply this philosophy to the corona virus epidemic?  Well, yes, but not yet. Do not go out and fight the virus yourself right now, because you will lose. Your body has none of the weapons it needs in the fight. You’ll get sick. You could die.

We are not going to be able to get “stronger” until a little later when our brilliant scientists develop treatments and a vaccine. I find it striking that we all feel confident this will happen. Apparently, faith in science is still alive.

But right now we must avoid it by isolating ourselves. Get in, stay in and if you are anywhere near my age, don’t take any risks that you can avoid.

Protect everyone

Simone Klugman turned 98 on January 14th.

I fell down. Don’t worry. I cracked my wrist, wore a cast for a month and now I am back to normal. Functioning without a left wrist was a challenge as I couldn’t work on the blog. As you see that has changed.

These events put me in mind of handedness and I have been wondering why ambidextrousness is not more prevalent. It seems to me that whatever we can do to improve our prehensility could result in a big advantage. (I certainly would have enjoyed it.)

Handedness (the tendency to use the right or the left hand more naturally than the other) is mostly a matter of genetics but can also be influenced by the environment.
Apparently, handedness is controlled by the two brain hemispheres and involves multiple genes. Even twins may have opposite hand preferences. Animals who use hands, like apes and raccoons, also have preferred hands.

The overall chances of being left handed are relatively low. In the Western world 80 t0 90% of people are right- handed. In this context, left handers are often looked at as “the other.” Left handedness has even been described as wrong handedness. If you look at the linguistic roots of “sinister,” it means “left.” Think also of the word “gauche,” which is the French word for left, but which also means awkward.

King George VI, in all his magnificence…originally a lefty.

Even fairly recently, some parents and teachers have pressured children to become right-handed. Originally left-handed, King George VI of England (that’s the one in The King’s Speech) was forcibly trained to favor his right hand. It is speculated, though not proven, that the king, who did not stutter as a young child, acquired his stutter as a consequence of having this hand change forced upon him.

Although there is no correlation between handedness and IQ, left hand users are said to be better at sports, music and art. Arabic and Hebrew are written from left to right and it would seem that this is impossible to do using the left hand. Cave paintings are said to have been drawn by right handed people.

Zippers, measuring cups, can-openers and phone booths (remember them) and quite a few other things, are designed to be easier to use for right handed people.

I’m glad to be back to blogging, with both hands.

Let’s get together

The start of a new year answers an age-old yearning by humans for a fresh beginning, the equivalent of an animal’s shedding of an old skin to replace it with a new, shiny and unwrinkled one. (And don’t we wish that we could). Perhaps we even wish to abandon our chrysalis altogether and fly away like a butterfly.

It is a time for reviewing the actions of the past year and resolving to start anew. Every year we try valiantly to emerge as a new person only to fall back on old ingrained habits while most of life continues much as before. Tabula rasa (a blank slate) is not as easy to achieve as one might think, but it is a worthy effort nonetheless.

And of course, each major world religion has its own way of figuring out when the year begins.

In Christianity, Advent (December 1st to 24th) is the beginning of the Christian liturgical new year, a time to celebrate the nativity of Jesus and prepare for his rebirth.

Buddhists too celebrate the New Year. They take
images of the Buddha in procession through the streets; worshipers visit Buddhist sanctuaries; monks are given gifts; exorcism ceremonies are performed by families to remove evil forces. It is a cleansing of bad habits and a dedication to future good deeds.

Muslims celebrate the Islamic New Year (Muharram) on the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Dates differ from year to year as they are based on a lunar cycle beginning with sighting of the new moon. Muharram means forbidden and many observe it by fasting on the 9th and 10th day of the first month of the year. It also honors the emigration of Mohamed from Mecca to Medina known as the Hijrah and gives the first day of the moon its name. Many Shia Muslims also perform chest beating, flagellatio0n and forehead cutting in repentance At this time the Muslim year is 1440.

In Judaism Rosh Hashanah (Head of the year) and Yom Kippur (Day of atonement) occur on the 7th month of the Calendar and is a time for rejoicing but also for introspection, repentance and reviewing of the actions of the past year. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year and is celebrated as such. By comparison Chanukah is a minor holiday.

In Israel a Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1917 and the beginning of the secular new year was reset to
January 1, 1918. In pre-state Israel, under the British Mandate, Orthodox Christians celebrated the new year in
Mid-January, Muslims in summer and Jews in early Fall. We are now in the Hebrew Year 5778.

In Russia the Soviets officially adopted the Gregorian calendar which starts the New Year on January 1, but the Orthodox Church is still quite influential and its New Year only begins on January 14.

So here we are now in the United States on the 5th day of January 2020 and it is time to wish everybody a joyous, peaceful, productive, and Trumpless New Year!