Don’t let this crisis go to waste

A crisis provides an opening for two kinds of people: which are you?

From Pennsylvania to the Carolinas, from Minnesota to Virginia, throngs of protesters have taken to the streets demanding an end to stay-at-home decrees and a return to normalcy.

“There’s no reason [that] we can’t do both — protect our lives and livelihoods,” said Representative Aaron Bernstein of Pennsylvania. “I think every job is essential to help people provide for their families.”

The truth is, both our lives and our livelihoods are threatened by COVID-19. The empathetic response is to protect those at risk by sacrificing the economy. The utilitarian response is to accept loss of life while preserving the economic health of the country. Both arguments are defensible. Neither alternative is particularly attractive.

So how do we determine the right answer? We can start by acknowledging that there may be no right answer.

2000 years ago, the sages of Israel uncovered a sinister plot to destroy the great Temple in Jerusalem. They convened an emergency meeting, where a variety of options were suggested for averting catastrophe. But to each proposal, one of the sages, Rabbi Zechariah, raised an objection why that course of action could not be pursued.