In Camus’ novel “The Plague” an outbreak of bubonic plague in a N African port city serves as a metaphor for its moral counterpart. Among other things, Camus had in mind the response of French citizens—whether collaborators or resisters—to the Occupation.
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On one level, the admin’s response to the current virus has been consistent with a pattern of incompetence, spin and lies, denial of reality, self-congratulation, partisan boosterism, scapegoating of foreigners, blaming of messengers and truth-tellers...
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But as with Camus’s novel the virus is also a metaphor for a spreading moral contamination that has infected large portions of the country—a political party, 3 branches of govt, the Dept of Justice, immigration service, large portions of the media, churches, etc.
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Political rivals who once called the Leader a con-man, a pathological liar, etc, eventually caught the virus: pledging their loyalty, repeating his lies, attacking his enemies, laughing at his “jokes,” saluting his assaults on the law and constitution.
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Camus’s heroes— and those of our own moment—are those who resist the plague, who cry out ceaselessly on behalf of the vulnerable, who affirm basic human decency, practice solidarity, defend what is right and true, and hold out hope for a world that is safe, just, and good.
I haven’t read this one but I was just thinking of pulling off my shelf Herman Hesse’s “Narcissus and Goldmund” to see what my older self today in this situation thinks of it.
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