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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nI keep thinking about the film Titanic<\/em> as we begin to absorb the public health and financial impacts of hitting this coronavirus iceberg. First there\u2019s the feeling of nothing much happening, or maybe it\u2019s something, but we\u2019ll all be fine. Awareness that the ship is going down creeps in at different paces to different people, and reactions vary. Quick-wittedness, denial, altruism, selfishness, desperation, calm. The entire panoply of human nature unfolds while the orchestra plays on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What sticks with me the most from the film are the parents\nin steerage, cuddling with their children in cramped metal cots. Mothers and\nfathers know they\u2019re all doomed, but they do what they can– speaking in\nsoothing tones to their still-oblivious sons and daughters, telling stories, performing\nthe ritual of nightly prayer, holding them tight. Love creates a cocoon of\nsecurity: False, but also true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psychotherapists call this \u201cfelt security.\u201d It reflects not\nso much the dire dimensions of the actual situation, but the reassuring\nsustenance drawn from the relationship with a loving, trustworthy, and reliable\ncaregiver. Those parents in steerage send the message, \u201cI am here with you\nright now, and in this moment together we are okay.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of us, even those who are not parents, have been doing\na lot of that recently as we try to maintain a sense of normalcy and well-being\nin the midst of a global pandemic and economic meltdown. Posting pictures of\nsunsets, flowers, the family dog, funny memes; poetry chain letters; neighbors\nopening their windows to sing, clap, or howl; sewing masks for front-line\nworkers; donating to especially hard-hit groups; buying gift cards from our\nfavorite restaurants and small businesses; moving our normal activities like school,\nyoga, fitness, book groups, phone banking, work from real life to Zoom\u2014all help\nknit together a sense of security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Titanic<\/em> also\ndepicts a society similar to ours in terms of class and economic inequality.\nThe rich are the most protected while the poor suffer, even though they\u2019re all\nin the same boat. The unsinkable Molly Brown, a member of the privileged class,\ndecries the entitlement and selfishness of her peers, urging them to make more\nroom on the lifeboats to save far more people. Her plea goes largely unheeded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We are seeing the same dynamics play out now: just look at\nthe back-and-forth of the recent $2.2 trillion relief bill passed by Congress. Thanks\nlargely to Democrats, more room was created to help the most vulnerable. Far more\nwill be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as not everyone perished in the Titanic, we will\nsomehow survive this. But whether or not we view all as deserving a place on\nthe life boats will determine who and how many.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I keep thinking about the film Titanic as we begin to absorb the public health and financial impacts of hitting this coronavirus iceberg. First there\u2019s the feeling of nothing much happening, or maybe it\u2019s something, but we\u2019ll all be fine. … Continue reading