In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, CHS will be hosting a talk on the impact of the small pox epidemic that killed close to 90% of the Native Americans. We are also planning to repeat the Epidemics/Pandemics talk by Zoom in November.
The pandemic
began in the East, sweeping through cities and towns, disrupting daily life and
sowing fear and uncertainty throughout much of the known world.
Sound familiar?
However, it is a description of the Antonine Plague, which lasted for 15
years during the 2nd century.
Whether it was
small pox, measles or a combination of the two is unknown, but the reaction of
people then, during the Black Death (Plague), the small pox epidemic that
killed almost 90% of the indigenous Americans, the flu pandemic of 1918 and
even Covid-19, are surprisingly similar. After all, they have the same common
denominator, humans.
While Covid
hasn’t caused anywhere near the deaths of plague (the number one pandemic
killer) and other epidemics, it’s impact on society and culture will be just as
significant.
Below is a list
of 10 characteristics these type of events share.
1. Panic
& fear result in fight, flight, blame, despair, and cruelty. As much as possible, people flee where
the outbreak is happening to a place perceived to be safer. Unfortunately, this
helps to spread disease.
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| Jews being tortured and killed during the Black Death |
They also will “fight”
in an effort to have some sense of control over a situation that is very much
out of their control. This can have disastrous consequences, such as the burning
down of the Jewish ghettos during the Black Death. During the Antonine Plague in
Rome, people smeared thin needles with infected fluids and tried to stab their
victims unnoticed. When they contracted the disease, it was hoped nobody would
suspect foul play. The plague literally allowed unscrupulous people to get away
with murder.
During the
small pox pandemic, Native Americans, like the ancient Romans, looked at it
through the lens of their gods and cosmologies. The belief that their gods had
forsaken them caused some to commit suicide.
The outbreaks
of plague in Renaissance Europe sparked rumors of malicious plague spreaders, thus
focusing on a wide variety of insiders and outsiders from high-ranking officers
and doctors to the lowest levels of health workers – plague cleaners, cartmen
and gravediggers– were singled out, accused of perpetuating the disease for a
variety of reasons including self-interested gain.
As recently as
the HIV/AIDS epidemic, hate and fear were engendered against what became known as the five
H’s-homosexuals, heroin addicts, Haitians, hemophiliacs and hookers.
These type of
events can cause societies to break apart, scapegoating immigrants, minorities
and others who are thought to be suspicious. The poor will often revolt and
cruelty abounds.
However,
certain factor can mitigate these reactions. The 1918 Flu pandemic and the flu
of 1831 that swept through Paris did not lead to any recorded social violence,
blaming or hatred. In both cases, there were other major factors at play-WWI in
1918 and the July Revolt in 1831.
While the
extremes seen in past epidemics/pandemics are not as pronounced during Covid,
they are none the less at play and concerning to many. Without normal routines
and jobs, dwindling finances, the mandates to “stay at home” and reduce travel,
combined with fear and anxiety, people can
act in ways they normally wouldn’t. The recent influx of calls to suicide
hotlines, protests, riots as well as a fierce “cancel culture,” are very much
in line with how people respond during pandemics.
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| Christians helping the sick during the Antione Plague |
This does not
mean that good does not occur during these events. The Christians during
Antonine Plague converted many to their beliefs as they saw how they cared for
the sick. Today, many individuals and communities have done an incredible job
making sure people are safe and have access to food and care.
It’s not
surprising that people are more concerned about the damaging effects of the
pandemic rather than the incredible contributions many are making. Our brains
are wired for a negative bias, as remembering threats to safety and well-being
were key to early human’s survival.
2. People
act in their own interests.
In the most extreme situations, such as the Plague, surrounded by death and
suffering, inevitably people begin to question the rules of law and morality. During
the 1918s, there were "anti-mask" meetings. When there was a polio
outbreak in Vermont in 1917, and quarantine was ordered, a civil suit was
filed by Community Chautauquas. Today
there are groups who believe mask wearing is a civil liberties issue with
little regard to public health.
3. Scammers
abound. The more risky
the situation the more snake oil salesmen surface. With the Internet, they're
having a field day at the moment.
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| Glycon Statue |
Alexander of
Abonutichus started the cult of Glycon in the 2nd century. A mystic,
magician and charlatan, he literally was pedaling snake oil. He created Glycon,
a snake god, that was basically a glove puppet. Among his sales items was a
charm that could be hung over the door to your house to protect you from
plague. Turns out those who had the plaque over their threshold were more
likely to die from the plague, probably because they went about business as
usual thinking they were protected.
4.
Misinformation abounds.
Causes, treatments, cures are all over the map. Many do not take the time to
separate fact from fiction and untold damage is done by misinformation and the
spreading of it.
As seen
in 1-4, the humans can treat each other terribly. As Marcus Aurelius, Roman
emperor, noted in the 2nd century,
however bad the physical disease surely was, one thing was even worse-the
mental plague of corruption, vice and moral decay.
5. The
health impacts won’t be known for decades. “Look back” studies show that those that had the flu of
1918 as children had considerably more health issues as adults then non
infected contemporaries. Interestingly, flu survivors were less likely to get
cancer. You can't get shingles unless you had chicken pox at some point. On the
plus side, descendants of plague survivors seem to carry a gene that made them
more likely to be “non progressors”-don’t develop full blown disease- when they
contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
6. Most at
risk are those living on the margins: The
reasons are varied but can include: inability to escape from where the pandemic
is occurring; poor living conditions, including overcrowding and dense pack;
more likely to have other health issues; malnutrition; no access to information
due to language and literacy barriers; and discrimination.
Depending on
the epidemic certain groups will be more at risk than others. In the 1918 flu,
the most at risk group were young adults, particularly those
in their twenties and thirties. Pregnant women were at particularly high risk.
The death records for Cavendish show that at least two women who were pregnant
died during the 1918 flu pandemic.
7. Every
storm runs out of rain
(Maya Angelou) Pandemics/epidemics don't last forever
8. Change
follows. The Antonine plague was the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire while at the same time
ushering in Christianity. The black death of the middle ages made the Renaissance
possible. It also paved the way for
- literacy (all
the clothes that were left could be turned into paper)
- a middle
class (they needed a work force and the serfs demanded a living wage)’
- the beginning
of the shift from the “old scholars” approach to medicine to empirical based
evidence.
The flu of 1918
made major changes in health care in the US and historically, because of the
damage it did to President Wilson, the treaty of Versailles laid the foundation for WWII.
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| Protesting that lead to FDA changes |
The AIDS
epidemic revolutionized health care, from new means of treatments for cancer
and other diseases, to how the FDA fast tracks drugs and allowing compassionate
use. It also ushered in the age of HIPAA and confidentiality.
We’re only at
the beginning of how this pandemic will change our culture and society, but
already we are seeing a lot more people telecommuting. Businesses are learning
that it's cheaper for them to have their employees telecommute so office
buildings are being closed. There are those that prefer remote learning and so
a hybrid approach to education is potentially here to stay. Thanks to
forecasting and remote learning-snow days may be a thing of the past. Masking
will become part of flu season etc.
9. All of
this has happened before. And will happen again As noted by Marcus Aurelius,—the
same plot from beginning to end, the identical staging.
10. No
matter the situation-war, extreme loss, devastation, crisis-the number one
response of the humans is resiliency. This
is true across the board for all cultures. It's wired into the human DNA. It
would have to be because of reactions 1-4.
