thenation--2020-04-30--If You’re Pushing to Open the Economy, You Probably Don’t Need Child Care

I don ’ t need the Waffle House reopened .
I ’ m comfortable enough in my own body that I don ’ t need to go to the barber shop , or the gym .
I don ’ t need to go to the movies , because I live in the future and have subscriptions to approximately 18,000 streaming services .
What I need is for somebody to come take my children .
A school bus .
A babysitter .
A freaking traveling circus .
It doesn ’ t really matter .
My economy can not “ reopen , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normal ” for me , until fully functional childcare comes back online .
I ’ m not the only one , but if you listen to various state governors or the President of the United States , you ’ d think that the only parts of the country that need to be reopened are businesses and churches .
Politicians want people to get back to work as soon as possible , but they seem to have no idea that , without childcare , a huge swath of the workforce will remain tied to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 43 states have closed schools through the end of the academic year .
That list does not include New York State , where Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio continue to joust over the issue .
But if you are a tri-state area resident who expects to send your kid to school before the fall , I have a bridge in Brooklyn I ’ d like to sell you .
For most families , there is no childcare without school .
In America , school is pretty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our government provides .
Without reliable , affordable , and Covid-free childcare , going back to work is simply not an option for many parents .
The school closings only deepen a reoccurring problem most parents face : the summer .
In a society that has decided to outsource childcare responsibilities to the school system , the fact that this system goes on an annual , months-long holiday is already a nightmare for working parents .
Now , the coronavirus pandemic is blowing apart the kinds of summer childcare relief that parents rely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Summer camp is not happening .
Summer youth sports leagues are not happening .
Coronavirus makes it dangerous to dump your little disease vectors with their grandparents .
Where the hell are parents supposed to put their kids during long summer days when they ’ re supposed to go back to work ?
Middle- to upper-income families may be able to find babysitters or nannies once sheltering-in-place orders relax .
But lower-income families—the families who most desperately need as many wage earners as possible in the household—are going to be entirely screwed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stories explaining how gym owners in Georgia plan to reopen while following social distancing protocols .
But I haven ’ t seen a single day-care provider explain—or even be asked to explain—how social distancing is supposed to work with a bunch of ten-year-olds .
That ’ s probably because childcare providers still haven ’ t solved the age-old problem of “ stop touching me !
” As it is , the childcare facilities that are still operating are facing immense challenges .
In California , daycare providers for essential workers are struggling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t take in children who have any kind of illness , even if it ’ s likely that a child ’ s running nose is just the result of seasonal allergies .
Working parents already hoard their sick days ( if they ’ re lucky enough to have them ) to cover a child ’ s illness instead of their own .
I don ’ t think this country has thought through what would be required to make it feasible for every sick person or child to stay home when they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be desperate to resume making profits , but I don ’ t see them clamoring to give out uncapped sick days to their workers .
Rushing to reopen the consumer economy without having a solid plan to reopen , and subsidize , the childcare economy is madness .
But it ’ s not entirely surprising when you consider that so much of our society still functions on the presumption of two-parent families in which one parent doesn ’ t have a full-time job .
It ’ s like we ’ re trapped in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person is expected to have a job and the other person is expected to be an all-powerful genie with lots of time on her hands .
We ’ ve seen the proof of our anachronistic ideas about childcare throughout the pandemic .
The needs of single parents have largely been ignored during “ flatten the curve ” policy-making .
And every day there seems to be a new story about all the ways homeschooling is crushing working parents , because being a full-time teacher is incompatible with being any other kind of full-time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from home .
At least working from home gives parents the opportunity to try to serve two masters .
Going back to in-person work , without access to childcare , will force families to make terrible decisions , at a time when nearly everybody feels the threat of layoffs and unemployment breathing down their necks .
If you are lucky enough to still have a job at one of these businesses that is reopening , how can you tell that job that you have to miss work to take care of your kids @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their children to work , and even if they can , have you ever tried to get a kid to keep a face mask on ?
Most kids can ’ t last through Halloween wearing a mask all night .
The feats of strength and juggling that some states are asking working parents to do as they “ phase in ” reopening simply can ’ t be done if you have a youngster .
I can only assume that the reason our public response to the Covid-induced child care crisis has been so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on women .
When the demands of the economy conflict with the needs of our children , women are expected to figure it out .
Women are expected to mental-load the schedules and invent the solutions .
Women are expected to be everywhere at once .
And women are blamed if they miss the meeting—even when the useless business meeting and the useless school assembly meeting are happening at the exact same time .
There ’ s already some statistical evidence of the toll this gender disparity is taking on professional women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools for a few weeks .
In academia , we ’ re already seeing that journal submissions authored solely by women are down , while solo-authored male submissions are actually up .
The pandemic exacerbates gender inequalities still too common in domestic life , at the same time as it strips away supports women rely on to manage that unfairness .
If women do most of the cooking , families can no longer supplement that domestic labor with trips out to eat .
If women do most of the house cleaning , fortunate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with domestic service providers , and many people have probably noticed that the house gets a lot messier when nobody can ever leave it .
Working parents have more domestic work to do during the crisis , and yet have exactly the same amount of professional work to accomplish .
That burden is falling more heavily on women , and it seems like employers and politicians don ’ t even notice .
The Heartbreaking Choices Faced by Child Care Providers on the Front Lines I Never Felt Like a ‘ Single ’ Parent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Your Kids Are Now Your Coworkers More in this series The government must put working parents , especially parents in the “ primary caregiver ” seat , in a position to succeed .
These reopening plans fail to show even a cursory appreciation for the practical challenges working parents are facing during the pandemic .
The crisis should be showing us how essential affordable childcare is to economic vitality , something other industrialized nations have already figured out .
Instead , our country seems myopically obsessed with putting capitalism back to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or otherwise ) to balance their jobs and their families .
As a father and husband who works hard to fight gender norms and is committed to co-equal parenting , I ’ ve found juggling the dual responsibilities of employment and child care to be challenging since schools closed .
But my wife hasn ’ t slept in five weeks .
Turns out that I ’ m a better father in my own mind than I am in practice .
Who knew that my wife spends time and effort cutting the sandwiches she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my coddled offspring expect such artistry as an inducement to eat their freaking lunch ?
It is on me to do better and to reduce the gender imbalance in my own home .
But the only meaningful solution has been for me to do less professional work and make more sandwiches .
If the government wants people to get back to work , it ’ s going to have to provide the resources parents need to work .
If it ’ s not reasonable to open up the schools and it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then it ’ s not reasonable to reopen the hair salon and force some working mother to spend more money on childcare than she ’ ll make from her day at work .
The only people I should have to explain this to are childless yuppies who have yet to realize that life is an expanding web of complications and responsibilities until you are mercifully allowed to die .
I bet if we elected more women , the order of operations for reopening the economy wouldn ’ t be so ass-backwards .

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I don’t need the Waffle House reopened. I’m comfortable enough in my own body that I don’t need to go to the barbershop or the gym. I don’t need to go to the movies, because I live in the future and have subscriptions to approximately 18,000 streaming services.
What I need is for somebody to come take my children. A school bus. A babysitter. A freaking traveling circus. It doesn’t really matter. My economy cannot “reopen,” life cannot return to “normal” for me, until fully functional child care comes back on line.
I’m not the only one, but if you listen to various governors or the president of the United States, you’d think that the only parts of the country that need to be reopened are businesses and churches. Politicians want people to get back to work as soon as possible, but they seem to have no idea that without child care, a huge swath of the workforce will remain tied to their homes.
As of this writing, 43 states have closed schools through the end of the academic year. That list does not include New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio continue to joust over the issue. But if you are a tristate area resident who expects to send your kid to school before the fall, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.
For most families, there is no child care without school. In America, school is pretty much the only free or subsidized child care our government provides. Without reliable, affordable, and coronavirus-free child care, going back to work is simply not an option for many parents.
The school closings only deepen a reoccurring problem most parents face: the summer. In a society that has decided to outsource child care responsibilities to the school system, the fact that this system goes on an annual months-long holiday is already a nightmare for working parents.
Now the Covid-19 pandemic is blowing apart the kinds of summer child care relief that parents rely on. Summer school is not happening. Summer camp is not happening. Summer youth sports leagues are not happening. The coronavirus makes it dangerous to dump your little disease vectors with their grandparents. Where the hell are parents supposed to put their kids during long summer days when they’re supposed to go back to work? Current Issue View our current issue
Middle- to upper-income families may be able to find babysitters or nannies after sheltering-in-place orders relax. But lower-income families—the families that most desperately need as many wage earners as possible in the household—are going to be entirely screwed. I’ve seen a number of stories explaining how gym owners in Georgia plan to reopen while following social distancing protocols. But I haven’t seen a single day care provider explain—or even be asked to explain—how social distancing is supposed to work with a bunch of 10-year-olds. That’s probably because child care providers still haven’t solved the age-old problem of “Stop touching me!” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
As it is, the child care facilities that are still operating face immense challenges. In California, day care providers for essential workers are struggling to find cleaning supplies. And they can’t take in children who have any kind of illness symptoms, even if it’s likely that a child’s runny nose is just the result of seasonal allergies. Working parents already hoard their sick days (if they’re lucky enough to have them) to cover a child’s illness instead of their own. I don’t think this country has thought through what would be required to make it feasible for every person or child to stay home when they’re feeling ill. Businesses might be desperate to resume making profits, but I don’t see them clamoring to give out uncapped sick days to their workers.
Rushing to reopen the consumer economy without having a solid plan to reopen—and subsidize—the child care economy is madness. But it’s not entirely surprising when you consider that so much of our society still functions on the presumption of two-parent families in which one parent doesn’t have a full-time job. It’s as if we’re trapped in a mid-20th-century sitcom in which one person is expected to have a job and the other person is expected to be an all-powerful genie with lots of time on her hands.
We’ve seen the proof of our anachronistic ideas about child care throughout the pandemic. The needs of single parents have largely been ignored during flatten-the-curve policy-making. And every day there seems to be a new story about all the ways homeschooling is crushing working parents, because being a full-time teacher is incompatible with being any other kind of full-time employee, even if you are working from home.
At least working from home gives parents the chance to try to serve two masters. Going back to in-person work, without access to child care, will force families to make terrible decisions, at a time when nearly everybody feels the threat of layoffs and unemployment breathing down their necks. If you are lucky enough to still have a job at one of these reopening businesses, how can you tell that job that you have to miss work to take care of your kids? Most people can’t take their children to work, and even if they can, have you ever tried to get a kid to keep a face mask on? Most kids can’t last through Halloween wearing a mask all night. The feats of strength and juggling that some states are asking working parents to do as they phase in reopening simply can’t be done if you have a youngster.
I can only assume that the reason our public response to the Covid-induced child care crisis has been nonexistent is that the consequences fall primarily on women. When the demands of the economy conflict with the needs of our children, women are expected to figure it out. Women are expected to mental-load the schedules and devise the solutions. Women are expected to be everywhere at once. And women are blamed if they miss the meeting—even when the useless business meeting and the useless school assembly meeting are happening at the same time.
There’s already some statistical evidence of the toll this gender disparity is taking on professional women, and we’ve been without schools for only a few weeks. In academia, we’re already seeing that journal submissions authored solely by women are down, while solo-authored male submissions are up.
The pandemic exacerbates gender inequalities still too common in domestic life as it strips away supports women rely on to manage that unfairness. If women do most of the cooking, families can no longer supplement that domestic labor with trips out to eat. If women do most of the house cleaning, fortunate families can no longer supplement that work with domestic service providers, and many people have probably noticed that the house gets a lot messier when nobody can leave it. Working parents have more domestic work to do during the crisis and yet have exactly the same amount of professional work to accomplish. That burden is falling more heavily on women, and it seems employers and politicians don’t even notice. Coronavirus The Heartbreaking Choices Faced by Child Care Providers on the Front Lines Bryce Covert I Never Felt Like a ‘Single’ Parent. Then the Coronavirus Hit. Dani McClain Congratulations, Your Kids Are Now Your Coworkers Elie Mystal
The government must put working parents, especially parents in the primary caregiver seat, in a position to succeed. These reopening plans fail to show even a cursory appreciation for the practical challenges working parents face during the pandemic. The crisis should be showing us how essential affordable child care is to economic vitality, something other industrialized nations have already figured out. Instead, our country seems myopically obsessed with putting capitalism back to work without giving parents any backup (market-based or otherwise) to balance their jobs and their families.
As a father and husband who works hard to fight gender norms and is committed to coequal parenting, I’ve found juggling the dual responsibilities of employment and child care to be challenging since schools closed. But my wife hasn’t slept in five weeks. Turns out that I’m a better father in my mind than I am in practice. Who knew that my wife spends time and effort cutting the sandwiches she provides into little shapes and that my coddled offspring expect such artistry as an inducement to eat their freaking lunch?
It is on me to do better and to reduce the gender imbalance in my home. But the only meaningful solution has been for me to do less professional work and make more sandwiches. If the government wants people to get back to work, it’s going to have to provide the resources parents need to work. If it’s not reasonable to open up the schools and it’s not reasonable to greenlight summer camp, then it’s not reasonable to reopen the hair salon and force some working mother to spend more money on child care than she’ll make from her day at work. The only people I should have to explain this to are childless yuppies who have yet to realize that life is an expanding web of complications and responsibilities until you are mercifully allowed to die.
I bet if we elected more women, the order of operations for reopening the economy wouldn’t be so ass-backward.


thenation--2020-04-30--A Hilarious Critique of Cosmopolitanism, Conceptual Art, and All Things Bourgeois

From her docent ’ s chair at a local history museum in provincial Argentina , Mara is practicing “ the art of keeping quiet.
” When visitors ask about the bathroom or if there ’ s anywhere decent to eat in town , she ignores them .
Instead , “ she emulates the pieces in the exhibit , stares straight ahead at a tiny detail , turns a special quality of attention to how she is sitting , the tensing of her muscles , the expression of her face.
” After work , a passing car shrouds her in dust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ road .
She makes no effort to clean herself off , choosing to appreciate “ those layers and layers of dirt making her ever blurrier , more like yet another mishap of the landscape.
” Include Me Out , the Argentine author María Sonia Cristoff ’ s first novel to be translated into English , probes the possibility of leaving behind the ever more interconnected world in favor of the hyperlocal anonymity Mara delights in .
Before settling in the town of Luján , her life was glamorous .
She was a jet-set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transnational business deals .
New York one week , the south of France the next .
But for all the power and prestige that came with her work—the potential to “ unleash a third world war , ” say , or “ make millions from that sentence they wrote down ” —Mara became “ implacably fed up ” with her cosmopolitan life .
The source of her suffering ?
The inability of the interpreter to ever stop talking .
Rather than seek peace and quiet as others of her set might ( perhaps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Iceland or a spell on the beach in Bali ) , she chose Luján ’ s obscure museum for her retreat .
There she can go further than simply take a vacation from her hectic life and experiment with a different sort of living altogether .
That is , until the taxidermist arrives and ruins everything .
The collection of the museum Mara has picked for her project in silence happens to include Mancha and Gato , two historically significant criollo horses that have been preserved since the 1920s .
Because she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mancha and Gato are displayed , Mara is chosen by the museum ’ s director to serve as a special assistant to a world-renowned taxidermist who has been hired to restore them .
He ’ s a man of seemingly unlimited self-importance , a trait that manifests itself in the form of a constant , mind-numbing monologue that shatters the lulling atmosphere Mara has cultivated .
Include Me Out ostensibly revolves around a few categories of mutual exclusion : silent or prolix , in motion or still , cosmopolitan or parochial .
At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impossibility of so neatly bifurcating the world by making Mara ’ s resolution a half-measure that anticipates its own failure .
Though she endeavors to not speak , she does not take a vow of silence .
Rather than become some “ ascetic in a tower , ” whose self-banishment might draw notice because of its extremity , what interests Mara is the tension that comes from “ keeping quiet while interacting with the world.
” By trading absolute silence for the “ onomatopoeias and affirmations ” necessary for quotidian interactions with shopkeepers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can become just one more forgettable face in a forgettable town .
Her system is meant to eliminate her agency , to transform her into an automatic performer of life .
Cristoff ’ s narration of Mara ’ s endeavor to that end are interspersed with selections “ From the Notebook , ” historical debriefs and miniature essays that provide context and intellectual legitimization for her project .
Here , the narrowness of Mara ’ s chosen life is belied by touchstones that speak to the continental erudition that sets its parameters .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( as a private redoubt ) or Cristoff ( as a disclosure of the research that accompanied composing the novel ) is never specified , but it doesn ’ t really matter .
By using these dispatches to gloss a book by the French harpist Xavier de Maistre and some Slovenian performance artists , Cristoff exposes Mara ’ s renunciation of the cosmopolitan life as an act of deep aesthetic sophistication .
For all her preening , Mara is fundamentally just embarking on a contemporary version of the retreat exercised by J.K. Huysman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Against the Grain ) , another work cited in the Notebook .
The imbrication of remotest Argentina ’ s quietude and the hurly-burly of the international scene is a hallmark of Cristoff ’ s work .
In False Calm , a journalistic treatment of the towns that have been hollowed out by the departure of the oil industry from her home region of Patagonia , she is just as apt to quote from local news clippings as she is to relate the plot of Red Dragon , the thriller that introduced Hannibal Lecter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visited in a dream by the ghost of Bruce Chatwin , the British writer whose travelogue about Patagonia helped to elevate it into the pantheon of tourist destinations .
“ It ’ s Chatwin , ” she writes , “ eyes half closed and talking in a monotone but with urgency , about how Shakespeare was inspired by a Patagonian Indian to create Caliban in The Tempest.
” However peripheral the places she writes about appear , Cristoff is adept at teasing out the easily overlooked ways contemporary perceptions of them have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Chatwin ’ s ghost talks about as much as the taxidermist in Include Me Out , though the former has considerably more interesting things to say .
The taxidermist ’ s verbosity seems to serve only “ as affirmation that one is alive even while working all day with dead bodies.
” Such affirmation is exactly the point : As Mara learns , the goal of taxidermy is not to preserve a corpse but to create a simulacrum of life .
She is startled to learn that the preserved hides of Mancha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mannequins rather than the embalmed muscle and yellowing bones she had imagined .
She watches , unnerved , as the taxidermist kneels on one of the pelts , “ applying his formula like one of those murderers who play with the remains of their victims.
” However Hannibal-like this work might seem , the taxidermist ’ s goal is to trick the museum viewer into seeing the criollos as they once were : alive .
Meanwhile , Mara learns that his wife , a Finnish artist named Talvikki , uses the same chemicals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proprietary formula ( albeit in different solution ) to reduce the remains of animals into powders and gelatins that can be incorporated into her sculptures .
While her husband seeks to preserve life , Talvikki is after “ the ambivalence between life and death.
” Meeting Talvikki inspires Mara to use the couple ’ s shared chemicals to sabotage the taxidermist ’ s work , ruining the horsehides and implicating the man as a fraud .
Though these machinations are far from the frictionless life Mara has been seeking , she believes they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the taxidermist amounts not to the ruination of her detachment project but to a brief hiatus .
They also represent a drastic escalation of her commitment to silence .
Even after the taxidermist has been run off , her ability to reimmerse herself in obscurity is forever compromised .
Rather than enjoy her reclaimed hours in the docent ’ s chair , she now finds herself focused “ on her next chapter , her next act that will go against the grain.
” While again invoking Huysmans , Cristoff does so only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Á Rebours closes that novel in existential despair ; Mara , on the other hand , is molding herself into a performance artist of disappearing .
“ Her flights from the redundancies of the world ” will no longer be undertaken for their own sake but rather revised into an act of “ solitary resistance.
” Cristoff has no interest in dusting off the work of dead Europeans , decoupling the hides of their novels from the mannequins of thought that give them shape in order to simply replace them with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she ’ s not in the business of preserving anything .
Cristoff is the artist who grinds up the bones of the classics into powder that can be refigured into work that speaks more directly to our current age .
In the 18th century , withdrawal was possible—even if it led to madness .
But in the 21st , it ’ s simply not an option .
Reject the world , and the world comes looking .
The only recourse for those who wish to disappear is to make a project of it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attract notice but will in the meantime afford the practitioner at least a modicum of peace and quiet .
Meanwhile , the people of towns like Luján just keep struggling to make do , oblivious to the overwrought exertions of the moneyed .

From her docent’s chair at a local history museum in provincial Argentina, Mara is practicing “the art of keeping quiet.” When visitors ask about the bathroom or if there’s anywhere decent to eat in town, she ignores them. Instead, “she emulates the pieces in the exhibit, stares straight ahead at a tiny detail, turns a special quality of attention to how she is sitting, the tensing of her muscles, the expression of her face.” After work, a passing car shrouds her in dust as she walks home along a dirt road. She makes no effort to clean herself off, choosing to appreciate “those layers and layers of dirt making her ever blurrier, more like yet another mishap of the landscape.” Books in Review Include Me Out By Maria Sonia Cristoff, Translation by Katherine Silver Buy this book
Include Me Out, the Argentine author María Sonia Cristoff’s first novel to be translated into English, probes the possibility of leaving behind the ever more interconnected world in favor of the hyperlocal anonymity Mara delights in. Before settling in the town of Luján, her life was glamorous. She was a jet-set interpreter, shuttling from diplomatic meetings to transnational business deals. New York one week, the south of France the next. But for all the power and prestige that came with her work—the potential to “unleash a third world war,” say, or “make millions from that sentence they wrote down”—Mara became “implacably fed up” with her cosmopolitan life. The source of her suffering? The inability of the interpreter to ever stop talking. Rather than seek peace and quiet as others of her set might (perhaps with a trip to the volcanic spas of Iceland or a spell on the beach in Bali), she chose Luján’s obscure museum for her retreat. There she can go further than simply take a vacation from her hectic life and experiment with a different sort of living altogether. That is, until the taxidermist arrives and ruins everything.
The collection of the museum Mara has picked for her project in silence happens to include Mancha and Gato, two historically significant criollo horses that have been preserved since the 1920s. Because she is a docent in the room where Mancha and Gato are displayed, Mara is chosen by the museum’s director to serve as a special assistant to a world-renowned taxidermist who has been hired to restore them. He’s a man of seemingly unlimited self-importance, a trait that manifests itself in the form of a constant, mind-numbing monologue that shatters the lulling atmosphere Mara has cultivated.
Include Me Out ostensibly revolves around a few categories of mutual exclusion: silent or prolix, in motion or still, cosmopolitan or parochial. At the same time, Cristoff underscores the impossibility of so neatly bifurcating the world by making Mara’s resolution a half-measure that anticipates its own failure. Though she endeavors to not speak, she does not take a vow of silence. Rather than become some “ascetic in a tower,” whose self-banishment might draw notice because of its extremity, what interests Mara is the tension that comes from “keeping quiet while interacting with the world.” By trading absolute silence for the “onomatopoeias and affirmations” necessary for quotidian interactions with shopkeepers and museum visitors, Mara believes she can become just one more forgettable face in a forgettable town. Her system is meant to eliminate her agency, to transform her into an automatic performer of life. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Cristoff’s narration of Mara’s endeavor to that end are interspersed with selections “From the Notebook,” historical debriefs and miniature essays that provide context and intellectual legitimization for her project. Here, the narrowness of Mara’s chosen life is belied by touchstones that speak to the continental erudition that sets its parameters. Whether the Notebook is kept by Mara (as a private redoubt) or Cristoff (as a disclosure of the research that accompanied composing the novel) is never specified, but it doesn’t really matter. By using these dispatches to gloss a book by the French harpist Xavier de Maistre and some Slovenian performance artists, Cristoff exposes Mara’s renunciation of the cosmopolitan life as an act of deep aesthetic sophistication. For all her preening, Mara is fundamentally just embarking on a contemporary version of the retreat exercised by J.K. Huysman’s protagonist in À Rebours (Against the Grain), another work cited in the Notebook.
The imbrication of remotest Argentina’s quietude and the hurly-burly of the international scene is a hallmark of Cristoff’s work. In False Calm, a journalistic treatment of the towns that have been hollowed out by the departure of the oil industry from her home region of Patagonia, she is just as apt to quote from local news clippings as she is to relate the plot of Red Dragon, the thriller that introduced Hannibal Lecter. In False Calm Cristoff describes being visited in a dream by the ghost of Bruce Chatwin, the British writer whose travelogue about Patagonia helped to elevate it into the pantheon of tourist destinations. “It’s Chatwin,” she writes, “eyes half closed and talking in a monotone but with urgency, about how Shakespeare was inspired by a Patagonian Indian to create Caliban in The Tempest.” However peripheral the places she writes about appear, Cristoff is adept at teasing out the easily overlooked ways contemporary perceptions of them have been shaped by artists and writers from elsewhere.
Chatwin’s ghost talks about as much as the taxidermist in Include Me Out, though the former has considerably more interesting things to say. The taxidermist’s verbosity seems to serve only “as affirmation that one is alive even while working all day with dead bodies.” Such affirmation is exactly the point: As Mara learns, the goal of taxidermy is not to preserve a corpse but to create a simulacrum of life. She is startled to learn that the preserved hides of Mancha and Gato get their shape from simple mannequins rather than the embalmed muscle and yellowing bones she had imagined. She watches, unnerved, as the taxidermist kneels on one of the pelts, “applying his formula like one of those murderers who play with the remains of their victims.” Current Issue View our current issue
However Hannibal-like this work might seem, the taxidermist’s goal is to trick the museum viewer into seeing the criollos as they once were: alive. Meanwhile, Mara learns that his wife, a Finnish artist named Talvikki, uses the same chemicals that make up the taxidermist’s proprietary formula (albeit in different solution) to reduce the remains of animals into powders and gelatins that can be incorporated into her sculptures. While her husband seeks to preserve life, Talvikki is after “the ambivalence between life and death.”
Meeting Talvikki inspires Mara to use the couple’s shared chemicals to sabotage the taxidermist’s work, ruining the horsehides and implicating the man as a fraud. Though these machinations are far from the frictionless life Mara has been seeking, she believes they are necessary to ensure that her work for the taxidermist amounts not to the ruination of her detachment project but to a brief hiatus. They also represent a drastic escalation of her commitment to silence. Even after the taxidermist has been run off, her ability to reimmerse herself in obscurity is forever compromised. Rather than enjoy her reclaimed hours in the docent’s chair, she now finds herself focused “on her next chapter, her next act that will go against the grain.” While again invoking Huysmans, Cristoff does so only to break with him. The hero of Á Rebours closes that novel in existential despair; Mara, on the other hand, is molding herself into a performance artist of disappearing. “Her flights from the redundancies of the world” will no longer be undertaken for their own sake but rather revised into an act of “solitary resistance.”
Cristoff has no interest in dusting off the work of dead Europeans, decoupling the hides of their novels from the mannequins of thought that give them shape in order to simply replace them with a more contemporary skin. In fact, she’s not in the business of preserving anything. Cristoff is the artist who grinds up the bones of the classics into powder that can be refigured into work that speaks more directly to our current age. In the 18th century, withdrawal was possible—even if it led to madness. But in the 21st, it’s simply not an option. Reject the world, and the world comes looking. The only recourse for those who wish to disappear is to make a project of it, a globe-trotting road show that may attract notice but will in the meantime afford the practitioner at least a modicum of peace and quiet. Meanwhile, the people of towns like Luján just keep struggling to make do, oblivious to the overwrought exertions of the moneyed.


thenation--2020-04-30--The Vulture Capitalists Are Counting on Us to Do Nothing

In 1807 , Heinrich von Kleist published a short story called The Earthquake in Chile .
Its heroes are a man sitting in prison and a woman in a convent , each confined for the crime of conceiving their child out of wedlock .
All of a sudden , an earthquake hits , the buildings that house them collapse , and the couple rediscover each other in the wreckage .
Seeking shelter in the woods , they meet people who know of their sin but welcome rather than judge them .
In the flush of the emergency , all is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trivial tea-table gossip about the ways of the world , everyone was now telling stories of extraordinary heroic deeds.
” Exhilarated , the couple follows the masses to the only remaining cathedral , where to their horror , the preacher rages against their transgressions .
At the climax of the sermon , the crowd identifies the pair and clubs them to death .
The inverted world is gone as soon as it came .
As the Covid-19 contagion passed through China , Western Europe , and the United States , we had our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have merged with uncertainty about economic growth to crater oil prices and spike unemployment rates to heights with no historical comparison .
As has become routine during such shocks—from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis to the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 to the victories of Trump and Brexit in 2016—the rumor ricocheted through the op-eds and articles , think pieces , and tweets , that neoliberalism was dead .
How could anyone claim that markets were the solution to all social problems when it was the countries with strong states and safety nets—Germany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was under control and those with a libertarian streak—the US and the UK—where leaders hesitated to intervene and let different parts of the country outbid each other for life-saving ventilators , test kits , and face masks ?
Daily applause for frontline health care workers must mean new value for the agents of social reproduction .
Generous tips for delivery drivers and gestures of solidarity with Amazon warehouse workers must mean a clear-eyed look at the underpaid labor that makes modern life so frictionless .
Visions of blue sky over Delhi and Beijing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the center of Los Angeles , companies paying people to take barrels of oil they no longer wanted… Surely , after the pandemic we would recognize we had been living in a cursed world and this is the correct one .
Humanity had an unearned chance for redemption .
Thanks to Covid-19 , Neoliberal Globalization Is Unraveling But if we were the couple in the story taking refuge in the woods , we are all now streaming into the cathedral for the fateful service .
In the past weeks , a $ 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that will overwhelmingly benefit large corporations and the super rich , not ordinary workers .
Speculation of a bailout for the US oil sector will surely keep high-carbon capitalism churning onward , especially as the Environmental Protection Agency has lifted regulations for the duration of the crisis .
In Canada , the premier of Alberta pledged $ 7 billion for its own cherished pipeline project .
The value of nurses and other health care workers has been recognized in the United States , but only in the sense that they are one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order that otherwise provisionally banned all immigration to the country .
America has found its own sin-drenched couple to turn on .
This week a strategy memo urged Republican candidates to “ Attack China.
” More than half of Americans surveyed want reparations from China for the virus ; the United States has defunded the World Health Organization in protest against its supposed subordination to the country ; and the state of Missouri has sued the People ’ s Republic of China ( and a string of associated institutions ) in a domestic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the president shouted that politicians must “ start working on how you ’ re going to punish , ostracize , alienate , and financially sanction and make China accountable for what they did to us and the rest of the world.
” A fragile unity will be restored—as it so often is—by targeting the outsider , the alien , the nonwhite person .
Without intervention , the community after the earthquake reconstitutes the one that preceded it .
The interregnum extends only if there are social formations to carry it .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with would-be marchers self-distancing and juggling children and babies .
The leading mainstream political opponent to Trump is an elderly man in a Delaware basement with a habit of vanishing from the public eye for long stretches of time .
Joe Biden was the safety candidate against an insurgent Bernie Sanders .
He now sits in a bunker with no movement behind him .
We have seen a world where capitalism stops .
But it will start again .
When America “ reopens , ” it will be much like the old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ever more beholden to the leader for having saved them .
Arguments for austerity will return in the wake of the unprecedented spending .
The “ thought leaders ” in Trump ’ s recently announced Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups are all from the “ free market ” think tanks that have advised the GOP since the days of Ronald Reagan—Heritage Foundation , Cato Institute , Hoover Institution , American Legislative Exchange Council—they ’ re the priests arriving to give their sermon .
The church of neoliberalism will be rebuilt and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ snuffed out .
For the real story , look up .
Above the steeple , the vultures are circling .
The Wall Street Journal predicts a wave of defaults , bankruptcies , and restructurings .
Imperiled companies will see their devalued stock scooped by so-called distressed debt specialists , more commonly known as vulture investors , who make use of the generosities of US Chapter 11 law to strip employees of benefits or offload them to the state before flipping their acquisitions at a profit .
A pioneer in vulture investing and now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bankruptcy in 2003 as “ the corporate form of Darwinism.
” Howard Marks , director of investment fund Oaktree Capital Management , was even more graphic in a recent letter to shareholders quoted in The Wall Street Journal .
“ Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Catholicism without hell , ” he wrote , suggesting that federal bailouts shouldn ’ t shield market actors from “ a healthy fear of loss.
” He failed to add that people like himself have learned how to monetize the flames .
His own Oaktree Capital Fund is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what would be the biggest-ever distressed-debt fund.
” The next year will be a litany of the “ workouts and turnarounds ” that bankruptcy specialists are known for , ruthlessly wringing the value out of companies , while ignoring the human or social costs .
Distressed debt funds are the loan sharks of the business world , and will feel no compunction about pursuing the bottom line .
We have seen a preview of such dispassionate calculation in the last month , as stock values soared alongside record unemployment numbers and mounting deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , even scandalous .
“ The stock market doesn ’ t care about your feelings , ” was the response of a Los Angeles Times business reporter , “ nor should it.
” Covid-19 has left the economy in rubble , and we have a brief chance to build anew .
But to avoid the vultures , we will have to be creative and work together .
Freed from our quarantine , we can use the remains of our old society to construct new buildings , gardens , playgrounds , and , @ @ @ @ @ @

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.
In 1807, Heinrich von Kleist published a short story called The Earthquake in Chile. Its heroes are a man sitting in prison and a woman in a convent, each confined for the crime of conceiving their child out of wedlock. All of a sudden, an earthquake hits, the buildings that house them collapse, and the couple rediscover each other in the wreckage. Seeking shelter in the woods, they meet people who know of their sin but welcome rather than judge them. In the flush of the emergency, all is transformed: “Instead of the usual trivial tea-table gossip about the ways of the world, everyone was now telling stories of extraordinary heroic deeds.” Exhilarated, the couple follows the masses to the only remaining cathedral, where to their horror, the preacher rages against their transgressions. At the climax of the sermon, the crowd identifies the pair and clubs them to death. The inverted world is gone as soon as it came.
As the Covid-19 contagion passed through China, Western Europe, and the United States, we had our own version of the earthquake. Lockdowns have merged with uncertainty about economic growth to crater oil prices and spike unemployment rates to heights with no historical comparison.
As has become routine during such shocks—from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis to the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 to the victories of Trump and Brexit in 2016—the rumor ricocheted through the op-eds and articles, think pieces, and tweets, that neoliberalism was dead.
How could anyone claim that markets were the solution to all social problems when it was the countries with strong states and safety nets—Germany, South Korea, Taiwan—where the virus was under control and those with a libertarian streak—the US and the UK—where leaders hesitated to intervene and let different parts of the country outbid each other for life-saving ventilators, test kits, and face masks? Daily applause for frontline health care workers must mean new value for the agents of social reproduction. Generous tips for delivery drivers and gestures of solidarity with Amazon warehouse workers must mean a clear-eyed look at the underpaid labor that makes modern life so frictionless. Visions of blue sky over Delhi and Beijing, air pollution indices registering green in the center of Los Angeles, companies paying people to take barrels of oil they no longer wanted… Surely, after the pandemic we would recognize we had been living in a cursed world and this is the correct one. Humanity had an unearned chance for redemption. Related Article Thanks to Covid-19, Neoliberal Globalization Is Unraveling Jeet Heer
But if we were the couple in the story taking refuge in the woods, we are all now streaming into the cathedral for the fateful service. In the past weeks, a $2 trillion rescue package breezed through US Congress that will overwhelmingly benefit large corporations and the super rich, not ordinary workers. Speculation of a bailout for the US oil sector will surely keep high-carbon capitalism churning onward, especially as the Environmental Protection Agency has lifted regulations for the duration of the crisis. In Canada, the premier of Alberta pledged $7 billion for its own cherished pipeline project. The value of nurses and other health care workers has been recognized in the United States, but only in the sense that they are one of the few exceptions in a presidential executive order that otherwise provisionally banned all immigration to the country. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
America has found its own sin-drenched couple to turn on. This week a strategy memo urged Republican candidates to “Attack China.” More than half of Americans surveyed want reparations from China for the virus; the United States has defunded the World Health Organization in protest against its supposed subordination to the country; and the state of Missouri has sued the People’s Republic of China (and a string of associated institutions) in a domestic court. A Fox News commentator beloved by the president shouted that politicians must “start working on how you’re going to punish, ostracize, alienate, and financially sanction and make China accountable for what they did to us and the rest of the world.” A fragile unity will be restored—as it so often is—by targeting the outsider, the alien, the nonwhite person.
Without intervention, the community after the earthquake reconstitutes the one that preceded it. The interregnum extends only if there are social formations to carry it. And right now, the streets are empty, with would-be marchers self-distancing and juggling children and babies. Current Issue View our current issue
The leading mainstream political opponent to Trump is an elderly man in a Delaware basement with a habit of vanishing from the public eye for long stretches of time. Joe Biden was the safety candidate against an insurgent Bernie Sanders. He now sits in a bunker with no movement behind him.
We have seen a world where capitalism stops. But it will start again. When America “reopens,” it will be much like the old America. Big companies will be bigger, ever more beholden to the leader for having saved them. Arguments for austerity will return in the wake of the unprecedented spending.
The “thought leaders” in Trump’s recently announced Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups are all from the “free market” think tanks that have advised the GOP since the days of Ronald Reagan—Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Hoover Institution, American Legislative Exchange Council—they’re the priests arriving to give their sermon. The church of neoliberalism will be rebuilt and the flash of paradise in the emergency snuffed out.
For the real story, look up. Above the steeple, the vultures are circling. The Wall Street Journal predicts a wave of defaults, bankruptcies, and restructurings. Imperiled companies will see their devalued stock scooped by so-called distressed debt specialists, more commonly known as vulture investors, who make use of the generosities of US Chapter 11 law to strip employees of benefits or offload them to the state before flipping their acquisitions at a profit.
A pioneer in vulture investing and now the commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross praised bankruptcy in 2003 as “the corporate form of Darwinism.” Howard Marks, director of investment fund Oaktree Capital Management, was even more graphic in a recent letter to shareholders quoted in The Wall Street Journal. “Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Catholicism without hell,” he wrote, suggesting that federal bailouts shouldn’t shield market actors from “a healthy fear of loss.” He failed to add that people like himself have learned how to monetize the flames. His own Oaktree Capital Fund is reportedly raising “$15 billion for what would be the biggest-ever distressed-debt fund.”
The next year will be a litany of the “workouts and turnarounds” that bankruptcy specialists are known for, ruthlessly wringing the value out of companies, while ignoring the human or social costs. Distressed debt funds are the loan sharks of the business world, and will feel no compunction about pursuing the bottom line. We have seen a preview of such dispassionate calculation in the last month, as stock values soared alongside record unemployment numbers and mounting deaths. The combination seemed shocking to some people, even scandalous. “The stock market doesn’t care about your feelings,” was the response of a Los Angeles Times business reporter, “nor should it.”
Covid-19 has left the economy in rubble, and we have a brief chance to build anew. But to avoid the vultures, we will have to be creative and work together. Freed from our quarantine, we can use the remains of our old society to construct new buildings, gardens, playgrounds, and, when necessary, barricades too.


thenation--2020-04-30--How Long Will It Take Until There’s a Vaccine?

“ We hope to have a vaccine ready for testing in about two years , ” Margaret Heckler , the secretary of Health and Human Services , said in a news conference announcing the discovery of the cause of the then-new disease , AIDS .
She continued : “ Yet another terrible disease is about to yield to patience , persistence and outright genius.
” This was 1984 .
It ’ s now 36 years later and we still have no vaccine to prevent HIV infection .
In early March of this year , when asked about the timeline for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( the virus that causes Covid-19 ) , President Trump said , “ I don ’ t know what the time will be .
I ’ ve heard very quick numbers , that of months .
And I ’ ve heard pretty much a year would be an outside number .
So , I think that ’ s not a bad range .
But if you ’ re talking about three to four months in a couple of cases , a year in other cases.
” Experts in the room , including Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , tried to temper expectations , but also offered a timeline of 12–18 months for the development of a vaccine .
Dr. Fauci has been director of NIAID since 1984 , the year Secretary Heckler made her prediction .
Will Dr. Fauci ’ s optimism be prescient or premature ?
Most experts I spoke to recently , including Dr. John Moore , professor of microbiology and immunology at Cornell-Weill Medical College and Dennis Burton , professor of immunology and microbiology at the Scripps Research Institute , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an AIDS vaccine , weren ’ t ready to make prognostications .
In fact , it takes a long time to develop a vaccine—timelines denominated in years rather than months .
However , should Dr. Fauci ’ s prediction turn out to be wrong , it won ’ t be for lack of trying .
A new paradigm is emerging for vaccine development in the age of Covid-19 , in which many of the steps are truncated or happening simultaneously .
There are about 90 vaccine candidates in the pipeline right now for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a few vaccines , which even in the absence of evidence of their safety and efficacy are being scaled up , with millions of doses being manufactured now or in the planning stages with support from the federal government ’ s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ( whose director , Rick Bright , was purged in mid-April for criticizing the White House ’ s obsession with hydroxychloroquine ) and private companies like Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi .
This may turn out to be a multibillion-dollar fumble , but the logic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to waste on the months and months it will take to scale up production of these vaccines , should they actually turn out to work .
However , the urgency with which the development of a vaccine is being approached can not obviate the scientific obstacles to finding one .
First , remember this is a new pathogen : SARS-COV2 emerged only a few months ago and scientists are still learning about how it works , and importantly , how our bodies ’ immune systems respond to it .
We still don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are for SARS-COV2—meaning the “ quantifiable immune parameters that determine the attainment of protection against a given pathogen , ” that is , what part of the immune response , and in what magnitude , keeps you free from infection if you encounter the virus .
As I mentioned in my article about testing two weeks ago , there are some hospitalized patients with Covid-19 who only develop low levels of antibodies to SARS-COV2 , with about 5 percent showing no antibody response at all .
A new French study suggests that antibody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infection may be even more difficult to detect due to low levels of antibody as well .
In any case , do antibodies to SARS-COV2 confer protection—and how long does this protection last ?
Tests of an inactivated SARS-COV2 vaccine in rhesus macaques shows promise in generating neutralizing antibodies and protection against infection , but how will this play out in the human host ?
Might other parts of the immune system be crucial in protecting against this new coronavirus ?
We simply do not know the answers to these questions right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some vaccines can cause immune system malfunctions , in which vaccines can set up an immune response that , instead of protecting you from infection , makes the disease worse if you catch the virus .
We ’ ve seen this in vaccine development for diseases like dengue , respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV ) , and severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS ) and so careful testing of vaccine products looking out for these paradoxical effects is going to be important as we move forward .
Some of the technologies on which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , particularly the RNA-based vaccines that are at the center of discussion right now and had President Trump trying to secure rights to a German mRNA ( the m here stands for “ messenger ” ) vaccine for exclusive US use .
There are lots of hurdles in the development of a SARS-COV2 vaccine , both scientific and practical , and we haven ’ t even begun to discuss the complicated ethical issues involved in clinical trials and determining how we ’ ll deal with who gets access to an approved successful vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , one thing is clear : We do desperately need a vaccine .
Vaccine development , like public health more generally , is a matter of the common good : Vaccines often don ’ t make profits , and public health doesn ’ t make people rich , so it ’ s up to us to invest as a society to develop them and to protect the public health .
In the midst of pandemics , no one needs convincing of the urgency of these tasks .
It will be after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve gone back to our lives , that we might forget that investing in vaccine development and public health is still urgent—for the diseases that are just around the corner , or those which will never leave us alone , unbothered , unless we vanquish them , once and for all .

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.
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“We hope to have a vaccine ready for testing in about two years,” Margaret Heckler, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a news conference announcing the discovery of the cause of the then-new disease, AIDS. She continued: “Yet another terrible disease is about to yield to patience, persistence and outright genius.” This was 1984. It’s now 36 years later and we still have no vaccine to prevent HIV infection.
In early March of this year, when asked about the timeline for the development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV2 (the virus that causes Covid-19), President Trump said, “I don’t know what the time will be. I’ve heard very quick numbers, that of months. And I’ve heard pretty much a year would be an outside number. So, I think that’s not a bad range. But if you’re talking about three to four months in a couple of cases, a year in other cases.” Experts in the room, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tried to temper expectations, but also offered a timeline of 12–18 months for the development of a vaccine. Dr. Fauci has been director of NIAID since 1984, the year Secretary Heckler made her prediction. Will Dr. Fauci’s optimism be prescient or premature?
Most experts I spoke to recently, including Dr. John Moore, professor of microbiology and immunology at Cornell-Weill Medical College and Dennis Burton, professor of immunology and microbiology at the Scripps Research Institute, and both veterans of the search for an AIDS vaccine, weren’t ready to make prognostications. In fact, it takes a long time to develop a vaccine—timelines denominated in years rather than months. However, should Dr. Fauci’s prediction turn out to be wrong, it won’t be for lack of trying. A new paradigm is emerging for vaccine development in the age of Covid-19, in which many of the steps are truncated or happening simultaneously. There are about 90 vaccine candidates in the pipeline right now for Covid-19.
Early bets are being made on a few vaccines, which even in the absence of evidence of their safety and efficacy are being scaled up, with millions of doses being manufactured now or in the planning stages with support from the federal government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (whose director, Rick Bright, was purged in mid-April for criticizing the White House’s obsession with hydroxychloroquine) and private companies like Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi. This may turn out to be a multibillion-dollar fumble, but the logic is that we do not have time to waste on the months and months it will take to scale up production of these vaccines, should they actually turn out to work. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
However, the urgency with which the development of a vaccine is being approached cannot obviate the scientific obstacles to finding one. First, remember this is a new pathogen: SARS-COV2 emerged only a few months ago and scientists are still learning about how it works, and importantly, how our bodies’ immune systems respond to it. We still don’t know what the correlates of protection are for SARS-COV2—meaning the “quantifiable immune parameters that determine the attainment of protection against a given pathogen,” that is, what part of the immune response, and in what magnitude, keeps you free from infection if you encounter the virus.
As I mentioned in my article about testing two weeks ago, there are some hospitalized patients with Covid-19 who only develop low levels of antibodies to SARS-COV2, with about 5 percent showing no antibody response at all. A new French study suggests that antibody responses in those with mild or asymptomatic infection may be even more difficult to detect due to low levels of antibody as well. In any case, do antibodies to SARS-COV2 confer protection—and how long does this protection last? Tests of an inactivated SARS-COV2 vaccine in rhesus macaques shows promise in generating neutralizing antibodies and protection against infection, but how will this play out in the human host? Might other parts of the immune system be crucial in protecting against this new coronavirus? We simply do not know the answers to these questions right now.
And there are potential pitfalls. Some vaccines can cause immune system malfunctions, in which vaccines can set up an immune response that, instead of protecting you from infection, makes the disease worse if you catch the virus. We’ve seen this in vaccine development for diseases like dengue, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and so careful testing of vaccine products looking out for these paradoxical effects is going to be important as we move forward. Some of the technologies on which these vaccines are based are also untried, particularly the RNA-based vaccines that are at the center of discussion right now and had President Trump trying to secure rights to a German mRNA (the m here stands for “messenger”) vaccine for exclusive US use.
There are lots of hurdles in the development of a SARS-COV2 vaccine, both scientific and practical, and we haven’t even begun to discuss the complicated ethical issues involved in clinical trials and determining how we’ll deal with who gets access to an approved successful vaccine, when billions may need it. However, one thing is clear: We do desperately need a vaccine. Vaccine development, like public health more generally, is a matter of the common good: Vaccines often don’t make profits, and public health doesn’t make people rich, so it’s up to us to invest as a society to develop them and to protect the public health. In the midst of pandemics, no one needs convincing of the urgency of these tasks. It will be after the social distancing is over, when we’ve gone back to our lives, that we might forget that investing in vaccine development and public health is still urgent—for the diseases that are just around the corner, or those which will never leave us alone, unbothered, unless we vanquish them, once and for all.