COVID-19 Update: Day 8 Musings

District 13

Alder Tag Evers

Alder Evers’ Blog

March 21, 2020 6:47 PM

Hi Everybody,

I blogged for the first time about the crisis on March 13. Eight days have passed and so much has happened. It's my intention to stay in close touch with you, to share information and offer encouragement.

Today, I'm going to wax a bit philosophical, articulating why I'm hopeful about our capacity to rise to this present moment.

My neighbor is a bibliophile, and she reminded me about E. O. Wilson's work on ants, referencing his book, The Superorganism. Wilson spent his career studying ants, and has noted how social insects like ants and termites share an important quality with humans, that being altruistic cooperation. Ants are the most dominant species on earth due to their selfless behavior, and Wilson postulates that humans, too, have an aquired trait of other-regarding behavior that contributes to our survival. In other words, it's not survival of the fittest in any individual, selfish sense that wins the evolutionary race, but rather our commitment to the collective, the common good.

My neighbor is also a fan of Richard Rohr, the Franciscan priest and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM. This past Thursday, Rohr wrote a message about COVID-19, calling for global solidarity. This paragraph caught my eye:

"We are in the midst of a highly teachable moment. There's no doubt that this period will be referred to for the rest of our lifetimes. We have a chance to go deep, and to go broad. Globally, we're in this together. Depth is being forced on us by great suffering, which as I like to say, always leads to great love."

Have you noticed how this crisis is changing us? We keep hearing how "we're all in this together," how this cuts across national boundaries, race, ethncity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, religious or political persuasion. The virus has laid bare the social inequities and economic inequality that have become so pronounced in the last 40 years. It's shows that we're all in the same boat, and the only way this boat stays afloat is we begin to act like it.

We have an opportunity to put this into practice in a big way in District 13. Today, the District 13 Alliance met online to begin hashing out a neighborhood-based support network. The Alliance has connections to each of the six neighborhoods -- The Triangle, Monona Bay, Bay Creek, Vilas, and Dudgeon-Monroe -- and the plan is to work with the existing neighborhood associations and the Bayview Foundation to make certain that all of our residents are cared for and that no one falls through the cracks.

We don't know what will happen next, but we do know that it will likely get worse before it gets better. This virus attacks us not just on a cellular level, but it cuts right at the very essence of who we are as social beings.

We win this fight by affirming our innate connection to each other. We do so with hearts full of compassion, our hands extended to those most in need.

I'll continue to keep you posted as to the specific plans the Alliance sets forth, plus up-to-date information, healthy tips and humor, and the occasional musing.

Feel free to email me with any questions, concerns or suggestions you may have.

Be safe. Be well. Be kind.

Tag

Tags: COVID-19

Email to a friend

Labels

Uncategorized

Tags

1109 S. Park 1224 S. Park 2020 Census 2020 Referenda 5G Technology Accessory Dwelling Units Affordable Housing Affordable Housing Fund Affordable Housing; Police Chief Ahmaud Arbery Alder Pay Aldo Leopold Alexis London Allen Arntsen Alleys American Plan Rescue Act Anisa Scott Annie Stewart Fountain Anthony Cooper Anti-Racism Arboretum ARPA Aurielle Smith Badger Football Bay Creek Bayview Bayview Foundation Bicycling Big Step Bikeways Biking Black Lives Matter Board of Parks Commissioners Board of Public Works Body Worn Cameras Brandi Grayson Brittingham Park BRT Brush Collection Budget Buildings Energy Savings Program Bus Rapid Transit C.A.R.E.S. CARES Program CDA Cedar Street City Budget Civilian Oversight Board Clean Lakes Alliance Clean Streets/Clean Lakes Clean Up Clear Sidewalks Climate Change Common Council Community Control Community Input Complete Green Streets Complete Green Streets Composting Computers Corporate Power COVID-19 Crime Curbside collection D13 Mask Brigade D13 Neighborhood Alliance D14 Alder Sheri Carter D5 Alder Regina Vidaver Dairy Drive Damond Boatwright Dark Sky Ordinance Defund The Police Development Development Digital Inclusion Diversity Dog Parks Dogs in Parks Dudgeon Monroe Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Assn Earth Day Earth Week Ecology Economic crisis Edgewood High School Edgewood Stadium Effigy Mounds Elections Encampments Engineering Division Environment Environmental Justice Environmental Racism Eviction Prevention F-35s Family Definition Finance Committee Financial Assistance Focused Interruption Coalition Food Access Food Deserts Food Drive Food Scraps Recycling Forest Hill Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery Forward Dane Friend of Olin-Turville Friends of Lake Wingra Friends of Monona Bay Friends of Olin-Turville Gallery Night Gaylord Nelson Gentrification George Floyd Glen Golf Park Glenway Golf Course Glenway Golf Park Glenway Woods Good Neighbor Gathering Goodman Pool grassroots leadership Green Infrastructure Green New Deal Greenbush GreenPower Program Grocery Gap Gun violence Henry Vilas Zoo Ho Chunk Ho-Chunk Nation Homeless Services Hope Housing Housing Ordinances Immigrant Rights Independent Community Oversight Internships Jacob Blake Jazz In The Park Jeffrey Erlanger John Muir John Nolen Drive Reconstruction Judge Everett Mitchell Juneteenth Kaleem Caire Kenosha Lake Monona Waterfront Lake Weeds Lake Wingra Lakeside Street Land Banking Law Park Leaf Management Leaf Pick-up Light Pollution Listening Session Local Preemption Luna's Groceries Madison Bike Week Madison Fire Department Madison Forward Fund Madison Metro Madison Parks Madison Parks Foundation Madison Public Library Madison Water Utility MaskUpMadison Master Plan Maurer's Urban Market Maurer's Urban Market Mayor Satya McGrath E. Olin Project McGrath Project McGrath Property Group Men's Homeless Shelter Metro Transit Network Redesign MLK Day MMSD MMSD Monona Bay Monroe Street Monroe Street Festival Monroe Street Library Move Madison Forward Movin' Out MPD MPD Nature Neighborhood Grant Program Neighborhood House Neighborhood Indicators Project New Day New Grocery Store Noise Pollution Office Hours Olin Ave Olin Park Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan Parking Restrictions Parks Passenger Rail Paul Wellstone Pedestrian Safety PFAS PFAS PFAS Phosphorous Pick N' Save Plan Commission Plan Commission Planning Framework Police & Fire Commission Police Brutality Policing Property Assessment Property Damage Protests Public Art Public Health Public Hearing Public safety Public Safety Review Commission Racial Disparities Racial Equity Racism Rain Gardens Recycling Recycling User Fee Redistricting Regent Street Reindahl Park Rental Assistance Reparations Resident Input Resource Recovery Charge Restorative Justice Road Salt Romnes Rule Enterprises Safe Streets Madison Salt Routes Salt Wise Sandbags Schools Schools Service Shared Streets Shared Use Paths Sidewalks Snow Emergency Zone Snow Removal Snow Update Social Distancing Social Distancing Solar South Madison South Madison Plan South Park Corridor Southwest Commuter Path Spring cleaning SROs SSM SSM Clinic State Rep. Shelia Stubbs State Street State Street riots State Street riots Stormwater Retention Streatery Street Closings Street Reconstruction Street Repair Streets Sustainability Sustainable Future TFOGS Tiny Homes TOD Overlay Together Town of Madison Traffic Calming Traffic Impacts Traffic Safety Traffic Speed Transit Transit-Oriented Development Transportation Transportation Commission Transportation Demand Management Trash Collection Tree Canopy Tree Pruning Trees Triangle Truax Truman Olson Urban Design Commission Urban Forestry Task Force Urban Triage Vaccination Vaccine Availability Vaccines VFW Redevelopment Viewshed Vilas Vilas Park Vilas Park Drive Vilas Park Master Plan Violence Prevention Vision Zero Volunteer Opportunities Voter Registration Voting Walking Water Conservation Water Quality Waterfront Planning Watershed Studies West High White Militia Vigilantes White Supremacy Wingra Park Wingra Proper Watershed Study Wingra Triangle Wingra Triangle Winter Winter Parking Wonder Bar Yard Waste Zoning Zoning Ordinance

Common Council

District 13

Alder Tag Evers

Alder Tag Evers

Alder Evers’ Blog