
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Friends;<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This column appeared in the latest edition of Broadview magazine (online).</div><div class="">It raises important questions about justice.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Allan</div><div class=""><header class="classic-post-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px var(--site-padding) 0px var(--site-padding); height: auto; overflow: visible; font-family: 'Gotham SSm A', 'Gotham SSm B', sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="classic-post-header__inner" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; width: 1077px; max-width: 1390px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="post-details" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 25px; margin-left: calc(25px + (((100% - 275px) / 12) * 2)); border-left-width: 0.1rem; border-left-style: solid; padding-bottom: 4.8rem; width: calc(200px + (((100% - 275px) / 12) * 8)); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><p class="post-details__dek" itemprop="description" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1rem 0px 0px; line-height: 1.3; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font size="4" class="">We also have to hold those who perpetuated this tragedy accountable</font></p><div class="post-details__meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 2rem; line-height: 1.33; color: var(--color--black-55, rgb(0, 255, 0)); font-weight: 700; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font size="4" class=""><address itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">By <a href="https://broadview.org/author/michael-sholars/" itemprop="url" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: inherit; display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span itemprop="name" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">Mike Sholars</span></a></address> | <time datetime="2020-06-16" itemprop="datePublished" content="2020-06-16" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">June 16, 2020</time></font></div></div></div></header><main class="classic-post-main" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px var(--site-padding) 0px var(--site-padding); height: auto; overflow: visible; font-family: 'Gotham SSm A', 'Gotham SSm B', sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="classic-post-main__inner" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; width: 1077px; max-width: 1390px; display: flex; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><aside class="article-share article-share--classic-editor" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex: 0 0 auto; -webkit-box-pack: center; justify-content: center; padding: 0px 0px 90px; position: -webkit-sticky; top: calc(var(--site-header-height) + 3rem); -webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-box-direction: normal; flex-direction: column; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center; align-self: flex-start; width: calc(25px + (((100% - 275px) / 12) * 2)); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><h1 class="article-share__hed" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 32px; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 2; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font size="4" class="">SHARE</font></h1><a class="article-share__link" target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbroadview.org%2Fmister-rogers-covid-19%2F" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: inherit; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center; -webkit-box-pack: justify; justify-content: space-between; display: flex; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="button" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; border: 0.1rem solid var(--color--black,#0f0); border-top-left-radius: 50%; border-top-right-radius: 50%; border-bottom-right-radius: 50%; border-bottom-left-radius: 50%; width: 4.4rem; height: 4.4rem; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><svg width="20" height="20" fill="#000" class=""><font size="4" class=""><path d="M11.14 20v-9.123h3.243l.486-3.555h-3.73v-2.27c0-1.03.304-1.731 1.867-1.731L15 3.32V.14A28.246 28.246 0 0 0 12.094 0C9.22 0 7.251 1.657 7.251 4.7v2.622H4v3.555h3.251V20h3.889z"></path></font></svg></div></a><a class="article-share__link" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbroadview.org%2Fmister-rogers-covid-19%2F&text=%E2%80%98Look%20for%20the%20helpers%E2%80%99%20in%20this%20pandemic%20%E2%80%94%20then%20keep%20looking" style="box-sizing: border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broadview.org/covid-19-earth-renewal/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">COVID-19 gives Mother Earth a chance to heal — if we let her</a></font></em></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">I’m not the only adult to grapple with this universal adage about compassion and the goodness that can be found in humanity if you look hard enough; others before me have argued that we </span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/10/look-for-the-helpers-mr-rogers-is-bad-for-adults/574210/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">cannot hold onto</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">platitudes for children as adults, or that our true purpose is to </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/health/parenting-look-for-the-helpers-wellness/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">become the helpers</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> ourselves.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Right now, our obligation is not just to ourselves, but to the future; to the history of this moment that is already being reframed and rewritten as we speak. We should look for the helpers, but we have an obligation to remember the ones who opposed them, too.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">While COVID-19 is the result of a chain of events that occurs constantly in nature, it’s an outright lie to say that everything that has happened so far, and that will happen going forward, could not have been different. This is a human tragedy perpetuated by human goals, human greed and human individuals. And if we allow their actions to become absorbed into the amorphous blob of hindsight, then they will escape justice in every sense of the word. Tattoo their names and their actions in your brain, otherwise they’ll only do it again next time. And if they have their way, there </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">will </i><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">be a next time.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">So when a provincial government </span><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6988215/alberta-government-sonya-savage-pipeline-protest-covid-podcast/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">declares its intentions</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> to proceed with environmentally-hazardous projects during a pandemic because no one will be around to protest them? Remember that.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">When long-term care facilities (over </span><a href="https://www.oltca.com/oltca/OLTCA/Public/LongTermCare/FactsFigures.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">half of which</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> are privately-owned) become incubators for a plague after chronic neglect and mismanagement, to the </span><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-military-ltc-report-1.5585131" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">point of military intervention</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">? Remember that.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">When our leaders prioritize </span><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cases-high-testing-low-as-canada-reopens-1.5578973" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">commerce over safety</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">, fail to provide adequate support in either category, and </span><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6980370/john-tory-trinity-bellwoods/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">disregard</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> what </span><a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-premier-explains-why-he-visited-his-cottage-despite-telling-people-to-stay-home-1.4930589" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">few protections</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> they have asked the rest of us to follow? Remember that. </span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">The people who have discovered that their sense of empathy cannot extend to wearing a mask; the ghouls who call workers </span><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/kevin-hasset-economy-human-capital-stock_n_5ecb395fc5b61967c333b309" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">“human capital stock”</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> while urging them to die for profit; the fact that a single man is going to become the richest human in history while his workers </span><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/14/21259474/amazon-warehouse-worker-death-indiana" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">die on the job</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""> and his </span><a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ayvwb/local-news-stations-run-propaganda-segments-scripted-and-produced-by-amazon" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">propaganda crowds out legitimate news</span></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">; remember them all.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Look for the helpers, celebrate them, and help in any way you can. But save a place for those who looked at a crisis and found an opportunity to profit. Remember the ones who hurt the helpers. </font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 36px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class=""><font size="4" class="">And never let them forget. History only repeats itself if we let it.</font></span></p></div></div></div></main></div></body></html>