Read on Twitter
I hear that Valencia Slow Streets didn't happen today, due either to not enough volunteers or to the air quality or to both. And it's got me thinking about how while this is small, it's a great example of a big pile of systemic failures coming together.
- First, this project is for some reason entirely dependent on private individuals stepping forward. There are never enough private individuals stepping forward.
Also, if people would respect slow streets and not try to drive through all the pedestrians, as well as be diligent about wearing masks, probably we wouldn't need private individuals at all.
- I can only speak for myself, but I haven't been able to help out because I've been reacting pretty badly to the fires. My asthma is usually under control (thanks to prescription medication that is prohibitively expensive without insurance because of some patent loophole)
Thus I'm probably at no higher covid risk, but if my asthma acts up, I have to both worry about the risk of being around possibly irresponsible people, as well as being able to make it home up several hills if the air turns bad.
- Asthma rates are increasing worldwide. There is a known link between asthma and exposure to air pollution. There is a strong correlation between poverty and asthma, probably for that reason. See my earlier remark about the expensive medication.
Also hundreds of thousands of people die each year from uncontrolled asthma already. We're already creating a planet inhospitable to human life. And while I might have had to cancel volunteering, I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home with my air filter next to me.
Also thinking of how people would say, "why do we care about covid-19 when we don't care about this other thing that kills tons of people?" Well maybe we should care. Why don't we care? Is it because of who it affects? Or is it just that we have gotten used to those deaths?
