Today is my birthday and, like it was five years ago when I posted my first blog, it is also Father’s Day. It is safe to say that Write at Home has not taken the blogosphere by storm, but that was never my goal anyway.  The blog started out with a literary focus, but before long it began to serve other purposes. More than anything, it has given me an outlet to express my thoughts and feelings about what’s going on in the world. Less often, it has served as a platform for highlighting a special event or accomplishment, or recognizing someone who left this world too soon. There don’t seem to be too many people who “follow” Write at Home, but now and then a posting will draw a few comments. The April 19 post of this year, “Pandemic Walk,” generated the most feedback — eight comments, including my responses.

My inaugural blog of June 21, 2015, focused on the different things for which I was grateful.  I’m still grateful for those things, but given the changes that have taken place in the world, this five-year anniversary blog is going to focus on my worries for this country.

Let’s start with the COVID-19 pandemic. When I wrote my first blog about this deadly disease on March 22, 31,000 Americans had come down with it and about 400 had died. Now, as of June 17, the number of cases has climbed to 2.13 million and the death toll stands at nearly 120,00. Terms like “social distance” and “flattening the curve” have become part of the national lexicon. Some states — wisely or unwisely — have begun to lift their restrictions. In Ohio, a phased re-opening of public facilities and retail outlets has begun. Here in Worthington, it’s now possible for me to make an appointment to work out at the community center and to eat at a local restaurant. And when they come over on Saturday, my grandchildren will be able to swing and slide at the neighborhood playground. But this pandemic is far from over, and a news report recently disclosed that some states that have relaxed their restrictions have seen a jump in new COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, the search for a vaccine proceeds at a feverish pace. To date, I don’t know anyone who’s come down with the disease, but it still scares me. It could be anywhere, and it’s clear that until a vaccine is available, it’s not going away.

A couple of weeks ago, a Minneapolis police officer killed an unarmed black man by kneeling on the man’s neck while he lay handcuffed on the pavement, pleading for air.  Three other officers watched the incident from nearby with only one making even a feeble attempt to stop the excessive use of force. More recently in Atlanta, another black man was shot dead after grabbing an officer’s taser gun and running away. Together, these two apparently unjustified police killings of unarmed black men have spawned nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. Unfortunately, the protests have been accompanied by acts of arson and looting in numerous cities, including Columbus. My wife’s law building, which is almost adjacent to the Statehouse, had several windows broken, and nearby retail outlets suffered even worse damage. Meanwhile, cries of “Black Lives Matter” have led to calls for “defunding” police forces across the country or for rigid restrictions on their use of force. The emotions generated have obscured what the word “defunding” means and what would happen if city councils and state legislatures acted upon it.

There has been pushback against the protests and violence. President Trump used police  and National Guard troops to disperse demonstrators from near the White House, while other like-minded politicians have urged using the armed forces to quell the demonstrations.  My feeling about all of this can be summed up this way: As a nation, the United States is becoming less and less functional as common values and common sense are thrown to the wind. The country is turning into an amalgam of angry, alienated groups of people who feel they are being abused, ignored, or threatened by other groups of people who (they believe) are too corrupt and too powerful. Good police are lumped together with bad ones, peaceful protesters are seen as allies of looters and arsonists. Meanwhile, politicians ally themselves with one side or the other, depending on their own not necessarily selfless priorities.

Because the U.S. is becoming so dysfunctional, I feel it’s unwise to give it the full measure of my loyalty. That doesn’t mean I want some natural or man-made calamity to befall it; it has enough calamity already. Nor do I plan to support ISIS or assist any domestic group that seeks to overthrow the government. Rather, it means I choose to give my loyalty elsewhere — to my community, Worthington; to the art and literary programs I support (Thurber House, Ohioana Library, the McConnell Arts Center), to my alma mater, The Ohio State University; and the state of Ohio.

I hope I’m still around five years from now to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of my blog. By then, I hope COVID-19 has been conquered by a vaccine that is available to everyone, and that some degree of national unity has been restored. If either one of these hopes remains unfulfilled, we’ll be in serious trouble, and if both remain unachieved, heaven help us all.