The Nike sermon

“Nothing can stop what we can do together” is the message of Nike’s jaw dropping new ad.  It’s a tour de force of technological editing.  Magnificent isn’t a stretch.  But… I am, how can I put it exactly?  … blown away by the depth of meaning that this ad conveys.

What am I talking about?  Follow along.

Sport, particularly team sport, is a metaphor for human existence.

 We do not come into this world alone.  We do not develop who we are alone.  In fact, we are totally dependent on others for a good portion of our childhood, a truth supported not only by experience but also the volumes of research that tells us that 40% plus of our brains are developed during the first four years of life.  By the age of 6, humans have 95% of their adult brain. Not only are we speaking of the number of neurons and synapses, but also the programming of our interface with the world.

 A family creates much of who we are.  A nurturing family that supports both individual strengths and weaknesses and sets limits for its members produces compassionate, participatory, collegial adults.  Perfect adults who never allow ego or anger or other negatives to interfere with their lives?  No, but adults armed with survival skills, among which is the sense that we are not in this alone.   The family is the paradigm for the reality that we, as individuals, are part of the whole, part of the give and take of many communities.  There is the unspoken but acknowledged idea of an “Us.”

That whole, made up of the communities in which we live, succeeds because of the ability to mediate among the geniuses of its members and the rights of the whole. It caters to the needs of the individual – the need to be heard, to excel, to fall and get up again, to need help – while maintaining the rights of the rest of the members of the group.

Walking into this global pandemic with an unknown virus wreaking havoc all over the planet, this dichotomy of the individual vs. the whole comes screaming to the fore of our consciousness.

Countries that have been able to get the populace to pause, to stay home, to follow good community health practices such as wearing masks have come out of this first phase faster, with less economic disruption and mortality.   Those that have not been able to do this, where the populace contains elements that refuse to see themselves as being responsible for others, have fared less well.  The hospitalization and death counts in these countries are far greater.  The price for catering to the individual who refuses to follow the tried-and-true admonitions of public health experts is death and economic failure.  Waving the banners of hoax and/or “rights,” their disdain for science affects the society as a whole that sees the virus explode over and over.

I renewed my driver’s license online this week.  It was a pain.  I had to drive to Skaneateles and have an eye test, ($9.99) at a pharmacy because all of the DMV offices are shuttered for license renewal.  But I did it because I know that the driver’s license assures me that there is some kind of standard of knowledge that drivers have to demonstrate in order to operate a multi-thousand-pound vehicle on the same highways on which I drive.

I also stop at stop signs and red lights for much the same reason. Some call it enlightened self-interest.

Of course, I could ignore these rules. But I have learned that I am a part of something larger than my ego.  I have signed, virtually signed, a social contract which allows me to live peaceably and safely with the egos of others.

Which basically says that I will modify my tendencies to think of the world as revolving around me to include the idea that my rights are limited by the rights of others.

Until the vaccine is proved effective and safe, our only weapons are the pedestrian, the very ordinary, unspectacular directions: wear masks, social distance and wash your hands.

So, I wear a mask when I am less than six feet from other people, to protect them from me.  I stay away from crowded situations. I wash my hands for 20 seconds, disinfect entries and exits and am careful about any interpersonal interactions.  I do this because experts who have no financial or political skin in the game, who do know something about this unknown virus, have told us that these actions will slow its spread.  I do these things because I don’t want to infect or be infected.  This is not a political position, but a patriotic stance.  I value the lives of my fellow citizens above my personal hubris.  I’m also kind of attached to my own life.

As a writer, my weapons of choice are words.

What word can I pull out of the Thesaurus that will adequately capture the importance of following the “rules” that will satisfy the egos of those who need to ignore the few simple tasks that will protect all of us. Instead of muttering a selection of four-letter epithets as I watch some my fellow citizens ignore the steps that will keep me and others safe, here is another four-letter word that might work:   LOVE.

Or as the Nike ad states, “Nothing can stop what we can do together.”