If the visceral responses dissipate a bit - at least some being apparently necessary in the near-term, given who we all are - the 'opportunity' part might surface.

As Miss Manners said in today's paper, Don't wait for crisis to show compassion Then side-bar, Notice what a comfort it is to live among considerate people, and resolve to stay that way.

Your POV need not be expressed (or taken) naively either.. Anyone who observes the predominant mindset since WW-II, that mindset which invented the term cold war to describe the not-peace conditions which prevailed until quite recently: can look back and notice.. what two generations! have missed, re the possibilities of an authentic life here, and everywhere else.

I tend towards the idea that, our mindless entertainments and our obsession with (limitless) 'personal wealth' - has derived predominantly from this sense of, futility (?)
The poverty of most mercantile activities, that of inducing "ceaseless consumption of products", has been no adequate substitute for the joys of cooperation (not mere competition) and of pursuits which teach as much as these entertain (not merely distract with repetitive shallow plots about wealth/power and betrayal).

There are lots of stereotypes about 'Muricans' in the world; this may be the chance to correct a number of those - by right actions and restraint. It's an opportunity if we only see that it is. (Amidst the attempts to defend, to outguess the depth of depravity of the troglodytes du jour - but not echo the same kinds of acts)



A.