THIS CRISIS IS AN AMPLIFIER

Good people will show more of their good in these tough times: more empathy, more generosity, more accountability. Evil people will show more of their evil in these tough times: more narcissism, more irresponsibility, more greed.

Good companies will show more of their good in these tough times: More protection of their employees to the utmost of their abilities, more service to their customers in novel ways, more use of their facilities for common and community benefit. Bad companies will show more of their bad in these tough times: More uncaring for the literal and emotional safety of their employee culture, more disregard for being relevant to their customers unless they are trying to sell them something, more refusal to use their resources to give and give back rather than to always take.

Good government officials will show more of their good in these tough times: More recognition that the first purpose of leadership is to serve your true constituency or your leadership is fundamentally corrupt, more emphasis on the safety of their constituency as the priority, more modeling and messages of hope, truth and appeal to our better angels. Bad government officials will show more of their bad in these tough times: More partisan divide, more inflammatory rhetoric that passes for and distracts from substantive solutions; more concern about their own careers and donors than the welfare of their citizens.

The only question is whether there are more good people than bad people. This was decided long before this current crisis descended upon us. I believe, with my heart and to my soul, that there are a lot more good people, and that they populate communities and organizations that are extraordinarily capable of doing good things in these tough times. 

Otherwise nothing will ever make sense in our world, even when this crisis passes.