Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary

by Timothy Snyder

Solitude is salutary, up to a point. We are not free if we do not know how to be ourselves, by ourselves. Yet too much solitude makes freedom impossible, first for the lonely, and then for everyone else. A solitary rage is part of freedom, but only part. If we have no help from others, our rage no longer protects us but endangers everyone. Once pride becomes resentment, we forget that we need help and claim that only others do. A fury that lashes out blindly is no mark of liberty, but an opportunity for politicians who provide targets for the anger.

Mr. Trump’s unwillingness to test did not mean that we were healthy, only that we were ignorant. It was irresponsible because it transferred accountability for American lives away from himself and our government. As Mr. Trump denied any “fault,” the disease was spreading in our country, unobserved and untreated. His focus on a foreign source of “fault” meant that no one here was to blame. When no one bears responsibility, no one has to do anything.

China does bear responsibility for ignoring the reality of the outbreak. Yet American policy was to repeat China’s mistakes, after China had made them, and for a far longer time. For that only Americans can be blamed.

If you lose your health completely, if you die, even the longing for health is gone. Something similar holds for truth. As we lose the people who produce facts, we are in danger of losing the very idea of truth.

The centralization of traditional media in our country eventually imploded into the black hole of social media, which consumes factuality without producing it.

Nurses are now separated from patients by computers on wheels that roll everywhere with them: their bossy robot taskmasters. When you first see a nurse, she or he will likely have eyes on the screen rather than on you. This has dreadful consequences for your treatment, since you become a checklist rather than a person. If you are having a problem unrelated to what is on the screen, some nurses will have a hard time gathering themselves and paying attention. For example, after my first liver procedure my liver drain was improperly attached. This was a serious problem that was easily reparable. Yet although I tried for four days to draw attention to it, I could not get through. It was not on the lists. And so I had a second liver procedure.