Albert Camus and the Ebola Plague

The Ebola virus that has terrorized West Africa and is currently spreading fear in the U.S. has an interesting precedent in a book written long ago by the late French writer, Albert Camus.  This book is called "The Plague" (in English) and is interesting because of its parallel with the current Ebola outbreak.

There is an interesting psychology at work in the book, and it serves as a warning to what may be happening today.  The Camus book is about an epidemic of bubonic plague that afflicted the city of Oran in Algeria more than a half-century ago.

The reactions to the first case of plague that wracked Oran were very similar to what Americans are experiencing today from their government.  The city officials first reaction was to reassure the citizens that everything was under control, and there was no need to be afraid.  Of course, the plague progresses until it decimates the city and imprisons its inhabitants.

There's a great deal more in the book than the tiny bit I've mentioned here.  It's well worth reading, and I would call it one of the quintessential books of all time.  Aside from the grim terror of the disease itself, it is the psychology of the people and the government of Oran that is most interesting.

Hopefully, we'll do a little better than Oran did in the 1950s (I think) but, nonetheless, it's taken the Obama administration and the U.S. medical system far too long to take the Ebola epidemic seriously.  And while the medical establishment, after some grievous mistakes, seems to be rising now to confront the danger, it doesn't help that a certain politician (guess where) wants us to believe that an "Ebola Czar" (a lawyer, to boot) will quiet the fears caused by the administration's weak knee-jerk reaction.

Last Chance: A Novel of Betrayal and Redemption

You can buy "Last Chance" for only $2.99 at the Kindle Store.

It's a big business.  Narcotics, drugs.  For some, it's recreation.  Is it such a big deal if you want to hang around your TV set on a rainy day and smoke a blunt?  No, it's not.  But weed isn't the whole story.  .

Billions of dollars flow out of the U.S. every year and into the hands of people who want to do us in.  Coke, heroin, methampetamine.  Some of the weed is grown in the U.S. and lots of the methamphetamine is made in the U.S., too, but much more of it comes from outside the country.

 You may think that's okay, at the same time you bitch about corruption, about how you're the victim of him or them or the white guys, the black guys, the immigrants, the government, a whole list of oppressors imagined or real.

It's bigger than you think. The important thing is that the billions of  dollars that flow out of the U.S. are enough to impact the economy as a whole.  The dollars are used to buy American institutions, businesses, allegiances, and governments.  U.S dollars are used to buy heavy weapons for terrorist groups in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia,  and in places like Afghanistan.

 I wrote a book about it.  A fiction book.  I can only tell the truth by lying about it in fiction.  The name of the book is "Last Chance."  Take a look.  Click on it. Maybe you don't like the cover.  Maybe you don't like the title.  Never mind, read the book. I think you'll find it interesting.

You need to realize how much and what the billions of dollars sucked out of America is doing to the country.

Last Chance: International Intrigue, Political Corruption & Personal Heartbreak

Last Chance is a sprawling tale of international intrigue, political corruption, and personal heartbreak. From the murder of a street level drug dealer in New York City, “Last Chance” takes you to the heart of a battle between the cocaine cartels of Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia and a desperate American government. 

When Victor Saronna, ex-Army Airborne Ranger, finds himself enmeshed in the narco underworld of crime and drugs, he finds the allure of profit and power too appealing to resist. But when he's forced to kill or be killed, his luck at staying in the game is about to change. Now, he is making a deal with the DEA and their CIA cohorts to stay out of jail – but it may cost him his life.

Sandra Genova, the gutsy and attractive prominent reporter for the New York Inquirer, is offered a chance to interview Saronna – a move engineered by his street-smart lawyer. And when she is offered the opportunity to travel to South America to report on escalating levels of violence at cartel cocaine production facilities, she's shocked to find Victor at the center of a series of targeted assassinations and attacks.

In other words, go to Amazon and buy the Kindle version of my book for only $2.99.  It's fiction, but it's true fiction, if you catch my drift.