Mark Randol: Pandemics Through the Ages
Click on picture for link to Mark's Program om YouTube
Our virtual speaker for April 9 was Mark Randol, who has 35 years of military and civil service experience, including an emphasis on intelligence and counterintelligence and a stint as the Director of Counterintelligence Policy with the Department of Homeland Services. Mark addressed the history of major pandemics and their relationship with COVID-19. The Justinian Plague started in 541 A.D. and continued with outbreaks until 750 A.D. This was a bubonic plague that ultimately killed between 30 and 50 million people, ended efforts to reunite the eastern and western Byzantine Empires, and is believed to have started the Dark Ages in Europe. The “Black Death” ravaged Europe from 1347 to 1351 and eventually killed between 75 and 200 million people. Outbreaks of the Black Death occurred from 1351 up to 1904, when it reappeared in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The Black Death is credited with starting the decline of serfdom in Europe, raising the standard of living of survivors, and increasing prejudice against minorities, including Jews and Romas. Europe did not recover its population for over 200 years!
Smallpox probably first surfaced in Egypt but spread throughout the world until a cure was found in the 29th Century. Most notably, Smallpox spread from Europe to the “New World” with the landing of Columbus in 1492. Smallpox probably killed over 20 million Native Americans, approximately 90% of the population! It destroyed complex civilizations and allowed Europeans to colonize and develop the Americas in a way that would not have been possible in its absence. Smallpox may also have affected global climate causing a reduction in Co2 and the Little Ice Age. The Spanish Flu from 1918 to 1919 infected 500 million people and caused 50 million deaths. Mark also addressed polio, the Asian Flu (1957-1958), the Swine Flu (2009-2010), Ebola (2014-2016) and HIV/Aids. HIV started in the U.S. and continues to the present, with no cure. Aids also tested our moral relationship to one another, bringing out often dormant homophobia and a strong reaction from the Gay-Lesbian community.
Mark also spoke about the importance of epidemiology and the effect of politicization of pandemics throughout his talk. As to COVID-19, he mentioned the administration’s initial denial of the threat, the favoritism shown to political loyalists, death threats to Dr. Fauci, and Florida’s refusal to accept cruise ships’ unloading despite the importance the industry to Florida’s economy. Mark reminded us that pandemics often open a mirror into our lives and have long-lasting, sometimes permanent, geo-political and environmental effects.
Many thanks to Mark for providing us with this information and informing us of the history of pandemics.
