Our complete focus on the overwhelming coronavirus has masked many other things. There seems to be only one story that is being told worldwide, and with good reason.

The other night my spouse looked up from reading some of this dire news, however, and remarked: “We have not had a mass shooting in weeks!” It seems that not a single school or shopping center has been attacked by someone seeking revenge on society during this pandemic.

Maybe one pandemic has replaced another. Given how much we normalize war, how little we well-off Americans try to help refugees and asylum seekers, and how consistently we sweep each new Parkland or Newtown shooting under the rug, maybe we are finally being forced to admit our common ground.