# Time to Think About a Covid-19 Memorial **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368 "2020-05-24T02:41:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/1 "2020-05-24T02:41:57Z")
Gosh, I hope the world is past the halfway point in this plague. Maybe it is time to start thinking about both national and local Covid-19 memorials. I understand a generous scholarship fund or a national prize for research might be more practical, but I am talking about a real monument. Is this a worthy idea? If so, what form might it take.? Thinking about the United States only, I like the idea of a hundred thousand of something. (Assuming we decide we have lost 100.000 Americans to this cruel disease.) How about 100,000 uniquely colored bricks in the wall of a hospital? How about 100,000 cobbles on the bridge to Arlington? It seems sad & remarkable there is only one memorial to the 1919 epidemic. Or perhaps this is just a silly old-fashioned idea. Your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/2 "2020-05-24T02:47:15Z")
White crosses on the White House lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/3 "2020-05-24T02:47:32Z")
I don’t think the world is past the halfway point in this plague, eh. No big memorials; just better procedures going forward would be a fitting tribute IMO. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/4 "2020-05-24T03:20:29Z")
So the next time you put Republicans in power they can ignore those too? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/5 "2020-05-24T03:23:31Z")
How about universal healthcare, as a memorial? A permanently funded pandemic response program? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/6 "2020-05-24T04:10:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How about universal healthcare, as a memorial? A permanently funded pandemic response program? Expanding on this a little, how about a saner, cleaner, and more resilient society _that won’t be as €\>%#¥ vulnerable next time_. Plus a statue in a park somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-think-about-a-covid-19-memorial/854368/7 "2020-05-24T13:36:19Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > It seems sad & remarkable there is only one memorial to the 1919 epidemic. Or perhaps this is just a silly old-fashioned idea. I don’t know that it’s particularly remarkable; traditionally, we have memorials to people who died in wars, disasters, and other extraordinary events like terrorist attacks, not people who died of natural causes. You can make a case for a pandemic being an epic natural disaster by modern-day standards – and I’m certainly not saying there’s anything wrong with wanting a memorial – but I think to anyone with a 1918 mindset, dying of flu would have been firmly in the “natural causes” category, and epidemic disease in general was not an extraordinary event. Sad, but not the type of thing one builds monuments to commemorate.