ALUMNUS AND BOCCONI PROFESSOR, ALEX HAS BEEN A VISITING PROFESSOR FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS IN DALLAS, A CITY THAT IN THIS EMERGENCY IS DISPLAYING THREE OF ITS CHARACTERISTICS: PRAGMATISM, FRIENDLY CIVICNESS AND HUMANISM

Living the COVID-19 emergency in Dallas is an interesting learning experience about the social fabric of Texas, where I have been working for the last two years. It’s like learning by watching a tragedy by Shakespeare where all the situations are magnified and you can detect the real character of the protagonists. Without any ambition to generalize about the American society what I observed in this community so far can be summed up in three words: pragmatism, friendly civicness, humanism.

First, pragmatism: in Texas people do not have time for making things too complicated, or to dramatize.  You should be straight to the point and facts checking. As a consequence, public decisions – or even University policies - are based on artificial intelligence enabling granular forecast  and specific actions for specific communities. Here we know much in advance when there will be the epidemic peak and how many ventilators are needed so that hospitals can obtain more if needed. At the street level citizens and businesses find practical ways to stop the infection: ponytail hairstyle to avoid face touching, sneeze glasses at the cashier of supermarkets as physical barriers to the virus spread, no biscuits for puppies on the front desk of condos to avoid inappropriate social gatherings!

Second, friendly civicness.  I don’t know if it’s only happening here but Dallasites do not need sanctions to respect social distancing. They respect it because it’s what one has to do to protect yourself and others. And there is social enforcement. If young people are still gathering in parks you might be sure that there will be always someone saying them “6 feet!” to make them aware about the risk they run.  If you are on a sidewalk and someone see you on her way, you might be sure she will cross the street to not approach you. However, self-distancing and social control are always done with a smiling “Howdy!”, a generous “thank you!” or an appreciative “thumbs up!” if you have made the first move. This is Texas, which in a Native American language means ‘friendship ‘. 

Third, humanism: Dallas County has been one of the first Texas county applying the stay-at-home order. However, it has been done without punitive and scolding warnings of not violating rules.  On the contrary, public officials have highlighted their trust in citizens’ responsibility, they have celebrated and thanked the contribution of each individual in flattening the epidemic curve. Medical workers are recognized as warriors and heroes. Even millennials have not been portrayed as dull super-spreaders but they have been praised for using their social consciousness and their technological literacy to help parents or grandparents to overcome the isolation when sick at home. 

Pragmatism, friendly civicness and humanism I have experienced here help a lot when you have to suck it up during emergencies. But despite the coronavirus wouldn’t we live better in communities when decisions are based on facts and data, where citizens are respectful of social norms, and where everyone trusts and celebrates her neighbor as if she were Superman or Wonder Woman?