History By Sarah Becker Copyright ©2020 Sarah Becker Ben Franklin & COVID-19 “We may be done with COVID-19, but COVID-19 is not done with us,” NIH Director Francis Collins noted not long ago. The rapidly transmitting coronavirus has taken hold and the number of cases, of deaths per capita endures. “COVID-19 is extraordinarily widespread,” the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Deborah Birx said in early August. “Particularly asymptomatic spread in people under 30.” The number of American children infected as of August 13: 338,000. America, by all measures, has yet to successfully slow COVID-19’s spread. California’s caseload now exceeds New York’s. No effective vaccine exists; vaccine hesitancy has yet to be mulled and too many refuse to regularly wear protective face masks. Or maintain 6’ of social distance. How in this COVID-19 era is success defined? Today’s success literature draws heavily on history. “Benjamin Franklin [1706-1790] was a close observer of human conduct, and recognized at an early age that certain attitudes and behaviors are more conducive to success and happiness than others,” author Steven Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. “Much of the success literature of the past 50 years…was filled with social image consciousness and quick fixes—with social band-aids and aspirin that addressed acute problems…but left the underlying chronic problems untouched to fester and resurface again.” “Almost all of the success literature in the first 150 years…focused on what could be called the Character Ethic—things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty and the Golden Rule,” Covey explained. “Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is representative of that literature.” “The Character Ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success…as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character,” Covey continued. “But…