Discussion about Humanity’s present state through the pandemic
Opinion from the Internet about various aspects of the pandemic:
The sense of solidarity would be enhanced if the inequality the pandemic has highlighted was reduced. Some people have lost their businesses, and their homes, and face destitution, through zero fault of their own. Others in Academia have lost very little.
You asked for an explanation as to why delay a lockdown? It would be a) impossible to enforce at short notice. People are all over the place, and need time to disengage. b) If these type of people were punished (fined) for helping their aging parents in a distant part of the country on the return home, the press would side with the Samaritan. This would weaken lockdown measures as people refuse to comply due to government attitude.
Outside of China, it seems 2 nations have at this moment defeated the virus. Both are Islands New Zealand and Australia. It may be the case that much of the worlds people are engaged in unsustainable employment. If we want them to stop, who will compensate them? There is a class of people who are not affected economically by the pandemic, and if they are perceived to cut the incomes of others without compensation, there may well be social unrest. You are correct in that it has forced us into this situation that in the long term may change our ways, but there are millions of families many in debt, with no way out. They are scared shitless, more of THEIR future than the virus itself.
I fully agree with your first statement. The evolving crisis will “help” in this respect of equality as gradually all non-essential business, trade, all the excessive consumption will cease. So even those who “sit pretty” right now will be like everybody else.
Regarding the “delayed lockdown” I also agree with you, allowing people to carry out absolutely necessary things before the quarantine. But experience shows that this is not what people used the extra time for.
The sharpest example was the recent Vienna terror attack where the perpetrator randomly shot into the crowd gathering in bars, restaurants the night before lockdown. And in other places similarly people used the extra hours for extra “unmissable" selfish pleasures, endangering themselves and others by congregating since the virus doesn’t keep deadlines.
But what can do when we are constantly urged, brainwashed that we have to grab any morsel of pleasure we can for ourselves?!
As you said New Zealand and Australia are protected by the oceans. While New Zealanders in general are congratulating themselves - I live in New Zealand - I wouldn’t be certain that if we had the same exposure as other countries we would have done any better. At the moment hospitals can’t cope with admissions, operations are cancelled, though we have neither Covid, nor influenza, and a single outbreak in Melbourne for example led to a nationwide restrictions, blocking borders between states in Australia.
The situation with the collapsing economy is not in our hands. The excessively overconsuming economy has always been unsustainable, self-defeating. We have been in perpetual crisis for decades, individual, national debt is beyond repair, we pay for debts with even greater debt living on virtual money. Unemployment was rising regardless of the virus, aggregate demand was falling due to debt, robotics, while intolerable inequality, social, environmental problems, threat of large scale wars are constantly increasing.
The collapse is inevitable, unemployment for most of the world is inevitable as what we are doing is not only non-essential, but it is actually harmful! And it is not a Human decision, it is not a President, party, some secret society that pulls that plug, it is Nature’s laws that force us to change! We live in a closed, lawful Natural system. If we don’t know, if we ignore the laws of balance we will suffer, we are already suffering.
So we can’t stop the process but we can plan for the future. This is not a theory but it is our reality right now. Look around the world and you see that we lost our bearings, we are on a ship that is sinking without an engine, without a rudder. Neither leaders, nor experts or the public know where they are, where the problems come from, all our “solutions” make everything only worse.
So what we need to figure out in a wise, mature, conscious way - and especially through mutually responsible, mutually complementing cooperation - how to become adapted to Nature’s laws that sustain balance and homeostasis as without knowing, keeping those laws we will continue to self-destruct. Governments all over the world - preferably through coordinating with each other - should work out how to secure the natural, basic, comfortable necessities for everybody, until we can learn how to rebuild our societies in a more Natural, fair and sustainable manner.
People are scared as they don’t understand what is happening so they see is their previous life disappearing. They need clear, honest, scientific information and a positive, purposeful plan from people they can trust.
And again, not according to our usual, misguided, egocentric, self-justifying and subjective Human ideology, philosophy, not through politically correct dogma, misleading propaganda, coercion - but according to Nature’s template, Nature’s laws we all need to learn and keep!