Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
Coronavirus
Hopalong:
Preach!
--- Quote ---I wish we could have a revolution where people bartered in the arts, literature, community, other things beyond filling boredom with shopping for a prize within racks and racks of junk.
--- End quote ---
Sign me up. Me too.
Hops
Twoapenny:
--- Quote from: Garbanzo on June 18, 2020, 03:42:49 PM ---So I heard today was the first day of a local women's low-end retailer opening up. Neighbor told me they saw a LONG line of women in queue to get in.
Personally I wish we could have a revolution where people bartered in the arts, literature, community, other things beyond filling boredom with shopping for a prize within racks and racks of junk.
I can only do my best to live my life and promote what I can I guess, i don't even do a great job of promoting culture in my own small bubble. I mean I do a little bit, not sure that everybody appreciates it. I will not give up in this endeavor!
--- End quote ---
Gosh I like the sound of that, G. There are odd little things here that really make me smile, like old phoneboxes that have been turned into little community libraries (you just grab any book you fancy and return when you've finished reading it), and racks of coats in the library that you can just help yourself to if you're cold. I find shopping pretty unfulfilling. I do like being able to buy things that are hand made or fair trade or something like that as a little reminder of a nice day out maybe but the thought of queuing up to buy clothes or something just doesn't interest me. I love the idea of bartering or sharing time.
Twoapenny:
We're in a weird kind of parallel universe here. The alert level has been dropped, despite the fact we've not got to the stage you're supposed to be at to drop the alert level. It's definitely a business decision rather than a health based one.
Masks are advised but only mandated on public transport. I do not feel comfortable taking son to public places where others aren't wearing a mask. It seems to have been well established now that wearing masks is more about protecting others than protecting yourself so son wearing a mask isn't going to do much for him if others aren't so we'll still be staying in as much as possible.
The student nurses who dropped everything they were doing to join the Covid fight have now been told they won't have their contracts honoured because they're no longer needed. People are horrified and I've no idea why; this government treats anyone who isn't super rich with absolute contempt and I just don't understand why people don't see that. There's also no evidence that herd immunity works as there's no evidence yet that having this once stops people having it again, yet that's the approach we're taking here.
So we're in this weird kind of limbo where things are opening up but without sufficient measures in place to really try to get on top of this which means life for millions of us will continue indoors, without support (even the most vulnerable who were ordered to stay in and had food parcels delivered are having their support withdrawn and will have to fend for themselves if they don't have friends or neighbours to help out). It's a very, very bizarre experience.
Hopalong:
It sounds very Hunger Games-ish in a way, and I've occasionally worried about complete social breakdown. I am already sure we are heading for a new Great Depression, and the generations since then have become less and less able to focus together.
I also think those pessimistic thoughts may not be a crystal ball, but just may reflect the cumulative effect of so many weeks alone here, most days, and how narrow my routine is (even though I do get to go to M's).
Cases continue to climb here (three times what they were a few weeks ago), but this town is slow to reopen. Perhaps because it's a highly educated area, perhaps because there's a lot of wealth (and a small middle class and poor working people who have to live an hour+ away from town and its resources, and must drive in to earn their minimum wage). There are far fewer cases in town than in the surrounding rural areas where most service workers come from.
Suffering here will be less than in big cities or areas of mass unemployment; the university is a behemoth and the largest economic contributor to the area. But it's here already and will increase. I notice that in this privileged city, most of the grief about small business suffering is focused on restaurants. I will also miss many that won't recover, but think it's ironic that the privilege of dining out is one reason so much emphasis is on our famous foodie scene. I would like to know more about the other small businesses that involve necessary things in small scale and already battle big box stores...those need more protection from the lucky, imo.
hugs
Hops
Twoapenny:
Yes it's hard to know how things are going to go after this. At the beginning I was hopeful that it would be a huge reset for the environment, for putting people before profit, spending time together and so on. But that only seemed to last a couple of weeks (here, anyway) and since then it seems to be two camps; those who are sacrificing a lot and those who are doing what they like and don't seem to care about anyone else. The media's very manipulative; lots more focus on statues than on Covid deaths; someone stabbed three people at the weekend and it's been all over the news for days as a terrorist attack. It's terribly sad but over a hundred people died of covid the same day and that seems to have become acceptable now. The racism is like nothing I've seen before; presumably because we didn't have the internet before so I was more protected from it. But people post the racist abuse they receive on Twitter and it's vile; I genuinely had no idea that people were still using words like 'coon' and 'nigger'. Truly disgusting.
So the aftermath worries me. We've an awful government and alternative options aren't terribly encouraging. Brexit is steaming ahead and that's going to destroy us. The EU is far from perfect but we have good trade deals in place and freedom of movement is an amazing opportunity for young people, in particular. People are leaving in their droves and I don't blame them; I'd be off if I got the chance. But we can all only do what we can do, right? Just try our best to keep healthy and well and then just hope, I suppose.
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