I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.
Blaise Pascal
There are two ways this could go. We could, as some people have done, double down on denial. Some of those who have dismissed other threats, such as climate breakdown, also seek to downplay the threat of Covid-19. Witness the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, who claims that the coronavirus is nothing more than “a little flu”. The media and opposition politicians who have called for lockdown are, apparently, part of a conspiracy against him.
Or this could be the moment when we begin to see ourselves, once more, as governed by biology and physics, and dependent on a habitable planet. Never again should we listen to the liars and the deniers. Never again should we allow a comforting falsehood to trounce a painful truth. No longer can we afford to be dominated by those who put money ahead of life. This coronavirus reminds us that we belong to the material world.
George Monbiot
I am looking to bring meaning out of this time in my life - your blog helps to show the way.
ReplyDeleteSadly, we shall have to overhaul our political systems as well, given how vulnerable we all are to the choices of a few deniers in power.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the material world...
ReplyDeleteBeautifully sad. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMother nature always wins in the end.
ReplyDeleteI hope this is a time of awakening, that we as humans really do begin to see ourselves as part of the material world.
ReplyDeleteand ironically it is those of us who live close to the material world (as in the physicality of the planet, not as in Material Girl), those of us with the least resources to stay safe and healthy, those of us who put truth and life before money, will be the ones mostly to succumb. it won't be the first time we have had to beat down the rich and take back control but will we be able to do it this time?
ReplyDeleteI suspect political persuasion largely defines how people see this crisis. (As the Monbiot quotation illustrates.) But I think even some liberally-minded people don't truly understand how severe and terrifying it is. I count myself among them, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI don't get Pascal. Isn't remaining silent during troublous times supposed to allow in tyrants?
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