The Many Faces Of COVID19-7

Part 7 of a 7 part series…

7) ‘We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.’ (A quote from Anais Nin as quoted himself from Rabbit Shmuel Ben Nachmani). The danger of COVID19 lies mainly in our fear. The fears have mounted substantially. Fear of Death. Fear of long term sickness. Fear of losing control. Fear of losing freedoms. Fear of not being able to feed a family. Fear of losing relationships. Fear of the world spiraling out of control. And much more. The quote above I think sums these fears up perfectly. All of these fears probably have some validity but those that drive our behavior and our thinking are those that are most prevalent for us. We see this whole situation through the lens of our greatest fear, or through the lenses of our greatest fears. We somehow think that the world ought to behave in such a way as to alleviate our greatest fears. We look for the science that agrees with our perceptions and give credence to that and completely ignore (at the very least) anything that doesn’t fit into our perspective. I don’t think this is a problem, per se, and I simply want to not only acknowledge it and be aware of it but also to try and appreciate the fact that others have greater or lesser fears than I do in various areas of how the COVID19 world is being handled.

The one thing that personally scares me the most is quite simply having people use the situation to gain power and control over others. I think this is the most evil and pernicious. I do wholeheartedly believe this is happening. I believe it was very evident in the election…people fueling fears to gain control over their actions. Again, I think this is evil and yet it happens on a regular basis. I saw a headline this morning: ‘The Virus is Winning.’ That is obviously specifically designed to both feed on and create more fear. It is absurd and wrong in my opinion. And it is a lie (another topic for another time) in that it was not talking about how we have changed the very nature of how we live. What it was talking about is that the virus is taking control of our world as if most of the world is dying. What do we do about it? I have no idea. Perhaps simply stepping back and acknowledging that our personal fears are not the only important fears in our culture is a good starting point.

Life itself, in our modern world, can be dangerous and people die. We can try and keep everyone safe or we can pass the reigns on to individuals and families to do so. It is an age old question nearly as old as our nation itself. That is, who is responsible for an individual’s health and safety? I think everyone agrees that a widespread worldwide pandemic causes us to sit back and deeply consider this question. The problem is always the same, however. Honesty. Nearly everyone has an agenda and not all of that is sinister. An agenda to try and keep everyone safe by giving the ultimate decision as to how we navigate any problem to big government is contrary to what at least half of the people in this nation want. I personally do not feel that safety is the number one issue in life. I believe living is the number one issue…the ability to take personal risks if one wants. Ought we not protect the innocent? Always as much as we are able. That is a huge question, however, as the innocent can be a varied and mixed bag. When a society is shut down and people are not able to work who want to work, then those people are the ‘innocent.’ If our nation is opened up during the pandemic and some people die as a result, then we lose family members who are ‘innocent.’ We have to step back and ask different questions, I believe. How can we look out for as many people as possible and still give businesses and people the freedom to thrive? Not just a few, but all. 

I mentioned it earlier but it is worth saying it again. The most vulnerable ought to be cared for but they have a certain amount of responsibility in that area (for the most part). Anyone who is in danger instinctively will protect themselves (or likewise a parent for a child). This is one of the roles of being a responsible human being. It is basic to want to survive. Secondly, it is our personal responsibility to protect those in our personal communities. But, do we protect the very few by putting at risk the vast majority of people? If we think government is the only avenue for health and safety (from the dangers of everyday life, that is), perhaps that needs to be a consideration. But if we believe that we have the wherewithal to protect those who are close to us, then we ought to leave the government out of the discussion. Will people fall through the cracks? Always. There will be more people falling through the cracks with a government program than otherwise, however, so that is a terrible reason to make choices.

At the end of the day, I believe our country is heading in the wrong direction with the COVID issue. I think our choices are becoming more and more political and less and less connected to truth. We know a great deal more about the disease now than before but it doesn’t seem to be making a huge difference. We are not looking at the whole of the problem and trying to solve it that way. The role of the scientific community has switched, by and large, from opening our eyes to the various possibilities before us to influencing how we are to live. The mere fact that scientists rarely agree is reflective of two things…1) people with agendas cannot possibly agree with the opposition, or 2) the answers are not nearly as clear cut as we are commonly led to believe. In the latter case the people with the power of the media simply pick what they like best and away we go. 

It is time for all of us to take a step back and try to figure out what is true instead of using this time to gain an advantage over others with whom we disagree. Navigating through the mess while trying to access the truth is very powerful. I don’t know if we are capable of such a thing but it certainly is the best way forward. 

I hope you have found this interesting and I appreciate your engagement with me.

Thanks and Blessings!