I wouldn’t want you to think that I like the lockdown, but I am very aware that it has not hit me badly. I have a pension, a huge garden, lovely neighbours and, best of all, my fellow prisoner is the most wonderful kind, loving and funny man you could meet. Sure, I have concerns for vulnerable family members we can’t support as normal, but they all seem surprisingly able to manage in spite of their disabilities – maybe they don’t need us as much as we thought they did?
On long-haul flights, I used to panic when the doors closed at the thought of being trapped for thirteen hours. After a while I realised what a gift those hours were – no phone calls, no visitors, no demands. No meals to make, no need to decide when to eat. Just time to read, doze, reflect...and make plans. The current restrictions have been a bit like that for me. A calm space, no calendar pressures, no personal or work problems to solve. Time to reflect and think about what really matters and what - if anything I can do about it.
I don’t know if we are getting it right and I certainly don’t trust our current leaders to make disinterested decisions. The cure may be worse than the disease. It’s all so uncertain. What I can’t subscribe to is the notion that this is some sort of conspiracy: to keep the working class docile; to save money by culling the elderly; to persecute religion by closing churches; to take away our personal freedom. It's more organised chaos than organised repression, although the virus creates a space where that too can flourish. I don't doubt that in the aftermath the shock doctrine will apply. The main issue that has galvanised me in the last two months is therefore how to prepare and resist the massive grab of powers which may follow the virus, and which indeed has already begun It’s for this reason I have volunteered with the Everything must Change movement. As a volunteer ‘sharer’ my first task was to help flood social media with the message, my second to recruit others.
If your interests are the environment, an economy that works for everyone, public ownership of transport and housing, maybe take a wee look and see if you can help?
#EverythingMustChange
I'm having current difficulties with approving comments, so please don't be offended if yours does not appear.
On long-haul flights, I used to panic when the doors closed at the thought of being trapped for thirteen hours. After a while I realised what a gift those hours were – no phone calls, no visitors, no demands. No meals to make, no need to decide when to eat. Just time to read, doze, reflect...and make plans. The current restrictions have been a bit like that for me. A calm space, no calendar pressures, no personal or work problems to solve. Time to reflect and think about what really matters and what - if anything I can do about it.
I don’t know if we are getting it right and I certainly don’t trust our current leaders to make disinterested decisions. The cure may be worse than the disease. It’s all so uncertain. What I can’t subscribe to is the notion that this is some sort of conspiracy: to keep the working class docile; to save money by culling the elderly; to persecute religion by closing churches; to take away our personal freedom. It's more organised chaos than organised repression, although the virus creates a space where that too can flourish. I don't doubt that in the aftermath the shock doctrine will apply. The main issue that has galvanised me in the last two months is therefore how to prepare and resist the massive grab of powers which may follow the virus, and which indeed has already begun It’s for this reason I have volunteered with the Everything must Change movement. As a volunteer ‘sharer’ my first task was to help flood social media with the message, my second to recruit others.
If your interests are the environment, an economy that works for everyone, public ownership of transport and housing, maybe take a wee look and see if you can help?
#EverythingMustChange
I'm having current difficulties with approving comments, so please don't be offended if yours does not appear.