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We are not “culturally” ready for Covid

Definition: Culture: the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts

Let’s be honest

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Photo by Juan Rumimpunu on Unsplash

It hit us like a truck and we were looking in the other direction. The direction of selfishness. 

On a global scale 35m infected and 1m deaths. Yes, from the new Covid-19 disease which has no cure. But it’s not the complete story. In some regions in the world it is being “managed” better than others. My focus where things are “just not right” is in Europe and I will focus on the UK, simply because it’s where I live and can see it firsthand. I write this before the second potential “national lockdown”. 

We are not culturally ready for Covid. Look around you. 

What do I mean? Well, the response on many levels is to maintain our way of life whether it be playing cricket and going to the pub as espoused by the prime minister or getting children back to school regardless because they suffer much less than adults. 

We are in a pandemic but do you really have confidence the government has done its best? Does a PPE (not the medical equipment but the degree) — Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree, that course that is embedded into the political system in the UK really make our politicians ready for true public service? 

How to manage a fish tank

Photo by Wexor Tmg on Unsplash

The Government’s actions early on in the pandemic astounded millions. 

It’s clear the image above is not a fish tank yet the government set about on a different path looking at a different type of species other than its citizens.

Why not just close the airports? Close the schools? Have the beast of all lockdowns to at least really see the true effects of what it will do. 

We had a wishy-washy response from the “top” and this along with a culture of selfishness that even surprised me given I’ve grown up here.

I hear more about the economy and making sure the hospitality sector remains open rather than a new comprehensive programme of health across the nation and an education programme that looks to the future where our way of life could possibly be different and our education to match this, at least for the sake of the younger generation.

How does the new way of life look? How do you communicate to the population that we have to have a “new way of life” and not the normal?

A future state

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Is this is really pinnacle? A great wealth divide, poverty, outdated education systems, job insecurity and this in the supposedly 5th largest economy in the world. Why are we so scared to change? 

I mean collectively change because at the level of the powers that be they will not contemplate thinking differently as we are intertwined with the global economy and like ants the country is doing “what everybody else is doing”

We won WWII right?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This is what really baffles me. This is a country that prides itself on winning WWII and weekly, if not daily we are reminded of some aspect of the war. It’s in the lifetime where people have parents, grandparents and great grandparents who fought and died in the war. 

But during this time there was also rationing. The war had an impact on society as does Covid. Can we compare them? Food has not been rationed, yet we behaved like toilet paper would cease to exist. The selflessness of the nation during WWII is lauded all the time. So, what has happened to the society and culture of the British?

Get your degree in the bedroom

We are not far off this but what does it tell us? 

Young people are going to University only to self-isolate and do lectures online, so why go? Well, there is a great learning in going through this in 2020. 

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Photo by nrd on Unsplash

It may actually redefine what studying for a degree means and also what university life will be like. I don’t think we quite know how things will work out but I believe we should be looking ahead to something new and exciting

Do you find a radical new educational system exciting? Does it put the fear into you at the thought of the school system changing? 

Social fragments

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Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash

I listened to story of a young adult living alone who had only spoken to one person in four months. This alone tells you something is pretty messed up in our society and Covid has only exploited this. 

The spotlight needs to be turned back to the community and support needed for this fragmented society.

There needs to be some sort of normality between people, not in terms of what they do but in terms of closeness of spirit.

Ants are smarter than humans

Photo by MD_JERRY on Unsplash

They are. It’s a fact. 

They live and work for the greater good of the colony. If they get lost they seek out their purpose and connect back with the tribe for the greater good. We have evolved with a selfishness unparalleled across any other living species and this quite frankly makes us odd and unintelligent. 

From the Queen ant to the worker ant and the creation of their habitats (tunnels) it is clear what needs to happen and they have survived and thrived. What about us? We have the ability to disrupt and destroy an ants colony but is that really intelligence?

As I continue this journey in 2020 I am becoming less confident on the potential of humanity but also more confident in some ways as I look to the less wealthy nations to show the way forward. This also goes to highlight that maybe having all the resources and finance available will not be the way to win against Covid. 

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