If Laughter Is The Best Medicine, We Are Doomed
March 29, 2020
Via Reddit
Colder weather today has me housebound, so I let my fingers do the walking.
They moseyed on over to a conspiracy forum that I sometimes look at when I'm short of whack new ideas.
I was thinking someone there might be bouncing around some totally overblown theory that the coronavirus is actually a DARPA-engineered, organic malware that we caught from using Instagram or something, I dunno... bizarre, you know what I mean? Something to make the whole pandemic thing seem so OTT as to be ridiculous again.
To my surprise, everyone on the site seemed to have a more pragmatic take on The Plague than the mainstream of the Internet does, right now. Like, wow. How often does that happen? Consensus there seemed to be that the virus was being blown out of proportion and we should be more (or even just equally) concerned about the government's intervention in our lives.
So for once, the conspiracy theorists were not on board with a wave of paranoia that was drowning literally the rest of the online world. How interesting these times truly are! *
They moseyed on over to a conspiracy forum that I sometimes look at when I'm short of whack new ideas.
I was thinking someone there might be bouncing around some totally overblown theory that the coronavirus is actually a DARPA-engineered, organic malware that we caught from using Instagram or something, I dunno... bizarre, you know what I mean? Something to make the whole pandemic thing seem so OTT as to be ridiculous again.
To my surprise, everyone on the site seemed to have a more pragmatic take on The Plague than the mainstream of the Internet does, right now. Like, wow. How often does that happen? Consensus there seemed to be that the virus was being blown out of proportion and we should be more (or even just equally) concerned about the government's intervention in our lives.
So for once, the conspiracy theorists were not on board with a wave of paranoia that was drowning literally the rest of the online world. How interesting these times truly are! *
Spotted some socially-distanced #ducks on the river today...#SocialDistanceDuckParty pic.twitter.com/BAhQLhqrBg— Unscene Berlin (@UnsceneBerlin) March 28, 2020
I've decided this week that I'm not going to stop being myself, which is: someone who laughs in the face of pandemics, fascist governments, tax returns (kidding, taxes aren't funny at all). My first political punk patch said 'Giggle At The State' for a good reason. It's who I am.
The author of this highly serious astrology site that I visit from time to time to, er, get a new perspective on geopolitics (or something) speaks for me when she writes, "Everyone chooses how they want to express themselves, and I usually choose levity. It's healing and there is a vast amount of media covering the doom end of the spectrum."
I would go a bit further and say that we can't always choose what feelings we express, much less have. They're all valid; all reflect one angle of "the truth" in the current state of affairs. But increasingly, people are being forced to choose an expression that fits with whatever angle of the debate is making the most headlines, or trending. That is all that our platforms choose to make room for: one angle at a time. It doesn't mean that every debate is limited to that angle and nothing more.
The tiny outlet that the MSM offers for our concerns is currently being monopolised by the lowest common denominator sentiment, and that's the mood of concern. This is the mood which is the most productive, seeing as how it focusses our minds on keeping society's gears spinning as smoothly as possible. (That way "They" don't have to invest the effort themselves, right?)
So now, some overly-simplistic folks are thinking concern is the only angle of the pandemic that is 'worthwhile' since it's all that our Cyclopean media gives room to. One mood, idea, or goal at a time. And one angle is never going to be enough for 6 billion people, okay, but the thing is, we keep on trying to fit ourselves into this limited scope. To be tiny, one dimensional objects which can fit into the single, one dimensional space "They" have given to us to exist in.
So yeah, no, I'm not gonna harangue my followers to hide indoors 24/7 when the governments should be doing the hiding - all of the governments, the world over - from us.
It was the G20's collective phobia of boring old words such as 'investment in infrastructure' that got us into this mess, in the first place. And also, words like, 'conservation of species' or 'workplace safety' or 'ecological sustainability' or 'preventative healthcare'. Not to mention, that old corporate standby 'risk management'.
We should try to slow the spread of this virus, but more of our collective indignation about the inconvenience of it all needs to be directed toward the politicians who ignored the looming issue of pandemics for years, and then forced this lockdown situation on us, because it's the only possible solution that would work at such short notice.
Doing this might control a future outbreak more effectively than controlling every individual who wants to go outside, does. Wanting a bit of sun after a long winter without Vitamin D is ok. But ignoring the imminent threat of a pandemic for decades, as our governments have done, is not.
Don’t forget to enjoy the sunshine #StayAtHome #Covid_19australia #auspol pic.twitter.com/68HBnEosQx— Carol (@ThePioneerTree) March 31, 2020
This system's failed everyone, not just the guy who shouts #StayAtHome the loudest. This whole containment situation is not a good solution just because it's the only solution we are left with; let's not pretend to be okay with it. We will only encourage "Them" if we do.
Shit, this is supposed to be a diary but now I've gone and lapsed into pronouncement mode again. Sorry. Let me find the button...
Pronouncement Mode: Off
There we go.
March 31, 2020
By the way, this doesn't mean that I'm taking the CV19 precautions lightly. I'm just not giving into the populist dictum to be grimly, self flagellatingly worried 110% of the time.
Personally, I think you can be both sincerely concerned about and make fun of the absurdity of a situation at the same time (just ask anyone in my family... the ones who weren't beaten by angry mobs for taking the piss, that is). Both reactions are a sane response to an OTT situation. Both are moderating the flow of information in a way that you alone can digest it.
Humans are not 1 dimensional creatures. We can handle more than one thought, goal, or emotion at a time. A species that invented agriculture, astronomy, philosophy, computers, Bitcoins and stand up comedy can balance kids and a career, or a social life and a job as a physicist on the Large Hadron Collider (or maybe even all four things) at once. Multitasking is a human phenotype.
By the same token, I know someone can implore others to stay at home as much as they can, while still keeping an eye on their freedoms. But the dangerous thing about this whole #StayTheFuckHome hashtag - or even the endless repetition of #StayAtHome hashtag - is that it sets a harassing, paternalistic tone that a LOT of authoritarian trolls will be latching onto, in the coming months. It's going to be their rallying cry in any situation that calls for a mass mobilisation. I guarantee it.
Humans are not 1 dimensional creatures. We can handle more than one thought, goal, or emotion at a time. A species that invented agriculture, astronomy, philosophy, computers, Bitcoins and stand up comedy can balance kids and a career, or a social life and a job as a physicist on the Large Hadron Collider (or maybe even all four things) at once. Multitasking is a human phenotype.
By the same token, I know someone can implore others to stay at home as much as they can, while still keeping an eye on their freedoms. But the dangerous thing about this whole #StayTheFuckHome hashtag - or even the endless repetition of #StayAtHome hashtag - is that it sets a harassing, paternalistic tone that a LOT of authoritarian trolls will be latching onto, in the coming months. It's going to be their rallying cry in any situation that calls for a mass mobilisation. I guarantee it.
Maybe we should all just agree to let people retain their emotional and personal sovereignty, whatever happens? As it is, people are already trapped inside and being told how to do everything except breathe. What tone we decide to take... what constitutes necessary movements, for our bodies and our minds, should be our own bloody business.
(Damn it, Pronouncement Mode came back on. I can't seem to find the 'off' button for it anymore).
(Damn it, Pronouncement Mode came back on. I can't seem to find the 'off' button for it anymore).
If truth is the first casualty of war then humour and self determination have been the first casualties of this lockdown. And the right to be silly is one I refuse to live without. I will fight for it mirthlessly, single mindedly, to my unwaveringly grim (or 110% worried) death.
I am serious!
/s
/s
— mixmaster morris (@nubient) April 1, 2020
* The UN and Noam Chomsky seemed to agree with them, too.
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