The other day I encountered a thoughtful piece of writing by Julio Vincent Gambuto on what might come next, once we do start to "open back up." It is titled "Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting," and it explores how they (you know who they are) will be working untiringly to return us to exactly the same overconsuming, underfulfilled, unsustainable, alienated place we were before everything came to a crashing halt. They will do this by trying to convince us that all this never happened: It was just a glitch! Forget about it! Back to normal!
Gambuto's point is that we are now in a remarkable position to soberly weigh what we really want our own lives, our society, our world, to be like as we begin to move forward again. Many of us (not all of us by any means: some of us really are struggling right now, even more than before) have been given an opportunity to not just slow down, but to stop and reevaluate our blessings, and our true needs in life. What comes next can be a time of positive change as we reach out to others less fortunate than us; work hard to bring about a more people-focused, less power-hungry government (out with the GOP); fight for a healthier environment—and more. There's so much that needs doing, so much distraction, denial, disinformation, and destruction to undo.
It is quite an opportunity. I'd like to be able to say, let's not screw it up. Unfortunately, my hopes aren't high.
Then again, the GOP (including five SCOTUS "justices") did not succeed in their attempt to derail last week's bid by Jill Karofsky for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and I keep seeing prognostications that Texas could turn blue, which might then send other southern states blue, so . . . maybe, just maybe, the tide is already turning. Fingers crossed.
To close, here's Stephen Colbert—because he's wise, because he's funny, and because at the end he gives us a way to help others even now, during this unusual time.
Or, now I see that Trevor Noah is on board with "the great reopening debate," so here's a little more for you to (perhaps) enjoy (with a plug for Feed America at the end, for another giving opportunity):
Enjoy!
*****************
Today's count for Monterey County: 100 confirmed cases of Covid-19; holding steady at 3 deaths.
Stay inside. Stay hopeful. Stay well.
3 comments:
I felt President Obama addressed this in his talk today, too. How we need *good* government. In the first three-quarters of his speech, he threw some serious shade at the current administration. But in the last quarter, he threw down. Finally. It was nice to hear complete sentences coming out of the mouth of a true world leader.
But I will also add that I agree: now is THE time to make changes for the good for our world. May it be so.
May it be so. Amen.
Post a Comment