Here in the Great White North (Canada) It was 20 degrees in Ontario yesterday. That is summer weather in early November! And here in British Columbia, we had summer weather until November 1st, too...plus 4 months of drought, in a temperate rain forest zone. I despair. Deeply. I finally caved and started to take mild anti depressants 4 years ago, when we were choking with smoke from forest fires all around us, for the third year in a row.
Up until the last couple of decades, when the worst of global warming was hitting more equatorial regions, a lack of concern on the part of Northerners might have been passed off as a failure of imagination--a failure to imagine drought, for example, would ever effect them, long term.
The wealthy class, who control political and corporate environments have provided a cocooning effect on wealthy shareholders. They can move from one impacted area to another. They can afford the costly food that crop failures assure. And they can be relied upon to do the greedy rather than the right thing, which dovetails perfectly with the feelings of middle class hopelessness about climate and the feelings of outright hostility to the reality that some in the working class feel. They are so beset with existential problems of all kinds, its easy for Big Oil to propagandize them.
I hope you don't have me/cfs too. It's a tough one. Fortunately, I have never had worse than a moderate case, so am not entirely bedbound. That's like a slow death. And if there is physical pain on top of the profound fatigue and weakness, I honestly don't know how people with the severe type manage to carry on. Many don't. Suicides are high in this population. It is still being brushed off as psychogenic by doctors, who have not pursued the latest data.
And yes, so many who were asymptomatic with covid will be damaged. It will show up later and so far, is not reversible, no matter how many supplements one takes. Such a horrible state of affairs.
I wonder sometimes, if it isn't a Gaiian process to slow us down, reduce consumption, return the planet to homeostasis. That is the only potential positive I can see!
If it's Gaia, she certainly has help from some of the policies put in place around the world.
Back when there were no treatments for AIDS and it was always a death sentence, a doctor friend once told me that if she had a choice between getting AIDS or having ME/CFS, she would rather get AIDS. She understood what ME/CFS is.
It reminds me of a 'joke' within the me/cfs community. Doctor tells a patient, "Well the good news is you have me/cfs and it won't kill you! The bad news is, it won't kill you." Very gallows humor.
If this is a Gaian process, it's a really terrible one for all of us who are affected and who will be in the future--for sure. Possibly positive for the planet, but a nightmare for humanity.
It would be great serendipity if governments, at long last, started to govern properly and corporations made gains by implementing cures for climate change, at the same time actual remedies for covid and me/cfs were discovered and put in place.
I had a pet cockatoo and still wonder if I was smarter than he was! One thing is for sure though. I have only gone out twice maskless, this summer, and have barely left my place since then. If I do, I will be prepared. Amazing how people freak out about being somewhat housebound for 2 years, when those with long covid and me/cfs face a life time of it. For me, it's been almost 2 decades of being severely constrained with me/cfs and I likely will never get that marshmallow for delaying gratification. Not complaining, just explaining. Masking and vaccines should have been sold with emphasis on long covid, from mid 2021, when it became apparent covid could have at the very least a 'long' component.
Wow, I had no idea you're in the unenviable ME/CFS club. As soon as you said that, the rest of what you said simply fell right into place.
Like you, I don't feel freaked out about the social constraints of pandemic precautions. I've tried to explain to people that if you ever get so sick you're afraid you *won't* die and stay that sick for a while, pandemic precautions are easy by comparison.
You're probably right about how masking, vaccines, ventilation, filtration, all the pandemic precautions should have been promoted and regarded, although maybe it should have gone beyond emphasis on Long COVID. People who think they came through just fine and don't have LC do have long term damage. It shows up if you run the right tests on them. We only have a glimpse of what the eventual consequences will be.
From what I've seen in studies, it's going to get very ugly.
So is climate change. We just turned on our heating *yesterday*. The solar power system has kept our energy bill steady, so that isn't the reason. We didn't need it. I'm from Texas. I'm always wearing one more layer than native Brits, but we didn't need heating except for an oil filled electric radiator that keeps the dogs comfortable at night. Yikes!
I believe we need leaders to inspire people to do what is ethical and in the common good, rather than those who coerce by fearmongering. Our moral senses are generally developed by our families, schools and churches. Caring FOR others, not just caring ABOUT what they think of us, is a higher level of morality, since the latter often depends on fear of ostracism or punishment. The Orange POS that was the US President is a good example of how impulsivity, lack of compassion and empathy, and self-serving greed can be extremely successful in terms of wealth and power. Unfortunately, too many of my fellow 'Murikans idealize those qualities. Many of them profess to be followers of Jesus, whose words and example are exactly the opposite of the Golden-Orange Calf they worship. If Jesus can't inspire them to a higher morality, I'm not sure who can.
Most unfortunately, the emphasis in fundamentalist evangelical prosperity Christianity is not on acts, but faith and faith alone. It's more like a Jesus fan club than a belief system based around emulating, as idealizing Christ as a powerful being devoted to love, fairness and restraint.
The higher level of morality is, well... higher. As you said, too many people don't get that far. If morality isn't gonna kick in, maybe the best we can do is use this lesser motivation.
Hi again, Bonnie!
Thanks so much for the response back.
Here in the Great White North (Canada) It was 20 degrees in Ontario yesterday. That is summer weather in early November! And here in British Columbia, we had summer weather until November 1st, too...plus 4 months of drought, in a temperate rain forest zone. I despair. Deeply. I finally caved and started to take mild anti depressants 4 years ago, when we were choking with smoke from forest fires all around us, for the third year in a row.
Up until the last couple of decades, when the worst of global warming was hitting more equatorial regions, a lack of concern on the part of Northerners might have been passed off as a failure of imagination--a failure to imagine drought, for example, would ever effect them, long term.
The wealthy class, who control political and corporate environments have provided a cocooning effect on wealthy shareholders. They can move from one impacted area to another. They can afford the costly food that crop failures assure. And they can be relied upon to do the greedy rather than the right thing, which dovetails perfectly with the feelings of middle class hopelessness about climate and the feelings of outright hostility to the reality that some in the working class feel. They are so beset with existential problems of all kinds, its easy for Big Oil to propagandize them.
I hope you don't have me/cfs too. It's a tough one. Fortunately, I have never had worse than a moderate case, so am not entirely bedbound. That's like a slow death. And if there is physical pain on top of the profound fatigue and weakness, I honestly don't know how people with the severe type manage to carry on. Many don't. Suicides are high in this population. It is still being brushed off as psychogenic by doctors, who have not pursued the latest data.
And yes, so many who were asymptomatic with covid will be damaged. It will show up later and so far, is not reversible, no matter how many supplements one takes. Such a horrible state of affairs.
I wonder sometimes, if it isn't a Gaiian process to slow us down, reduce consumption, return the planet to homeostasis. That is the only potential positive I can see!
If it's Gaia, she certainly has help from some of the policies put in place around the world.
Back when there were no treatments for AIDS and it was always a death sentence, a doctor friend once told me that if she had a choice between getting AIDS or having ME/CFS, she would rather get AIDS. She understood what ME/CFS is.
Wow. That doctor really got it!
It reminds me of a 'joke' within the me/cfs community. Doctor tells a patient, "Well the good news is you have me/cfs and it won't kill you! The bad news is, it won't kill you." Very gallows humor.
If this is a Gaian process, it's a really terrible one for all of us who are affected and who will be in the future--for sure. Possibly positive for the planet, but a nightmare for humanity.
It would be great serendipity if governments, at long last, started to govern properly and corporations made gains by implementing cures for climate change, at the same time actual remedies for covid and me/cfs were discovered and put in place.
Excellent article, Bonnie.
I had a pet cockatoo and still wonder if I was smarter than he was! One thing is for sure though. I have only gone out twice maskless, this summer, and have barely left my place since then. If I do, I will be prepared. Amazing how people freak out about being somewhat housebound for 2 years, when those with long covid and me/cfs face a life time of it. For me, it's been almost 2 decades of being severely constrained with me/cfs and I likely will never get that marshmallow for delaying gratification. Not complaining, just explaining. Masking and vaccines should have been sold with emphasis on long covid, from mid 2021, when it became apparent covid could have at the very least a 'long' component.
Wow, I had no idea you're in the unenviable ME/CFS club. As soon as you said that, the rest of what you said simply fell right into place.
Like you, I don't feel freaked out about the social constraints of pandemic precautions. I've tried to explain to people that if you ever get so sick you're afraid you *won't* die and stay that sick for a while, pandemic precautions are easy by comparison.
You're probably right about how masking, vaccines, ventilation, filtration, all the pandemic precautions should have been promoted and regarded, although maybe it should have gone beyond emphasis on Long COVID. People who think they came through just fine and don't have LC do have long term damage. It shows up if you run the right tests on them. We only have a glimpse of what the eventual consequences will be.
From what I've seen in studies, it's going to get very ugly.
So is climate change. We just turned on our heating *yesterday*. The solar power system has kept our energy bill steady, so that isn't the reason. We didn't need it. I'm from Texas. I'm always wearing one more layer than native Brits, but we didn't need heating except for an oil filled electric radiator that keeps the dogs comfortable at night. Yikes!
I believe we need leaders to inspire people to do what is ethical and in the common good, rather than those who coerce by fearmongering. Our moral senses are generally developed by our families, schools and churches. Caring FOR others, not just caring ABOUT what they think of us, is a higher level of morality, since the latter often depends on fear of ostracism or punishment. The Orange POS that was the US President is a good example of how impulsivity, lack of compassion and empathy, and self-serving greed can be extremely successful in terms of wealth and power. Unfortunately, too many of my fellow 'Murikans idealize those qualities. Many of them profess to be followers of Jesus, whose words and example are exactly the opposite of the Golden-Orange Calf they worship. If Jesus can't inspire them to a higher morality, I'm not sure who can.
Most unfortunately, the emphasis in fundamentalist evangelical prosperity Christianity is not on acts, but faith and faith alone. It's more like a Jesus fan club than a belief system based around emulating, as idealizing Christ as a powerful being devoted to love, fairness and restraint.
Yes, "we are saved by faith alone, lest any man should boast." A convenient way to avoid walking in Christ's footsteps.
The higher level of morality is, well... higher. As you said, too many people don't get that far. If morality isn't gonna kick in, maybe the best we can do is use this lesser motivation.