Musings on Coronavirus
"Self-quarantined woman babbles on about the environmental and political impact of COVID-19 and the benefits of technology"
One thing I find interesting about living through the Corona virus pandemic, and subsequent self-quarantine, is the way in which we find ways to communicate otherwise. With our modern technology we do a brilliant job of just getting on with most of our lives from sitting at home. Admittedly, I already miss going outside and meeting up with my friends in our flesh sacks, but the virtual alternative of group Skype calls isn’t something to sniff at.
With the way that we are so able to adapt to continuing our lives in this way it’s no wonder the environmental impact of COVID-19 has been astounding. People in China can actually breathe for the fist time in about 20 years. Of course, the reason that the government has been encouraging us to do this is to protect our own human lives - small scale reasoning of course because humanity is insignificant without a liveable planet - and the economy on which our systems are based (See: Stockmarket). But of course, even with the encroaching devastation that will be caused by the way in which we live to the environment, the only way that a large portion of world’s leaders could seemingly come to the same conclusion as to send everyone home and stop flights is if the economy and the baby boomers who run it are at risk.
‘Oooh, don’t kill the rich boomers!’
I probably shouldn’t write things like that because it makes me sound like the Unabomber.
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I was discussing the other day with a friend whether we think this pandemic - unprecedented in the modern age - will have a significant political and sociological impact upon the next political cycle. We can already see concern that most of the Democratic candidates running in America currently are old and therefore at risk of having fatal complications. In England, Boris is basically trying to create herd immunity with no apparent awareness of the impact that will have on those with auto-immune problems , and the Queen of Denmark has had to make a speech to tell people to stay home. Meanwhile, Tiktok kids are licking airplane toilet seats for follows and views, apparently oblivious as to how disgusting that act is on its own, let alone during a pandemic. The faith in the leadership amongst the general populations has to be waning, and I’m interested to see where it may go.
But it is wholly important to stay home and protect those we care about and love, because general morality is something that should transcend generations. Although I was easily living my life from home for the first few days, I found that boredom has led to me doing things that I wouldn’t usually do. Such as exercise. Most of the time I just hop on the metro, lounge about with some of my mates for a bit, hop on the metro home and lounge more at home. Now, the mundanity of life within my tiny Danish studio apartment forces me to create routines in order to stay mentally stimulated and not turn into a vegetable. I’ve even started trying to grow a bunch of avocado plants from some seeds I’d always told myself I might try and get to germinate. (Might be a good present to give to friends when you see them again after the quarantine, FYI - which millennial/Gen Z doesn’t love a plant they’ll immediately kill?)
The best part, of course, of this whole situation is that I can talk to my friends when I’m on the loo. Mute my mic whilst they’re having a rant about something - they’ll never know.
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