Reflections on Peace, Philosophy, and Life
Waking up in lockdown again. The Coronavirus has taken over the world - at least, the external world. So what are we going to do with the day, when many of the usual activities we take part in, are out of bounds for the time being?
For me personally, it hasn't changed anything much except that there are a lot less people about. I'm retired, so my everyday carries on as before with one big exception - the Gym is closed where I usually go three mornings a week. So I'm substituting with Nordic walking and going into the countryside and doing a couple of hours of strenuous walking - burns some calories :-).
Actually, this lockdown reminds me that today is the only day I have, and that makes me feel very thankful.
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Currently, there is a huge debate going on, on how to compensate all those loosing earnings because of the Coronavirus. Everyone agrees, it's not fair for some to lose all because of circumstances beyond their control.
This is a big opportunity for a complete reset on our illusion of what work is and how it should be compensated.
In 1935 Bertrand Russell published a collection of essays, including one entitled In Praise of Idleness|, in which he suggested that the technology available at his time, meant that one could easily have a system where people worked for, say, 8 hours a week for the common weal, and that would be enough to produce sufficient quantity of goods or services of whatever was needed. How much more true this idea is today!
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And suddenly, it's not money that's important, but health.
Thanks to the fears of coronavirus, the world is standing still, or almost. And likely to stay this way for a while. And then we should get back to normal.
Yeah, right! During this pandemic, production of all non-essentials has stopped. And we'll survive that - we are an ingenious creature which always finds a way through. Except when we don't.
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Ageism is really strange. Why would I now be considered stupid and incompetent because I'm over 60?
There was a time when, families stayed together and were dependent on each other. With the onset of the industrial revolution, along came transport and with that the opportunity to find work further away than wherever one could walk to in a reasonable time. And as families drifted apart over time, so that the close ties between family members slowly disappeared. I notice, with my own kids and grandchildren, that close contact was a thing of the past and that the immediate personal situation overrides any considerations other than the immediate family household. Not true in all cases, I know, but far more prevalent today.
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Coronavirus is rampant and has changed our everyday life, possibly permanently. As one of the old people prone to this virus, it makes me change many of the carefully nurtured habits. One in particular I find difficult is not being able to go to the gym regularly. So I'm substituting with long walks with my Nordic Walking sticks. It gets me out of the house and does at least something for my health.
I have neighbours who are both over 90 and pretty fit, but who is going to go and do the shopping for them? Listening to the radio and reading the news, the most striking thing are the many acts of kindness occurring. Kindness is not what we can expect from governments or companies. They are done by individuals for individuals. That's our nature.
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I've been thinking about "Respect". If I understand that I am as unique as every other individual on the planet, then surely I have to respect each person for their uniqueness?
On the other hand, apparently we have to constantly be in competition with each other. So the "I'm better/worse than you" is always applied to everything. How is that going to work with respect for all, better or worse - whatever these measures mean?
As Confucius stated, Respect starts with oneself. If I don't respect me, then how can I be expected to respect others? And there's the difficulty: how can I learn to respect myself, when I'm constantly being compared - at work, at home, in school, in my social life, to see if I'm better or worse than someone or something else.
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