Observations of society show several stages of mood at the moment: 1. Depression; 2. Misery (and famine); 3. Confusion; 4. Rage; 5. Sadness.
Expressed in different ways or in different combinations, these sentiments will most likely be among us even after the lifting of the bans and the so-called “state of emergency”, which is too similar to house arrest (purely psychological).
Therefore, in this article we will make a small analysis and antipodal solutions to the negative part of these moods, so that we can take advantage of the situation as constructively as possible. Remember that life goes on, and that current momentary worries will fade before the fact that a new world may await us with new problems requiring solutions.
Depression
Depression comes in these times as lack of: finances, air, space, the untold suggestion of “crime and punishment”.
Depression may not be as conscious for most people due to constant thinking about making a living. At the moment, it is as if we are in a boxing match: during the round we only think about avoiding or striking. However, when the gong hits the end of the match, the adrenaline drops and one can look around where it has been so far. And media predictions take care to paint a very “beautiful picture” of a post-apocalyptic scenario.
Yes, there will be changes, but if we turn to history in the past 6,000 years, various empires on the world map are changing territories, constant battles, changing nationalities and finally the emergence of modern countries. There have been crises before, but the current one is a precedent in economic terms, but also in digital terms: people’s connections between themselves, constant communication, the very way of life “without borders”, which is in the last few decades.
In addition to the chaos, modern empires called “superpowers” will undoubtedly change some things.
Depression is as follows: changing this world in another direction, changing the rules, even though they remain the same at their core.
What to do: another perspective is needed. What lies ahead will require new solutions or at least broken thinking about an old problem. It is necessary to accept the situation in a constructive sense.
One should especially notice the “deprivation of rights” – although there is a positive in the sense of a virus outbreak, there is also a negative, in the sense of restricting personal freedom.
A good question is: freedom or liberty? Modern man is a consumer who does not care so much about ecology or other global issues. Now is the perfect time to relate to our full focus on “morality and ethics toward us and the world.” And while some argue philosophically about the boundaries of morality and ethics, a few key examples would be:
Treat people well, surround yourself with constructive people, reduce the notion that everyone owes you (they don’t); a focus on what “I can do for myself”, and hence the constructiveness of the one who wants to seek an ideal through which, if we improve ourselves, we will definitely improve the world.
A sign of the evolution of perceptions is in unity. As history teaches us, many cultures have belonged to tribes that unite in one; or provinces that unite into an empire; or later – in countries and interstate alliances … and finally until all borders fall and social networks without charge connect us- all this is the embodiment of societies in one big society, and the understanding of this society is built through the association of family and unity.
And now they are telling the global family to be divided – will we truly appreciate what we have been given?
Example solution: Changing perspective.
Misery (hunger/famine)
According to official data, more than 70% of workers in the world are affected by the crisis, and a very large percentage are laid off.
It will financially, and already has, affect absolutely everyone, and especially people without savings, those who are on credit or people from the restaurant, tourism, transportation business. Everything related to people in one place, travel of people from A to B point, even public procurement – will die for a certain period of time, and recovery may be impossible (it is too early to predict). As can already be seen, oil is undervalued due to reduced consumption (aircraft, ships, all kinds of vehicles).
According to the conspiracy theorist-believers, these are so called “hunger games” (based on the film, which is based on a book), alluding to George Orwell’s “1984” and others. Which is somewhat logical – anyone who deals at least a little with finance, economics, investment, markets, sociology, observations and takes examples from history, has foreseen the collapse of this system, because it is not sustainable in a major crisis. It is a system of constant non-stop production, and when there are no conditions for operation – everything stops. There is no backup plan.
Very few people realize that the economic system is currently based on the Industrial Revolution (1759-1850), and the mechanisms have not been improved except in the way of quantitatively buying and inflating the economic bubble of 170 years.
Both then and now, the exploitation of child labor is a fact. But so far we did not mind ordering the latest shoes sewn for 50 cents from an Indian child.
Misery and hunger were a fact and have always been a fact. Here are some years of starvation per year (all ages):
- 1995: 989 million; - 2000: 900 million; - 2005: 945 million; - 210: 821 million; - 2017: 821 million, - 2018: 822 million; - 2020 (this article is written in the end of April): until now, a little below 3 million.
If you make a brief reference to what life was like before the Industrial Revolution and what regimes were used, you will get the picture that despite the current difficulties, the past, in addition to nostalgia, brings real data about the state of the world and the “poor-rich” division.
Example solution: Mastering and applying a new perspective / specialty / solution.
Confusion
And now what? We got used to life without borders from the phone / computer, the whole world was ours (with some exceptions). What now? Before us is the prospect of what is taken away from us.
The truth is that we will see a lot of changes that will confuse many people. Panic does not help the situation, and it is being strongly advertised artificially.
There is a lot of politics and geopolitics in the whole situation, but here we are more concerned with the individual psychological aspect, which is perhaps the most important, as the future will also depend on the survivors after this enormous stress.
The confusion also comes from the “adrenaline” – at the moment it is as if we are fighting a huge villain, and as happens during a battle, the adrenaline overflows the body and it begins to function in a certain way. There is a dullness of the pain, rapid breathing, increased attention to danger, as well as readiness for a spear / sword / axe.
The analogy is too close to reality – despite all the fear instilled by the media, more basic instincts for self-preservation are stimulated (that’s why toilet paper is a hit) than a calm searching for solutions.
We need to stop for a while, turn off the TV, breathe and calmly reconsider the situation – for ourselves, family, work, career, where it is possible to direct the world and possible preventive measures.
But waiting for the state to take over, and for this epidemic to simply pass, is the most wrong and undermining act, which turns the confusion even more fiercely.
It is observed throughout the western and advanced countries – people think that they will return to the old, but there is no way. They are easily confused and can’t comprehend that there may never be another Olympics or crowded stadiums. Although, it is too early to say, but for sure the term for the next few years will be “social distancing”. This will be the new term in many things.
And there is nothing wrong with that, if there is a reasonable limit of the measures. In order to be complied with, people need to get out of the frenzy and confusion and watch the implementation of measures. Protests will be normal occurrence and they will be a needed brake on a total dictatorship.
Example solution: Calmness and emotionless consideration of the situation.
Rage
Uncontrollable rage of human helplessness in this situation. It must be understood that everything emotional during a crisis must be cleared or at least not obscure our view. Replace any emotion with clear thoughts.
No athlete, engineer, military, special forces, seal, businessman, entrepreneur, leader – as long as they are good at what they do, none of them allows the emotion to bring them down, to cloud their brain and vision, always looking for ways, and when they fall to the ground they are finding a way to stand up. Resolved, focused, flexible – many factors in a strong personality.
There is much to learn from them. We do not all need to become a leader-revolutionary-field marshal, because what is observed in society is that everybody is trying exactly that. It is so easy to just talk about it.
However, this is not the topic, more over the example of the above-mentioned people – they are obviously strong personalities. Let’s take their example of determination to organize our own lives. And if more of us become strong people with a purpose and gather in one place in unity and union and each of his sphere of knowledge and expertise gave SOLUTIONS, not criticism? What if this is the future of this world? What if this is not the future of this world?
But work is required. The “old world” is “McDonald’s” and shop malls – too many amenities made people spoiled and lazy, and they are used to demand everything. Something that disturb me in the last 8 years of observing people, is that they are LAZY to do a Google search for a popular topic for which there are an awful lot of sources and their question can be answered in less than 2 minutes. Instead, they log on to Facebook to complain and ask others for ‘help’. And there is a paradox in which the average consumer prefers to spend 2 hours arguing with strangers on a topic, instead of searching for that topic for 2 minutes in the world’s largest search engine. And everything is in one place – in the phone in your pocket. (Of course, not all topics can be googled, but observations show that people ask about the most trivial and everyday things of which there is already information)
This accumulated rage from the hectic life, spoiled consumers and the fear of misery from the crisis and quarantine – must be replaced by a calm mind, purposeful vision, search for BUILDING solutions. If you can’t find the solution yourself, get together with smart people and think. If you don’t have smart people “at hand”, the world is too big not to search – look carefully!
Example solution: Search.
Sadness
The suffering that the old can go away. Yes, it goes away, but perhaps more important is how the new will come. Will it be repression or will we be able to build the dream future that has been promised by every visionary in the field of technology, and spoken by every philosopher over the centuries.
It is clear that there is no perfect world and it is unlikely to exist. Everything is a reflection of the people, because a system may be perfectly designed, but it is governed by people with their negatives and positives, dreams, ambitions, some of which are noble and others not so much, and this is a prerequisite for corruption (from latin: spoilage, decomposition).
With the above data on global misery and starvation, do you really want to protect this system? Or is now the time to innovate and put old issues under a new light?
Example solution: Extracting the positive from the situation and applying it at a convenient time.
Conclusion:
The situation is difficult, but not the worst in world history. There is always a way out, but it is vital while we find a way to live, to look for solutions in our own specialties and areas of expertise, and maybe it is time for re-qualification. In any case, the change in the world comes only from personal cultivation and not just setting an example, but living as the example.
I know it’s hard for a lot of people to think that way now, but keep that in mind. For your future and the future of your children (I really like this saying for the children, it brings a little guilt – a journalistic approach).
It has also been cleared and we saw, that the planet would recover. It is quite arrogant to think that the planet had more negatives when qurantine of the world had stopped more than 2 billion people and many factories of working. It was plainly obvious that people were suffering, and nature even recovered from the last 100 years of pollution.
Even the ozone layer is healthier for the first time in decades, although it is officially said that it has nothing to do with the coronavirus, which is absurd – the whole world has stopped moving, there is definitely a great effect.
Therefore, the best advice in all this is improvement, because the planet can do without us, but can we live in the old way, or more precisely – Do we want to live in the old way?
