FOR BETTER OR WORSE
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Third shots are coming, but so is the fourth wave.
Horror movie or hoax?
If you’ve ever renovated a house you were living in through the course of it, that might be a similar experience of feeling we need a cleansing shower and fresh air, feeling the end will never arrive.
But it will.
It does.
It never feels good until it is over.
Then it feels like every emotion was over-reaction, every concern out of proportion, our worst fears realized; it took longer, cost more, and never came close to perfection. But we were convinced we’d learned so much that we would pre-empt and prevent most of the problems next time.
Well, planet earth is undergoing a massive project; a mix of spring cleaning, renovation, financial crisis, cascading mistakes, thinning the ranks at every level of society to separate smart from stupid, and sadly, very sadly, we are all in the same petri dish.
Nobody will make jokes anymore where the punch line refers to a big die-off; nobody will ever know this kind of collective crisis and nail-biting again in their lifetime.
And no, we will not collectively run a better planet afterwards.
Though I’ll bet anyone a cup of coffee that our governments will find ways to explain some excessive spending or over-reach as “making sure this never happens again.”
First, we’ve been shocked – not electrically, social media, new media, and old media together with every pulpit of political demagoguery you can imagine.
Second, we’ve been comforted by words rather than actions – we’ve become concerned, scared, and confused. We hoarded toilet paper, wipes and sanitizer, then potatoes and flour. Third, we’ve gotten used to hearing bad and fearing worse – and now it is worse. Then better. Then, look out; it’s the fourth wave.
But we’re more used to it now, so the ‘much worse’ becomes easier to handle. I’m not suggesting we are being manipulated by a complex interdependent media/public feeding frenzy, but instead, I am suggesting we are part of this massive social media noise – on a scale Marshall McLuhan might have never dreamed.
We are either part of this problem or part of its solution. Unless we move to another planet, we have to own this fact-set, live with it, or die with it.
It’s bad. Unless you believe it’s all a hoax.
It will get worse unless you believe being a short-seller or anti-vax imbecile will make you immune from that.
Or it will get much worse.
It has before in history, so don’t be surprised when it does.
The getting better phase will have halting, jerky progress.
None of us will be immune to the impact of this virus. It will hit our homes, families, workplaces, friends, customers, and strangers who live next door.
There is no way over this or around this – there is only a way through this.
A horror movie lasts two hours, includes popcorn, and can be seen at local movie theatres. This global horror movie of COVID, Afghanistan, earthquakes and hurricanes appears to be the new normal.
Reality takes longer, lasts longer, and you have to make your own popcorn.
Imagine cars backing up at the factories, waiting for computer chips to arrive because the chip makers took those order cancellations seriously.