Wednesday 24 November 2021

Virus of the mind

What do you want from life?
Isn't it strange that with so many things to do, people actually get bored with life?
Isn't it stranger still, that the same bored people worry so much about the corona virus and other deadly diseases?
And as an after though, isn't it strange that the virus of the mind called "social media" is not considered far more dangerous, time consuming, life and ethics threatening and changing than any other real and life threatening virus?
Why are we supporting by default any changes in the social structure? Or why do we consider them inevitable, without putting up a fight?

In the span of almost 20 months, this corona virus fear, has been spreading like wild fire across the globe. It is true that after reading about the death toll of the big three global 20th century pandemics, the matter is not to be taken lightly. But something has changed. Something crucially important. The way people face life and death. Up until the last pandemic, the Hong Kong and Asian flu, in the late 60's, we valued the importance and teachings of the religions in the life of people that provided a moral compass, a light in despair, a drive when all things looked hopeless, a solid refuge in the dilemmas and the mystery of death, and consequently of life. It provided a stance in life, a philosophy, after all, philosophy is the study of dying, a preparation of death, which looked very much like answers, because people don't need words, but a modus operandi, especially through hard times.
And the religious faith provided this. Actually the Christian faith and way of living itself is an affirmative reply about the mystery of death.
But all this was lost in the last 40-50 years. Faith into God, was replaced with faith into technology, absolute faith that science can provide and if not now in the future, all the answers. Religions are presented as being irrational and opposing to science and as such mocked upon. And all their teachings that helped people, got lost.
Now they talk daily about the death toll, attributing the deaths to the new virus. It is harsh to make these personal loses a number in statistics, but I wonder how many of those people would have died by other causes, or even from the seasonal common flu. And would it have been the common flu, or their already compromised health? Every loss is tragic, but it is important to realize how this particular situation transforms the way we see the world and the loss of a human life.
I think that we are witnesses and victims at the same time, of a pandemic of fear. A fear that has pushed the first piece of domino, and now every piece will follow suit. Freedoms collapse, social solidarity collapsed, health care, education, jobs, free thinking, democracy, they are all down. And all this is created and perpetuated not by religious radicals, not by scientists, but by politicians that serve interests that we hardly can imagine or dare talk, because we lack evidence. And these politicians claim that it is science that suggest these actions. And that science expressed like this, is the only source to solve our problems in life. This, of course, resembles blind faith which unfortunately leads to hybris.

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