Orwellian Society?

If we are not already living under a dictatorship, the current pandemic scare ensures that we will be deprived of all civil liberties. It’s the perfect set-up; the government now regulates our work, social, and even interpersonal relationships. The common denominator is fear and so we comply.

As their jobs are taken away, lower income workers lose their ability to function in this new society. The wealthy might worry about the volatile stock market but, generally, they have a financial cushion to support them. The disparity between rich and poor only increases.

Mid-level workers have been asked to work from home. I can see this benefiting the growing section of our population with antisocial personality disorder and I am not comfortable knowing that our industry and commerce rests in the hands of those with limited capacity.

People centered jobs are now banished. As we are forbidden to gather in groups, we look to the internet for connection. Teachers and therapists can engage in this format only in a limited way. When I’m leading a group, narrating movement and stillness, I’m constantly paying attention to each group member, ready to adapt my teaching to their individual processes. Meanwhile the group itself interacts, supporting each other with humor and empathy. This is not an experience one can get online.

The Corona virus is just one of perhaps many pandemics to come; my microbiologist grandson tells me it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Because, for so long, we’ve been relying on pharmaceuticals to fight illness, the various invading organisms have built up their own resistance to drugs. So what are we to do? My hope is that we will be forced to take control of our own health, take individual responsibility for our lives, not relying on advertising and marketing for information regarding food, vitamins, and exercise.

You are the expert. Research and experiment. Find what works for you as a human being in need of food and drink, rest and sleep, exercise, and human companionship. Take heart in knowing that you are a member of the human race which has survived by adapting for billions of year. Go, humans!