- Author: Masticina Akicta
- Date: 02 October 2020
The Age of Fear and War
I don't usually dive into semi political issues. As politics divides among everybody, family and friends included. And when we most need each others help we must be able to be there for each other. And be able to see beyond the battle lines we have put in the sand.
But this is the Age of Fear and War. Not directly outwardly, though to be fair there have been fires and shootings and all kinds of horrible things spreading quickly through society. Huge pressure has released in the last few months in what it all broke down.
The underlying reasons of such always were there but in the pressure given us by a Covid society it all just exploded out. People are afraid, they lost their jobs, they can't visit their family, parents, etc. Their kids are stuck at home and governments can't even stay on one line what is the best way to do things.
Creating different groups within society which stand against each other. Much like groups always seem to grow into such existence. After all the whole political system is bound to create boundaries and an US versus THEM feel. To whom do you belong? Who do you support?
Like a pressure cooker exploding, there always was pressure but took just a little more to break out in such a great wave of energy. Rupturing beyond any potential control.
This has ruptured society in many ways. Defeating Covid requires working together and trusting each other. People like to work together fighting a common enemy. Nothing congeals a group as quickly as a common enemy. The virus is something we all can't beat on our own. And maybe we can't beat it at all. But we can try or at least lower the damage it can do to us, our friends or family and our societies. We have to try to deal with this disease in an intelligent way. There is little need to scream and attack each other over how we feel about the measures. And I don't believe that any one specific measure can truly win this war. If you could call it a war. But like the wars of old working together each doing their part might just make it work. And as always there are doomsayers.
We have to deal with a society which has changed a lot because of the pressures of covid regulations. Even in countries, where it is mostly cured or didn't come in, Covid is still a haunting ghost. From full lockdowns in what people are only very limited movement, to get food or walk their dog. To very light lock downs which limit certain activities in number of people that can come in.
We are almost seven months in and this only has been started. A lot will change, a lot will never be the same.
Who is the Enemy
It seems as if these days the pressure, fear and political influences have made everybody an enemy of everybody else. It has made it very hard to work together and there is tension in the air.
In writing you have three kinds of enemies, an enemy you can point it like Sauron, Darth Vader, and/or the Emperor.
There are enemies like nature, an earthquake, a storm, a twister, a vulcano or tsunami.
And there is the lesser used dark half type of enemy. These are the dark half of the normal person. The shadow side turned into villain.
So who is the enemy? Obviously COVID is a force of nature. But through our human nature we also have decided that there are other things we can point at. For instance China for being the source of the virus. Each other for not following or blindly following Covid Regulations. There are those who balk at the idea of putting on face masks. And there are those who wear them daily. There are those who eagerly await any potential capable vaccine. And there are those who don't believe in vaccines.
But also the fear of the unknown, we can't see the virus, we can't see who is infected and possibly can give it to us so inherently it is harder to trust other people. As humanity we like physical contact but by the Covid rules we need to keep a certain distance. And worse these days all of use are masked, due to the face mask laws. Depending on your country of course. Currently in my country they are putting it more in use again after enough people flaunted its use. Look nothing wrong with a facemask. As irritating as they are.
I shouldn't have to go into how currently politics has put people on a knifes edge. I rather not, that would push this blog post outside of its framing. But it is making working together harder, or at least being humane to each other. I tell you there is a lot of hurt being thrown around.
How othering works
This is quite a simple thing, if you go back to pre school and high school there were bullies. And a bully didn't need much reason to bully you. You wore glasses, you had a funny accent or a minor speech disability then you might just get bullied. So the simply way to make someone into an "other" is to define yourself and then point at the "other" and point out how different they are. Simple as it is.
On large scale this leads to rather mindless finger pointing and misunderstanding. And of course throwing a lot of emotional bagage around. Kids run on emotions, grown ups usually are more in balance, but sometimes people definitely are not in balance between their Intelligence and Emotion.
So currently with Covid, you got a number of sides. And that isn't helping any co-operation or working to the end goal. That end goal, somehow beat Covid. Deal with the details later!
How Fear causes us to act without thinking
So lets talk about Fear, it is a strong survival system. Fear quickly pushes is to fight or flight. Or stand still and try not to be noticed. Fear is an automated thing but it also can be ingrained on an intelligent and emotional level.
A lot of people are now throwing rather hurting words to each other because they are not thinking it through. They are fearing the situation, they don't understand the situation. And I understand, because there are a lot of things I don't understand or can't do myself. But I try to have some trust in those who have studied for it and are working on the situation. Nobody is perfect, they will mistakes too but I see not reason to jump into a fight over if vaccines work or not. Or be crass to someone because they don't fully agree with us. But have we even listened?
If we only listen to our fears and emotions we make very bad choices. Or even non choices.
Society Breaking Down
Another thing is that the expected systems are breaking down. Things we had now might only exist under other rules. We lost a lot, even the countrie that still have certain shops open or can offer certain entertainment have to deal with stricter rules.
And the first two months everybody quickly found out just how rotten it is to be stuck in home and not being able to do anything of use. In my country we could get food, and buy a few things at the stores that still opened. BUT many things were just shut down, until a few months later new strict covid regulations came out and those business could open again under stricter rules.
In certain places society has been put on halt, which means it isn't only lack of entertainment, which is a first thing to fall away, the luxuries. But also no jobs in certain sectors, no travel, no things beyond trips like food and basic requirements. This is driving people insane. They have lost a lot!
And let's not go into the ever lingering tensions that even in the best days of society always where boiling under the surface. They are now all out!
What can we do to stay Sane
First of all decide what is important to you and how far outside of such you willing to go temporarily. Your friends and family should come first. YOU first, than your family and friends. And only then those in the layers around it. Because you can't wear the weight of the world upon your shoulder.
As the world burns around us all, we need to decide what is most important to us and protect those people. Because you can't protect everybody and you can't help everybody.
Sometimes we need mentally a day off, a day of peace. To recharge ourselves before we can to out there again in the storm that batters down on all of us.
I can suggest not to watch the news, or follow anything too crazy. Because there are things you can influence, things you can't influence and things that influence you.
And if you can't influence it, maybe you shouldn't deal with it mentally either.
What we can do to help those close to us
It isn't odd to have a group of trusted friends and family. A small tribe, a tribe that protects each other and aids each other. That understands that they can't change the world all on themselves, and it isn't always their job. Their job is to protect their members and offer safety in dark times.
But be careful some tribes are more dangerous then others and will try to use you for their own goals. So, don't be blind. Be smart! If you feel that something is wrong in a tribe, be ready to leave it.
Listening
The most important thing is listening. We don't listen anymore, we don't take the time to sit with others and listen. Listening is not the time you take actively listening, but it is also understanding someone from their position. Their life, their viewpoint, why do they think or do as they do. Because if you can't understand you more easily turn them into the "other" and othering lies at the core of many fights.
