The end of days is not coming, no matter what we hear – and we seem to be hearing a lot. With an ongoing pandemic, climate change, civil unrest, heated political rhetoric, amassing armies, continuing smaller wars, all of our news feeds seem to be screaming that the world is going to if not end, then at least come very close. Let’s keep some perspective:
- Covid is not going to last forever. The more people get VACCINATED, the more we will be able to get back to normality. (vaccination: also decreases transmission a bit, but mainly decreases risk of severe illness, which means, keeps hospitals free to their jobs — vaccine refusers: no words). But we will get out of this eventually, even though we still need patience and it is an evolving situation. But there will be light at the end of this spiky tunnel.
- There is no Corona Dictatorship. The people screaming in the streets demanding “peace, freedom, no dictatorship” are organized by fringe parties, sometimes neo-nazis, and promote a message of selfishness and disinformation through misinformation. On the other hand, the state is trying to save lives. If this was a dictatorship, you would be rotting in some prison cell, so go figure and get some perspective.
- Not all demonstrators against Covid measures are nazis. Some, sure, but not all. Some people are just misinformed, upset, scared, and fell they are doing their duty. Ditching the nazis would be nice, but keep it level. We will still need to look each other in the face after all this. Crises agitate people on all sides.
- American Democracy will not end. Both democrats and republicans are great at making the other party look like absolute lunatics. This is a game that has been played forever. The country is stable, we agree with approx. 90% about everything. Stop talking about a civil war. It’s not helpful.
- Putin will not drag us into a massive war. If I am correct (and I hope I am) he just wants the West to see him as a great power that in principle could do something nasty, but that might be a good partner for NATO. I am serious. This reads to me like the weirdest membership application. Certainly, Putin knows he cannot afford real war. Deescalate please, and let’s talk.
- Climate change is real, tipping points do exist, but we need to not all lose our heads. Panicking never yields results. Find acceptable, workable solutions rather than to reinvent our ways of life completely. Technology got us into this mess, technology will get us out of it.
- Anything else? Asteroids? Aliens? Your favorite TV show ending?
Nothing is forever, change is permanent, hope should always be part of the conversation. We’re all in this together. Trust in each other as fellow human beings. Mass panic only helps those selling toilet paper, as far as I have seen…
Erratic Attempts 