Month: May 2020

You aren’t alone although it feels that way, during quarentine.

May 24, 2020 / Tristan / 0 Comments

I posted this on social media because of what I have been observing. Some of the responses gave me hope, others baffled me. It did however inspire a much longer response as to why I would post this.

I wanna be clear I did not put this out there to ask for “permission” to break social distancing or quarantine.

I put this out there because as we get deeper into this thing, the “all for one one for all” that other countries have done feels like it is falling apart in america. It feels to me like everyone is out for themselves. And that is disheartening when you are doing everything you can to make sure others are safe even if I myself am lonely too.

I just can’t justify certain actions when it is obvious this virus is far from gone and this virus is far from normal and can have serious repercussions death being the most visible, but the unknown long term effects being the scariest.

“I probably have had it” is what I hear a lot, I get it. We all want to think we had it, we are the low percentage that will just breeze through it and won’t be a New York Times article.
But we really don’t know. We also don’t know what “having it” means for those around us in full yet.

So when I see a country that is being forced open now, throwing bodies at the virus in an attempt to save our economy, it freaks me the fuck out. And I have written about that: https://craftingworlds.com/unpopular-opinion-on-reality-covid19/

We are 1/3 of the worlds infections. We aren’t the WWII “allies” we are the worlds enemy. Not only that but we are fighting one another over stupid things like “I have to wear a mask”.
If you don’t believe this virus is real, look at Brazil right now. The mass graves will shock you into a reality check.

So I don’t mind being lonely, cooped up with my kitties, and gaining the covid 10. But I do mind feeling like I am doing it alone. That is why I posted this. To perhaps get some semblance of hope that I was not alone in a world that has shone a bright light on all the cracks and problems with the way we live.

The America our grandparents and parents grew up in is no longer great. There is no MAGA movement. There is just a lot of selfish acts that hurt not only our country but the world as we fail to move as a herd and end this quicker and efficiently. The self awareness to do one’s own risk assessment is muddied by “internet doctoring”, “conspiracy”, and “lack of self awareness”. This is a complicated puzzle and many people, like any highly critical moment, are frozen or ignoring the science behind the next steps. Instead of those who can navigate these situations better, being used as bridges and help for the gap of flight or fight, is it being looked at as weakness. We aren’t leaning on each other as much as we should, because it goes against the idea that we are the enemy to each other, even though the virus isn’t human, humans only carry it. Hard to wrap your head around what it means to contact trace someone and how you and their paths can lead to devastating consequences. So it is much easier just to assume you have had it and consider it over, when in fact, nothing really changed much from 3 months ago to today in terms of what is out there.

The graduating classes of COVID 19, I truly hope, this terrible experience makes them change the world for the better. Because right now, when human life < pieces of paper, there is a problem. When people are fighting to get back to the office where they complain 24/7 about how horrible it is because the government doesn’t help them, there is a problem. Where the world stage becomes a chess game of who will come out stronger after a pandemic, there is a problem.

So I sit here, I wear my masks, I social distance, and I just needed to hear from others, DITTO.

Unpopular Opinion on Reality: COVID19

May 6, 2020 / Tristan / 0 Comments

All the stay at home stuff we just did, was for nothing. Due to our economy being the driving force of not only our livelihood, but the global economy. We need a healthy economy, not healthy people, because we created our society to be that way. Without a healthy economy we fall to other super powers like Russia or China. We are at “war” with money. And the ammunition is our lives.

Without a cure or a faster vaccine, in order to win the battle we need to work, as much as it goes against LOGIC. Logic says we should continue the course, we should all shelter in place and wait until this disease kills itself(not so obvious for others who need their hair did…).

But here we are, a country, if you remove New York from the statistics, actually on the rise for new cases. We are poised to be the example of what happens when the virus runs rampant throughout an entire country. Sweden times ten.

So what does this mean?

– Like any war: the lower class is going to get hit the hardest, like the Vietnam War where they signed up first.

– We are going to lose many people to this virus. And that statement has a broader meaning: FROM THE VIRUS and CAUSED BY THE VIRUS. Those who die from infection and those who die from the side effects brought on by the virus: PTSD, Depression, Financial ruin, you name it. We have no idea the scope of how bad it really is yet. But it is bad.

– The United States is not currently becoming a fascist state or a big brother state, just look at what people will do to fight for their right to a hair cut on the stairs with their guns. We are a loud country, although complacent. (you want to see what we aren’t? Look at Russia currently and HOW China locked down Wuhan to begin with)

– We are going to take huge losses, economically, and in blood.

– Unlike other countries, we are admitting our infections, because we feed off negative news, the other countries hide this kind of shit.

– This may become like the flu and we will never beat it, and it will be the new reality. A vaccine is very important, especially with mutations, which could be positive if it breaks into weaker strains. We have to cut it off from our bodies.

– We are opening too soon, because the economy is more important than your life or my life and we will see a rise in cases. Especially for those states who didn’t get hit hard.

– It does feel devoid of an end.

– Our leadership is incompetent and it shows. We would need a president willing to jump on his own sword for the better of the country to make the hard decisions. Ha. Imagine that from our current one.

– If there was a divide before for political means, there is now a divide between back to workers and stay at homers. The economic divide is more obvious. We look at each other with judging eyes if you break 6 feet or don’t wear a mask. But we do it for the wrong reasons: Pride. Not well being.

– In certain states, there are speakeasy type businesses opening in locked down states. I have seen it myself with closed curtain salons being “open”. Because they will lose their business.

– Our economic relief is out of money, and the loops are nearly impossible to get through. So you can’t count on the government or your state to help you if you can’t work.

– You can’t change crazy people’s minds and because of democracy this faction of people are protected to walk off the cliff, problem is the cliff leads to the general population and more infections.

– There is no filter anymore and everyone is an expert or filled with anxiety due to a massive influx of information. The measles, parents told their children they would be OK, protecting them from the hard reality. But now we have Google to slap us across the face anytime we want to be a masochist.

– There is a huge discrimination happening between humans on social distancing and proper etiquette as well as mask use-age. You have people literally killing one another over disagreements on these two things. And since people have heard “we flattened the curve” they believe it is over and Spring has sprung, thus ending all needs to do any of the above causing more strife.

The ULTIMATE CATCH 22: There is an endless loop happening, the Government can’t sustain unemployment for the lockdown and makes it very hard to get help for 80% of people, so people are fighting to work so they don’t lose their livelihood, which in turn can mean their lives. The government wants us to lock down in place and common sense says to do so too. This is not an option for too many people. The loud protestors holding their guns, are fakers, and bullshit. They don’t represent the families going broke under the stress of lack of financial support. And then you have those, like in 9/11, trying to make their riches larger in time of crisis. Shitting on the little guy. And then you have those who are trying to follow the rules but see how the rules are impossible to follow, as the infrastructure was so cracked to begin with it just crumbles under this kind of pressure.

The takeaway: We are going to fight the economic battle, not the human life battle. Our entire society is based on it. And that, for a lack of a better word, sucks. We are about to throw many people at the front lines of the virus, and see what happens, good or bad, and make decisions based off that. We could end up in another lockdown, but most likely not as it would cripple the remaining economy. And as much as I hate that we are slaves to the economy, we built this system and now have to deal with the consequences, and for many that means with their lives or the lives of those around them they will infect.

Side Note: We as a country need to take a good long hard look at the Billionare world. We need to start handing out plaques at the 999million mark and everything after that is put back into the system to help it. But don’t try to take the hard earned money of those under the 1%. That is when we become facist. We aren’t throwing the old into the streets and infecting them on purpose, we are not fascists. So stop with that tin foil hat shit. Are companies tracking us harder now? YUP. Have they always tracked us, YUP, but now they are making it public. So now is the time to try our best to regulate what they can do since it is in the open.