I have noticed mixed reviews around adherence and compliance during the pandemic. Some are boycotting masks in favour of skepticism about the virus, eschewing the safety of each other with a certain disregard for authority or conformity. Others are shaming those who do not go overboard with sanitizing solutions, gloves, masks, and social distancing. I am personally in the camp of wearing the mask on a just-in-case basis and treating the issue as a training exercise for a time when oxygen may be low, gases may be used as weapons or maybe there is an epidemic or super-virus that requires more personal protective equipment. I am very skeptical about my observations. Just because I don’t know anyone who has died or gotten ill does not mean nobody has <https://www.elephantjournal.com/2020/10/a-call-to-action-why-medicine-needs-you-more-than-ever-right-now-daisy-robinton/>, however my evidence is very minimal that anything so gravely serious is going on.

First and foremost, I would like to reiterate that pandemic, which means mass hysteria or chaos, is different from epidemic which means a centralized medical concern with a locus of effects. Secondly, the symptoms are the average complaints of the average person, and amount to a common cold. Yes, I have been made aware of statistics of those dead, dying, or made to be aware just by title, the relationships of persons knowing someone to whom a diagnosis has been given. These are all third hand examples of who is experiencing symptoms. I am finding it both incredibly lucky and also exaggeratedly difficult to grasp where this epicenter of the virus is located and how it is moving, without taking a course in contact tracing myself.

The procedures and policies around this problem we are facing as a globe seem lighthearted and cautionary rather than actually enforced as mandatory due to an impending high severity level. The cloth and fibre masks being distributed and worn are often used, needing laundry baskets, or full of lint and crumbs from pockets and car cup holders. It seems as though clean and sanitary conditions are lip-service to a greater issue. Besides that, the oversanitization of surfaces and hands is leaving people with chafed or chapped skin, exposing folks to more sensitivity and possibly exposure points at abrasions. It is leaving us vulnerable to any stronger form or genetic mutation of the supposed virus that is able to survive the poorly executed alcohol rub downs. Mask signage is posted by proprietors of businesses and staff of clinics without necessarily having been printed or distributed by government agencies as a standard.

Furthermore, in some countries where there have been mass migrations, crime and rioting due to economic instability, including indigenous uprisings of every land I can think of during this time, it seems as though racialising the problem is a key to noticing whether the deaths are due to lynching at all, or a full on civil war if things are also burning to the ground in the meantime. I hope it is not incindiary or misconstrued if I say what I have noticed, but in America for example, most of the names and faces I have seen have been people of colour passing away during this time. Are we just saying all deaths are pandemic related? How do the numbers compare to deaths by accident, suicide, cancers and other organ disease, or old age compared in past years?

Is this pandemic actually a mental health issue, a political issue, a socio-economic issue, or is it a complex indicating a sick and crumbling world order or overcultural society? Are we in an anarchy now, or a scarcity time that we should be collaborating about? What are our norms during this time, when we have had vacation time, lay offs, and essentially a universal basic income handed to us here in Canada? Most are doing yard work, home improvements and overeating. Should we actually be preparing for a hard winter where dormant flu virus strains exposed to too much hand sanitizer over the summer will be having a bottleneck population boom in addition to COVID-19 fears? Am I asking too many questions? <https://www.elephantjournal.com/2020/09/i-will-always-be-the-crazy-difficult-to-control-woman-amanda-van-graan/>

It is really troubling to me that when I problematize these things openly, folks are fast to jump on the “We must believe,” and “This is serious business!” bandwagons, even though, it is clearly a time of abundance, self-reflection, and great weather, moving into fall now. I personally have only seen issues surrounding social welfare escalate, including access to social services and peer support or natural support networks declining. As we consider, as a population, items on the agenda like closures of schools, defunding police, parliaments out of office, government bureaus closed down, and only what are deemed essential services, such as food service, convenience, alcohol, gambling, medical, construction and helping professions, but within specific limitations, still being provided; what is our takeaway from this time, if not “be more careful what you consume and where it is transported from and the whole chain of people’s hygiene whom have interacted with it on the way to you,” or something to that effect?

There have been plenty of reasons why “Fake news,” and disinformation have become the normal on programs, why reality television captivates the nation, and why “wagging the dog” so to speak, is probably part of the greater complex of our sick world. Global warming was the hot topic not long ago, with Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and other climate activist groups with different agendas moving toward a cleaner and healthier world, as well as economic collapse spoken of boldly by yellow vests and cryptocurrency advocates. This has all but stopped as the world went on strike with teachers to protest unfair wages and contracts and unions gathered for a general strike. I could get into detail about the finances of our planet, but let’s just say more interest is owed than any currency ever existed to represent it.

Why is it that we are normalizing germicides and sanitizers, breathing apparatus, gloves and masks, online professional and social behaviour, more automation, moving from cash to digital numbers attached to plastic accounts, and all manner of cybersecurity concerns in addition to our recreational lives and personal development at this time? Are we accepting that it is OK to have a world where we cannot breathe fresh air and cannot touch or be touched by other humans? Is it now acceptable and even preferable to isolate your less-favourite aquaintances without building up your close relationships at all? I have not seen many changes in the social circles I am privy to connectivity with, personally either.

This may not come as a surprise, but it could go one of two ways: Either this is divide and conquer or it is group solidarity and organization.

I don’t think this is about the COVID-19 virus at all, but it almost certainly will be, when the flu enters the equation and we have to resist both a virus without any immunizations prepared yet, and potentially several strains of Influenza and their subsequent flu shots, this winter in North America.

Am I crazy for questioning what this complex is all about? Do I need permission to be skeptical about the real world impacts and the actual names or hospital names even, of those who have contracted a deadly virus? It seems to be private information in a world with all secrets leaked and no confidentiality remaining.

When will this be over, if folks do not either decide to expose themselves as was done for SARS at a concert (much like rubbing together for chicken pox in kindergarten grades) and enjoy the immune boosting effects of being in ecosystem with others, or else just convince ourselves that it’s worse than the AIDS virus scare (and subsequent reality) of people being abused by the system and social order, and protect ourselves actually properly in all aspects until it is gone? Will it be indefinite? And are we okay with that not knowing if we will catch it from the air behind our improperly fitted masks, but trying our best to wear them anyway?

Is this a message to our youth about how to stand up against injustice, against environmental devastation, against going with the herd mentality, against oppression, disorder, economic instability, or anything else that might be involved? Or is it just a passing trend in a blip on a heartbeat of humanity?

I am really not sure how to proceed when it could be disaster and ruin or celebrations on the streets that finally things in the world can make sense and we can live better lives interacting with each other and our surroundings better equipped as human beings to thrive.

…perhaps despite mistakes that no one is admitting to being responsible for. If this pandemic continues much longer, I think I will just go back to dealing with my actual worries and concerns and not complaining about how the only thing anyone ever talks about is one year-old news item that will have results when the results are ready, a cure or a final toll. Life goes on. Stay safe, stay healthy and stay skeptical please. Love each other all the same.

♥