I was wondering if anyone has feelings about what is going in Europe/rest of the world. Most countries are easing up on restrictions and opening up,
Right now there are two countervailing forces in the world. There's the novel coronavirus, which is asking humanity to adopt a new story of how it interacts with the planet. Then there's the strong collective desire to stay with the old, comfortable story. Most politicians are trying to restore that old story, especially in the form of insisting that economic growth must be maintained at all costs. The construct of the modern nation state is built upon the logic of endless growth and acquisition, and that's why so many countries are easing up on restrictions, regardless of whether their governments have good containment plans in place. Israel is experiencing a new virus surge because it eased restrictions, while India plowed ahead with its reopening even as the epidemiological picture there worsened. My gut says that the coronavirus will continue to wallop the global collective until we've finally learned that there's no going back to the old normal and that the metric of economic growth is untenable.
Basically, the civil liberties protesters are far from being the only problem. As long as politicians and the general public keeps saying "we must get back to normal," then we'll keep suffering. The coming winter for the northern hemisphere will probably have some hard lessons in store, even for countries that seem to have everything under control right now.
Right now there are two countervailing forces in the world. There's the novel coronavirus, which is asking humanity to adopt a new story of how it interacts with the planet. Then there's the strong collective desire to stay with the old, comfortable story. Most politicians are trying to restore that old story, especially in the form of insisting that economic growth must be maintained at all costs. The construct of the modern nation state is built upon the logic of endless growth and acquisition, and that's why so many countries are easing up on restrictions, regardless of whether their governments have good containment plans in place. Israel is experiencing a new virus surge because it eased restrictions, while India plowed ahead with its reopening even as the epidemiological picture there worsened. My gut says that the coronavirus will continue to wallop the global collective until we've finally learned that there's no going back to the old normal and that the metric of economic growth is untenable.
Basically, the civil liberties protesters are far from being the only problem. As long as politicians and the general public keeps saying "we must get back to normal," then we'll keep suffering. The coming winter for the northern hemisphere will probably have some hard lessons in store, even for countries that seem to have everything under control right now.
I am reposting your reply as everyone here truly needs to read, understand, and "get" this is how the universe and nature energies work when chaos and destruction are just about the only way possible to "plow under the infected soil in order to rebuild it with the proper nutrients and care that agricultural practices have to learn to do.
We are infected from the inside out in all ways..minds, bodies, and spirits in this world.
It will take a lot of transformation to even allow regrowth to occur for Earth's survival in this 3D plane that we know as this reality.
I agree 100%.
Our Gov. Newsom went on TV today. I was hoping for a return to Shelter in Place, because we had a busy weekend here - packed beaches, bars, parks, etc. UNFORTUNATELY all he did was add San Diego to his "$hit List" - i.e., the "Monitored Counties" list. This means a rollback on some openings, but not all. He also took about 4-5 other counties off the list.
So now it's just a shell game. Move the virus here, cover it up. Move the virus there, cover it up.
California is the size of a country (e.g., Italy) with the 5th largest economy in the world, an economy that is tech heavy enough that we don't really need to go back to the way things were. So if Italy and Germany and NL can shut down, why can't we???
Here's an article by an American reporter who lives in France:
Do Americans Understand How Badly They're Doing?
Spoiler alert: NO.
@laura-f agreed with all you’re saying. I’m in Northern California and although people here wear masks I’m still seeing a lot of people flocking to the beaches, parks and have larger gatherings. I walked by trail close to the beach on Friday and although there’s signs saying it’s closed, there’s at least a few groups hanging out. Then of course on Saturday fireworks were going off until 1am therefore I know people are gathering and having parties. We were invited my aunties’ place but my husband and I decided to be responsible so we opted for a bike ride and watch the fireworks on our balcony instead. I feel though there’s a lot of people from other areas coming into our area and acting irresponsibly.
share the love and light
Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta and in the running for VP has tested positive for Covid-19. She is asymptomatic and had no idea she had the virus.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/keisha-lance-bottoms-coronavirus-positive-test/index.html
I think I saw people discussing this about a week ago, so sharing it here:
How COVID-19 is accelerating the shift to a cashless society
Not necessarily good news, as the article is referring to credit/debit card use, which just makes it easier for the banks to control individuals and shores up the existing, defective financial system. I know I was referring more to a return to bartering where possible.
Yes... she reported that her husband had slept from Thursday all the way thru the weekend... so that prompted the family to get tested. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-mayor-keisha-lance-bottoms-tests-positive-for-covid-19/85-e9ce02f0-9527-4c94-8b0d-f7a2ec1f5427
Update. Since I posted this article, I discovered Florida is mandating in person education this fall.
In the emergency order, Commissioner Richard Corcoran called schools "not just the site of academic learning" but also crucial places in students' lives that provide "nutrition, socialization, counseling and extra-curricular activities," adding that their reopening was critical to "a return to Florida hitting its full economic stride."
So, let's not worry about killing educators and potentially students because the economy is at stake...
Are we awake yet??
There is a great deal of upset the the education world right now.
I am aware of some teachers being told by their school district that there will be crisis counselors available to go on campus because the district anticipates teachers will die during the school year because of exposure to the virus on campus.
Tough questions need to be asked. Are we asking our teachers to risk their lives to teach students? Are we asking them to risk their lives to allow parents to go back to work?
The AAD ( American Academy or Pediatrics) recently came out with guidelines on opening schools for fall. Many schools are attempting to follow these guidelines.
But are these guidelines well thought out?
The AAP guidance focuses heavily on the lack of data showing community spread between children for the last four months or so. However, they don’t acknowledge that the reason there are so few cases in children and teens in the US is likely due to the fact that kids and teens are not in school. Even if they are mingling it’s probably in small groups and/or outside at camps. We do not have places where hundreds to thousands of students and adults are in buildings with old/no air conditioning, mold, shared supplies, and other health hazards. When larger groups come together we see outbreaks (see the Chappaqua graduation outbreak and the Rockland County party outbreak in just the last ten days).
In addition, the data the AAP cite in the US is focused on childcare that opened for essential workers. The YMCA stats, which are awesome, were derived from small groups. The childcare that YMCA facilities are running right now looks nothing like school. The Y keeps kids in pods of 9–10 that don’t mingle. They are outside as much as possible. Supplies are rarely shared. All of this requires funding; school budgets, meanwhile, are being slashed. It’s not possible for schools to mimic what essential childcare facilities did without a massive restructuring of school infrastructure and funding.
The AAP also cites statistics from schools in Europe and Asia. Unfortunately, teachers know that you can’t compare schools in the US to schools in Europe and Asia; we are underfunded in comparison and our country is miles behind Europe and Asia when it comes to controlling the outbreak. For example, many people point out that reopening schools in Denmark did not cause community spread of Covid-19. But Denmark and the US are wildly different. In Danish schools, there are 10–12 students in each classroom. The infection rate in Denmark is 6% of what it is in the US. Before reopening, schools in Denmark installed more sinks for handwashing, replaced manual sinks with automatic sinks, made sure each class had their own bathroom, and hired additional custodians to make sure high-touch areas could be regularly cleaned during the day. The school day is shorter and classes are outside as much as possible. Is your school district prepared to make these changes? Would it even work, considering the high rate of spread in the US right now?
More can be found here: