Fear and Love (by Tom Amatt)

The main dominator of society at large in the 21^st century seems to be fear. And when fear overcomes love it’s pretty much the end of hope. Because what binds the old and the young if not love. And, does love wear a mask? The reasoning of fear tells, yes. And so the old are kept from the young, locked down in their homes and suffer. And when they are not strong enough to resist, society has its way of isolating them in sickness even further – until they die – alone.

In the name of fear the surveillance state has its feast. The app showing your whereabouts and state of health – and possibly many other things – has become the license to the conduct of social life of sorts under the preying eye of autocrats and their robots; thus accomplished in China, viva the emperor….!

In most of the world it is socially and even intellectually not acceptable to voice disagreement with the mainstream quarantine procedures imposed. Scientific analysis of the resulting psycho-somatic damage and related death rate is widely viewed as preposterous by doctors and experts representing the majority of governments.

A kid which wants to embrace the grandparents must be held back, possibly scolded. What are the little ones going to make of it? Love is great, but only protected by masks? No, what they are being taught to internalize is: safety first and safety first and only when it’s really safe something called love is allowed to materialize – only, where will that something be gone by the time it’s really safe? And, come on, it’s never really safe.

But we have the best healthcare system since the evolution started and that system will cure all of us and make us perfectly safe – by universal vaccination, after which we are allowed to hug again. Only, by that time nobody will feel the need any longer, it’s better to keep a safe distance. Life never is going to be the same again, so they say…..

And again, if you argue scientifically, namely that viruses are as old as the evolution and that the speed of its mutations is unmatched, that therefore a vaccine is an illusory idea, serving a short-lived purpose at best, and that the best protection is a healthy psychosomatic immune system – which is put under considerable pressure by quarantining people – you may expect to be vilified, ignored, locked away or all of that at once – as has happened not only in China, where it is systemic, but, one doesn’t dare to believe it, in Germany with a outspoken lawyer and in Switzerland with a medical doctor.

Life is never going to be the same again, really? Yes, but the question is in what way? That which Orwell warned about seventy years ago and which has come true in China already, or are there alternatives? There are signs, tender but manifold, that compassion is stronger than any virus, and that there are people, many individuals apart, who taken together could create  impact for rewriting the social contract, which right now is dictated by fear and corporate profit, which is driving our world apart to the detriment of the weak and the poor and the benefit of the very few.  Let the way it used to be, an ugly way in many ways, collapse. Let the party of vanity, with its limitless funds, limitless champagne, endless wars, limitless journeys on the back of an aching globe – let it crash. And let’s cherish and nurture the initiatives for a new growth, natural growth, regenerative energies, which are channeled by a multitude of people working on the ground in local communities committed to independence and mutual help in a global world…. In short, let’s trust our love again.