Morning, so how's your lockdown going so far? Managing alright? How are you in yourself?
Yes, for the first time in living memory, people are actually asking each other how they are, unless, that is, they're too busy posting intermittently amusing videos of the things they're doing to alleviate boredom to the internet.
(A brief moment of snark before I continue with the positivity: Do the various "Day 2 of lockdown and I've already gone mad!!!" merchants not feel that they may have shot their respective bolts perhaps a little early in the piece? A good few weeks of this to go yet guys, there's only so many wacky dances you can do, also, doesn't this rather imply that your boredom threshold is, perhaps, a little low? Have you tried...books?)
This development, is, I feel, something to be applauded, and it got me thinking of what other silver linings we might be able to spot in the looming cumulonimbus of COVID-19, because as my dear old Nan always used to say, stop bothering me and fuck off outside, no, wait a minute, not that one, it's an ill wind that blows no one any good, that was it. Cor, she was a one.
1) Slow down!
Is it running against the grain of public opinion to say that I'm actually quite enjoying all this so far? After years and years of hectic, non-stop graft, I've been forced to stop. And it's rather marvellous, life assumes a different, more sedate and reflective pace. I've got time to cook meals, bake bread, not just chuck a hasty pasta together. I've got time to properly play with my kids, without half an eye on the clock and the lurking background worry that I should be doing something more constructive. There's nothing more constructive to do! The very act of staying home and doing fuck all is, in itself, constructive! This is a development that I, as a lazy man trapped in a busy man's body can fully get behind.
Of course, it doesn't do to have completely aimless days, but as a family we're pulling together, PE with Joe in the mornings (and has anyone ever leapt quite so quickly to national treasure status as the boy Wicks?), breakfast together, then school for the boys, with us helping. It's not much of a structure, but it's enough to hang a day off and, for the time being, that's all we can do (plus I'm remembering loads of stuff from school that I thought I'd forgotten, which is tremendously gratifying).
2) Socialism ftw
Funny, isn't it, how every few years socialism has to bail out capitalism? Yep, Dishy Rishi's massive policy of state intervention proves that there's nothing like a bit of good old collectivist action when the shit hits the fan. Backbench tories are having Damascene conversions regarding the importance of low paid workers, Priti Patel looks distinctly shifty when anyone mentions the words "low-skilled", even Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is moved to repudiate the words of the sainted Margaret Thatcher saying that, as it turns out, there is such a thing as society. David Cameron and George Osborne's empty slogan "we're all in this together" has taken on a new resonance as we realise, hey, we are. Public anger at rich people fucking off selfishly to their second homes is matched by the sudden realisation of those forced to sign up to Universal Credit that hey, this benefits system might not be quite so cushy as the tabloids led us to believe. Now, whilst it may be too much to hope that these vital and salutary lessons will stick when normal service resumes, I don't think it's too much to hope that a few have been given pause for thought, and that we may, just may, come out of this with a slightly, ever so slightly, more equal society. We've learned that the NNHS is important, we've learned that worker's rights are important, and whilst it's breath-taking to see the party that's systematically stripped these away over the last ten years suddenly claim to be the defenders of them, they've been forced to overturn forty years of Thatcherite doctrine at a stroke: a new world is possible.
3) Space to breathe
Speaking of a new world being possible, you may recall that immediately prior to fretting about this, the imminent climate catastrophe was slugging it out with Brexit for the title of The Nation's Looming Disaster (both of these things ARE still looming disasters, btw, but best not to fret about them right now). Now, whilst everyone being locked down is, undoubtedly A Bad Thing, it has had some side-benefits. The rate of pollutants being pumped into the atmosphere has fallen (though not far enough) the particulate levels in the air are down by as much as 25% in many parts of the country (and set to drop further when the wind shifts round to a Westerly). China has recorded massive drops in levels of nitrogen in the atmosphere. Whilst all this has, admittedly, been driven by a pandemic, and will likely reverse the moment things go back to normal, what it does, much as with the state's intervention in people's income, is open up the tantalising possibility of a better world. A world where people don't drive so much, or fly so much. Will people working quite happily and effectively from home decide to give up the commute? Are we seeing the beginning of the end of office culture? What effect will that have on emissions levels? What the situation has shown is that a dramatic reduction is possible in a short space of time, and it's shown that humanity does have the weapons to combat the climate threat. It just chooses not to use them because: money. And, as we're learning, finance is less important than farming.
Another side benefit of everyone being at home is the space it's given for wildlife to recover. Shore-breeding birds aren't being interrupted by dogs off the lead, breeding ranges extend, the chance of a bumper year increases, untidy verges provide a haven for invertebrates, the lack of humans means there is an ad hoc, informal rewilding of our public spaces. Again, all this may well be overturned by humanity getting back out there, but in the meantime, it could be a lifeline for a number of species. It's certainly proving enormous fun for these goats
A caveat because, you know, people on the internet like to kick off at the drop of a hat
Yes, I know that a lot of people are in a much worse situation, and I do worry and feel for them, I do. I appreciate not everyone's got a back garden they can play cricket in, or countryside on their doorstep that they can exercise safely in, I'm aware of the rise in domestic violence and the attacks on food delivery vans. This blog is in no way intended to downplay the seriousness of the national emergency that we currently find ourselves in, and I am in no way aligning myself with the harrumphing blokes (and it is mostly blokes) who dismiss it as a lot of fuss. This is a very serious situation, but for the sake my health, and that of my family, I'm determined to face it as positively as I can. I hope it's going okay for you, too.
Love and socially distant virtual hugs, Matt xoxoxo
Yes, for the first time in living memory, people are actually asking each other how they are, unless, that is, they're too busy posting intermittently amusing videos of the things they're doing to alleviate boredom to the internet.
(A brief moment of snark before I continue with the positivity: Do the various "Day 2 of lockdown and I've already gone mad!!!" merchants not feel that they may have shot their respective bolts perhaps a little early in the piece? A good few weeks of this to go yet guys, there's only so many wacky dances you can do, also, doesn't this rather imply that your boredom threshold is, perhaps, a little low? Have you tried...books?)
This development, is, I feel, something to be applauded, and it got me thinking of what other silver linings we might be able to spot in the looming cumulonimbus of COVID-19, because as my dear old Nan always used to say, stop bothering me and fuck off outside, no, wait a minute, not that one, it's an ill wind that blows no one any good, that was it. Cor, she was a one.
1) Slow down!
Is it running against the grain of public opinion to say that I'm actually quite enjoying all this so far? After years and years of hectic, non-stop graft, I've been forced to stop. And it's rather marvellous, life assumes a different, more sedate and reflective pace. I've got time to cook meals, bake bread, not just chuck a hasty pasta together. I've got time to properly play with my kids, without half an eye on the clock and the lurking background worry that I should be doing something more constructive. There's nothing more constructive to do! The very act of staying home and doing fuck all is, in itself, constructive! This is a development that I, as a lazy man trapped in a busy man's body can fully get behind.
Of course, it doesn't do to have completely aimless days, but as a family we're pulling together, PE with Joe in the mornings (and has anyone ever leapt quite so quickly to national treasure status as the boy Wicks?), breakfast together, then school for the boys, with us helping. It's not much of a structure, but it's enough to hang a day off and, for the time being, that's all we can do (plus I'm remembering loads of stuff from school that I thought I'd forgotten, which is tremendously gratifying).
2) Socialism ftw
Funny, isn't it, how every few years socialism has to bail out capitalism? Yep, Dishy Rishi's massive policy of state intervention proves that there's nothing like a bit of good old collectivist action when the shit hits the fan. Backbench tories are having Damascene conversions regarding the importance of low paid workers, Priti Patel looks distinctly shifty when anyone mentions the words "low-skilled", even Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is moved to repudiate the words of the sainted Margaret Thatcher saying that, as it turns out, there is such a thing as society. David Cameron and George Osborne's empty slogan "we're all in this together" has taken on a new resonance as we realise, hey, we are. Public anger at rich people fucking off selfishly to their second homes is matched by the sudden realisation of those forced to sign up to Universal Credit that hey, this benefits system might not be quite so cushy as the tabloids led us to believe. Now, whilst it may be too much to hope that these vital and salutary lessons will stick when normal service resumes, I don't think it's too much to hope that a few have been given pause for thought, and that we may, just may, come out of this with a slightly, ever so slightly, more equal society. We've learned that the NNHS is important, we've learned that worker's rights are important, and whilst it's breath-taking to see the party that's systematically stripped these away over the last ten years suddenly claim to be the defenders of them, they've been forced to overturn forty years of Thatcherite doctrine at a stroke: a new world is possible.
3) Space to breathe
Speaking of a new world being possible, you may recall that immediately prior to fretting about this, the imminent climate catastrophe was slugging it out with Brexit for the title of The Nation's Looming Disaster (both of these things ARE still looming disasters, btw, but best not to fret about them right now). Now, whilst everyone being locked down is, undoubtedly A Bad Thing, it has had some side-benefits. The rate of pollutants being pumped into the atmosphere has fallen (though not far enough) the particulate levels in the air are down by as much as 25% in many parts of the country (and set to drop further when the wind shifts round to a Westerly). China has recorded massive drops in levels of nitrogen in the atmosphere. Whilst all this has, admittedly, been driven by a pandemic, and will likely reverse the moment things go back to normal, what it does, much as with the state's intervention in people's income, is open up the tantalising possibility of a better world. A world where people don't drive so much, or fly so much. Will people working quite happily and effectively from home decide to give up the commute? Are we seeing the beginning of the end of office culture? What effect will that have on emissions levels? What the situation has shown is that a dramatic reduction is possible in a short space of time, and it's shown that humanity does have the weapons to combat the climate threat. It just chooses not to use them because: money. And, as we're learning, finance is less important than farming.
Another side benefit of everyone being at home is the space it's given for wildlife to recover. Shore-breeding birds aren't being interrupted by dogs off the lead, breeding ranges extend, the chance of a bumper year increases, untidy verges provide a haven for invertebrates, the lack of humans means there is an ad hoc, informal rewilding of our public spaces. Again, all this may well be overturned by humanity getting back out there, but in the meantime, it could be a lifeline for a number of species. It's certainly proving enormous fun for these goats
A caveat because, you know, people on the internet like to kick off at the drop of a hat
Yes, I know that a lot of people are in a much worse situation, and I do worry and feel for them, I do. I appreciate not everyone's got a back garden they can play cricket in, or countryside on their doorstep that they can exercise safely in, I'm aware of the rise in domestic violence and the attacks on food delivery vans. This blog is in no way intended to downplay the seriousness of the national emergency that we currently find ourselves in, and I am in no way aligning myself with the harrumphing blokes (and it is mostly blokes) who dismiss it as a lot of fuss. This is a very serious situation, but for the sake my health, and that of my family, I'm determined to face it as positively as I can. I hope it's going okay for you, too.
Love and socially distant virtual hugs, Matt xoxoxo
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