Our Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic World

Just thinking. It is like we were all picked up and dropped into some dystopian post-apocalyptic novel or movie. We have all the elements of an exciting film.

First there is the mysterious virus that came out of nowhere, isolating us from each other. It provides the great unknown for which the survivors need to find an answer. Did it really just suddenly appear out of nothing like some people think the universe did? Or did China invent it in a lab and intentionally transmit it to the rest of the world? Or was it inserted here by some of the undercover extra-terrestrials whom we all know are disguised and living among us? Perhaps we should designate some of the survivors to go to China to further investigate?

Then there is the sudden resurrection of White supremacy as an issue and the return of open hatred between Black people and White people. Maybe it was just time for all the turbulence of the 1960’s to come back into light. Or maybe the aliens are intentionally resurrecting old issues to drive wedges between us. They want us to kill each other off. Look again at that video of the George Floyd murder. Watch the officer’s face as he stares at the camera while casually holding his knee on Floyd’s neck with his hands in his pockets. Doesn’t he have an alien aura about him?

And there is climate change. Do we really want to believe that mortal man caused all these hurricanes and melting icebergs? Who on this earth is organized enough to pull off something that big? Certainly not one of the political parties.

We have some of the critical characters to make the movie. In the U.S. we have the psycho who thinks he has gained control of the government and is madly trying to look like he is in charge of something and to deny responsibility for anything at the same time. Even his niece is writing books about him.

Who would have prophesied that in 2020 we would all be hiding in our houses, wearing masks, staying away from each other, and hacking each other’s laboratories for the latest on vaccine development? What better way to kill the love for humankind that was our only hope for survival in the first place? We are splintering into smaller and smaller kinship groups, each vying for some modicum of control over some aspect of our being.

What do we need to finish making the movie? A small group of survivors who will cling together, watch each other’s backs, oppose the enemies, go wherever they need to go to find solutions, and persevere. And a hero that everyone can look to for hope.

Stay tuned for Season 2 when Texas and Scotland secede from their respective nations; a new virus appears, this time from Russia; and Kamala Harris becomes the U.S. president who just might have a solution to it all.

Government Authority

How much authority do we want to give the government to protect us from the consequences of our own actions? That, it seems to me, is the question of the day.

Initially, we all kind of stepped aside, sat down, and let the government decide whatever they thought would best protect us from COVID-19. And they started issuing stay at home orders and closing businesses, large and small. They have essentially shut down the economy.

But as was predictable, and as time went on, people got restless. Protests came first, then open defiance. That is the nature of a representative democracy. It is our way of testing the question of how much authority the government should have.

You have heard the argument that by these actions they are protecting the vulnerable – the elderly, the infirm, those with underlying lung issues and the like. But if the infirm abide by the recommendations, as Charlene and I are doing because of her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, they will be maintaining the correct social distance and will be wearing a mask when they are around other people. And anyone else who is particularly concerned about getting COVID-19 can do the same. If not, the decision will be theirs and any consequences will be on them. Health care workers will take all the extra precautions needed.

The disparate effects of both the virus and the restrictions is a different matter. Black people are more greatly affected by both, but the restrictions don’t change that, unless, perhaps, they make it worse.