Scuttlebutt: Home Time
This is truly a strange time. It is really hard to try and write about any subject but the virus right now, since nearly every facet of life has been altered by it. I often write about environmental destruction, yet with humans laying off much of their destructive behavior, the biosphere is actually benefitting.
Noticeably, many falsehoods that had guided our politics are becoming less believable. For example, it has been driven into the fabric of our politics that the “makers” should have the power and the wealth because they know better what to do with it. Many of us never did buy into that thinking, but it didn't stopped us from electing a businessman (grifter?) to the highest office of the land. The current occupant of the White House is, as advertised, trying to run the country like his personal business. We now see what happens when dedication to public service is replaced by a single minded pursuit of money and power. Compassion gets replaced by greed. Cooperation gets replaced by competition (ask the governors about that one).
Ever since WWII we have defined national security in terms of our war-fighting power. Do we have enough guns and technology? Perhaps now, national security will come to have a wider and more relevant definition. Despite untold trillions spent on war-fighting capacity, we have not “won” a war in 75 years (because those kind of wars aren't “won” anymore). Now we are losing a war against an enemy for which we have not prepared.
We are also re-evaluating the value of labor. The great god of capital doesn't seem so almighty when it is the $10/hr store clerk who is delivering vital supplies to a desperate nation, while the Wall Street gang worry only about how they can gain some advantage from the suffering of millions.
Many things are going to change permanently in our society. Online shopping, for example, is going through the roof right now and while people will eventually return to brick and mortar stores, FedEx and UPS drivers have a solid future. And here come the drones!
Hot wars seem to be slowing as the causes of some of the conflicts pale in comparison to having nations ravaged by a pandemic. Nevertheless, global competition has not gone away. Saudi Arabia is currently locking horns with Russia over oil production causing a drop in oil prices that most of us never thought we would see again. It is a loser for both countries, but the Saudi are so rich they can afford it while Russia, which is heavily dependent on oil exports, is going to get crushed by this. Their economy is smaller than that of Italy to begin with and if you take their oil rubles our of the picture, they will suffer more economic damage than the U.S. could ever inflict with sanctions.
A side benefit of this oil price drop is that shale oil is too expensive to produce right now (yea, but sorry oil workers).
Between his support of deep well U.S. producers and his cozying up to Putin, Trump must be awfully conflicted.
As for me personally, the first few weeks were tough. I had trouble getting over my disappointment that my plans and routines were disrupted. Old, retired guys like me tend to fall into some pretty strict routines, especially when you can decide for yourself what those routines will be. Nowadays, I don't have to get up in the morning and go to work, raise kids, or struggle to pay a mortgage (I don't have one). Under these kinds of circumstances you can get pretty comfortable with your life. Isn't that what we are working towards most of our lives?. When the lock-downs got put into place, I, like most of you, felt cheated. That is why these fools are running around protesting the lock-downs. They feel cheated too, but that is just their self-centered interests over-riding whatever common sense they may have had prior to the pandemic.
I got over feeling sorry for myself. A couple of things changed my mind for the better. Foremost is the fact that I know I have it pretty easy compared to many other people. For that reason alone, I should not gripe but simply be thankful, which I very much am. The other thing that occurred to me was that in the past, I have many times wistfully said, “I wish I could just stay home and not have to go anywhere” Well, my wish came true, so I better figure out why I said that.
Think of all the things that you have thought you wanted to do around the house or property, but it never felt like you could spare the time to do it. The list can be long and I am still working my way through mine. Take that box of old photos that I have been wanting to go though to select keepers and put them in the empty albums that I have had since before digital photography. Then there are the ones I would like to send to other people that I think they would enjoy. Those are getting digitized so that I can email them (“here's a picture of you when you only weighed 160 lbs”).
My garage has also undergone a major re-organization and cleaning. I have been fascinated by some of the stuff that I have been collecting for decades and forgot I even had. There will be a major run to the transfer station when this is all over. And lookout Pay-N-Take!
I never realized how many dust bunnies could collect in the back of a closet.
I have rolled $162 in coins out of my coin jar (not that I have many places to spend it).
I am learning about Zoom and Slack and other social media that I hope to soon forget, as I have had to add to my 5 typed pages of passwords.
There is a lot of pent-up energy building as the days of the lock-down go on. I'm starting to wonder if I should be more concerned about civil chaos than the pandemic.
Thinker image: Image by Johnnie Shannon from Pixabay
