What We've Learned from COVID

It's been an intense and somewhat overwhelming year. It started with a *bang* when COVID entered our consciousness and then began to affect our lives in practical ways. There's been a lot of talk about 're-evaluation' and 'resetting' those lives post-COVID. I doubt whether anything really changes in the short term but I do see it happening in the long term.

Many, many years ago, before the world economy got so insanely manic, I predicted global life would eventually reach its limits - and not because I am narrow-minded, parochial or 'protectionist'. I love living in a multi-cultural country. Hell my own family were European immigrants. Cuisine, music and art have improved exponentially since the 70s because of the wonderful mix of cultures we have in Australia. For a while my best friend at primary school was an Aboriginal girl. Later when we moved into a new suburb I went to a brand new highschool where I can only recall one 'Australian'. Most kids were first generation English immigrants and some of my friends were Sri Lankan and eastern-European. Back then the mix of cultures and exchange of ideas was on a human scale - a scale that, as individuals living in a society - we could psychologically 'manage'.

Although as humans we may be capable of sending rockets to Mars, landing on the moon and engaging in many other extraordinary feats - we are still very primitive, and tribal. Just take a look at what happened during this pandemic. We've witnessed a schizoid display of ridiculous survivalist mob mentality (eg toilet paper hoarding, increased buying of guns - even in Australia) alongside selfless acts of compassion and generosity. And that's my point. After millenia of human evolution this is still who we are. Despite all our technology and the 'smart' stuff we can do on the outside - we haven't really changed on the inside. We are just as primitive as we were.

During the shutdown there was a mix of responses - some complained while others took the opportunity to reconnect with their families - the people they actually live with but hardly ever connect with because they are separated by being too busy and/or obsessed with technology. (We also saw how technology can be a force for good in connecting people). Parents were forced to spend longer in the company of their own children than they had since they were babies. And they made some discoveries, both good and bad. Parents complained about how hard it was to keep their children occupied and 'entertained' and how their kids were driving them crazy. No doubt kids had their own view of this. It forced both parents and kids to realise the difficult but important job teachers do and that is long overdue. It also made parents notice the inability of their kids to self-occupy and self-regulate. In some cases - as families gardened, baked and revisited hand crafts together - both kids and parents learned a new appreciation for each other and the bonds they share.

Many during the shutdown were more anxious, bored, fearful and psychologically challenged. But many loved the enforced rest because it finally gave them an excuse to stop (except front-line workers of course, which apparently included me).

On the world stage the impacts have been more dramatic and obvious. The shutdown exposed the paradox of 'freedom' vs 'control' - the individual vs the collective - as some demanded the right to move around. You could even say exercise their 'right to die'. Conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxers have been rampant on social media, some have merit, some are just plain ridiculous.

For Australia as a nation, and the world in general, one very important massive elephant has been brought out of the room and onto centre stage - and that's our unhealthy reliance on and relationship with China. I've always been suspicious of the Chinese regime but now it is obvious to all thinking Aussies that we are in a no-win diplomatic and economic position. We may even be at physical risk. This is a direct result of globalisation and demonstrates how things have become too big, on an individual human scale, for us to manage.

I could go on listing the many things that have occurred to me during the pandemic but it's easier if I frame my observations in a big picture scenario and summarise what I think has happened, and will continue to happen. The law of expansion and contraction is immutable. It is what I call one of the 'laws of the universe', supported by both ends of the spectrum - maths/science and philosophy/spirituality. Human civilisation has been expanding and now it is contracting - it really is as simple as that. I predict we will retreat even more into our national borders. Our decadent habit of moving around the globe at will (flying pork from Australia to Asia on a daily basis FFS!) and managing an overwhelming amount of data (remembering information isn't knowledge) has reached a tipping point of complete insanity. We need to dismantle and regroup, bring things back into ourselves and become more introspective, before we can move creatively outwards again. 

I think COVID is a significant step in the protracted process of human devolution.

Image: Comet surfing dream by author. Colour pencil on paper.