First and foremost, I find myself dealing with the relentless existential horror of knowing that thousands of wonderful people are being slaughtered by this virus - people with friends and families, people who none of us will ever get a chance to know now. And then it strikes me that this is only the beginning, and that the scale of this nightmare will soon reach unimaginable proportions. It doesn't take a genius to see that this trend of an increasing rate of deaths could reach into the millions before we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel:
And yet there's a glimmer of hope at the back of my mind for the world we'll find on the other side of this horrifying calamity. For so many years now I've been watching the world get worse every day, as the corrupt and powerful have gradually refined exploitation and deceit into a sublime sophisticated machine, like a noose slowly strangling the spirit of humanity to death. Perhaps if we can break free of this relentlessly oppressive paradigm as a result of this horrible mass sacrifice of human life and happiness, at least it won't be a meaningless sacrifice. I feel like we have a deep moral obligation to the people we're losing, to create a better world on the other side of this. And eerily, for the first time in my life, that seems like it might actually be possible.
Some historians argue that
The Black Death played a key role in the dawn of the Renaissance. I hope that the shadow that this pandemic casts upon the world will likewise herald a more compassionate and flourishing era for human civilization. Perhaps a major global disruption and the deaths of millions of innocent people is the only way that we could ever break the shackles of corporate oppression strangling this world and crushing hope from the human condition.
With this kind of stuff on my mind, I'm finding it hard to focus on my professional obligations, but when I do, I'm grateful for the sense of escape they afford. But it's very difficult to maintain focus for long periods of time right now - which is the bedrock of productivity, in the face of the uncertainty about the survival of friends and family, and even oneself, over the weeks and months ahead.
I will be immensely grateful if none of us lose loved ones to this. But logically I know that's virtually impossible.
My best wishes to all of you.