Walking down the street on this beautiful fall day, the contrast between the joyous sense of a spontaneous order inherent in nature, and the increasing amount of people walking around afraid of nature and each other, is ever more palpable. For a while, many people thought the changes were part of just some temporary disaster, natural or not, but one that would, no doubt, be over soon. Some “great pause” in our way of life. Some people may be sheltered enough to still believe this.
But most should know now, that this is a “great reset”, as some of the planners have called it. It is also a great transformation. Enough people are fine with where this is going and seem so concerned with orange-guy-bad that they double down on a more socially-determined opinion as to not be mistaken for holding an anti-social “belief”.
As the stakes around who gets to determine, not just truth, but the whole rational edifice of society become this high, nuance becomes difficult and even threatening. The scope of what is deemed “rational” narrows. Any meaning, any “sense” derived from that trust and love of nature (and the science that draws from that frequently repressed “romantic” side of our cultural heritage), must seem irrational, or, if put in rational form, merely a flight of philosophical fancy, an affectation of difference, or a disconnection from people and the obvious truth of what is going on.
But to those not falling into the trap, it is society that is separating from us and the rest of nature. A new normal is coming; people are already celebrating. But when the party really starts back up, it won’t just be stubborn reactionaries missing: https://www.billboard.com/…/ticketmaster-vaccine-check…
The “great reset” might give way to a “great split” if we can’t start thinking differently soon and bridge this gaping split in realities generated by politicized thought. If you really think for yourself, you will think differently, and, when political, you will form alliances, not decide on opinions and form entrenched filiations.
Perhaps this is a privileged intellectual conceit, as I have been accused of lately. But I am grateful for the privilege of having just enough security and stability in my life to have access to an education and a meager livelihood. But not enough money or health to have a career. It has afforded me the chance to figure things out for myself and truly “heal”, because of the space and time that life and society have given me to truly “feel”.
I hope more people can have such a privilege, but it is rare to have an education without being so burdened with work and so invested in the approval of others as to make solitary-thought difficult. And the uneducated are too burdened with life to achieve the breadth of understanding that could put their problems in a more constructive light. But I am so grateful that these current biopolitical issues are bringing more people similarly privileged to my awareness. As health security and health fascism become increasingly tied up together, I hope you will forgive us if we continue to question this path so many are taking.
No matter how wide this rift between all of us gets, there is always the opportunity for new alliances. For as long as we are willing to see the potentials in every problem, to trust that the meaning of anything is undecided and open to evolution—as long as we can find in our hearts a love of learning as great as our love of living, we have a shot at a future not completely captured by a system from which, eventually, there might not be any escape.
