February 10th, 2021
Today was about as boring a day as it gets in COVID life.
Absolutely nothing happened. Not even the news turned up any interesting insights. Just more of the same. Quite before the storm caused by variant surges. Double masking a good idea, vaccine roll out slow and full of hurdles pretty much anywhere in the world, not clear when new vaccines will be licensed, recommendation to use AstraZeneca/ Oxford vaccine anyway, who cares about South African variant, and so on. So no new insights to be gained. Hence no links today.
My evening is spend tending my fire. It is very uncooperative and I have to get up every two or three minutes to fan it, which is rather bothersom. At least I guess I get some exercise out of it as I have to regularly get off the couch.
The US news is dominated by the second impeachment trial of agent orange. The prosecution is using a lot of video footage to drive home its point. It is all moot as the GoP Senators who enabled the orange Cheeto have already made up their mind. It illustrates all that is wrong with democracy as Plato had spelled out. Rather than acting in the interest of the nation as a whole, individuals act upon what they perceive they may gain or lose. In this case voters. None of these Republican Senators go out to say the election was fair and devoid of fraud. They cling to the narrative of the former Idiot in Chief hoping that his voters will vote for them. Well, they will not. This is a person cult, not a political agenda.
Be it as it may, misguided as these folks are, they will vote to acquit, which has me hopeless for this country. No matter how hard President Biden works for the nation, some 40-60 million Americans do not recognize this administration as their legitimate government. What is worse, they will benefit from the administrations policies, but will be to blind to see. In my mind this is a nation in decline. Better get my assets out before the proverbial shit hits the fan. I need six to nine months, then I am ready to go.
I will miss my Aikidoka and I do love this house, but neither is enough reason to put myself through this. I am fortunate enough to hold the passport of a rather civilized nation, though I fear ultimately, we shall all succumb to China’s rule, the power on the rise. And living under Chinese rules is also nothing to look forward too.
The notion keeps taking me back to a book I read a while back. I can remember neither title nor author, but it was set in the future with China having established protectorates across Europe and much of the world. Most species we know today still were extinct, energy and food in short supply. Survival was basically based on the rulers (china’s) goodwill. A horror scenario; sadly though not unrealistic the way things are panning out with climate change and all. I know I will be okay during my lifetime; at best I have twenty or thirty years left on the clock. I do worry about my child though.
What kind of future are we leaving for the next generation? I fear none. Like every parent I want the best and brightest future for my child. Somehow, I had an inkling of what was to come and thought I never would have children, which might have been better seeing what our generation will leave behind. At the same time, EM is the best thing in my life. I am so proud of her; of how she is coping with the cards we have been dealt this year; the amazing young woman she has become; how caring and thoughtful she is of others. She is a wonderful person and deserves so much better than what may well be in store in the future. I find it strange to write this, given the disarray the world is in, but I would want her to have a family of her own. And while I am far from it at this point in my life, grandchildren may be a nice thing to have, if only to keep family traditions such as Christmas alive. With climate change it is not even clear if the family residence in Hamburg will still be around in twenty years. Granted, these are all just material possessions, but they are also a symbol of our life and lifestyle. I guess any reflections on life and lifestyle are superfluous unless we find our way out of the pandemic.
Currently we seem to be on a good path to do so. New reported infections are 90k, bringing the total to 27.89 million. Here is hoping that our children will inherit a place worth living in.