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drwexElse-slack someone pointed out that we missed an obvious marker in time, but even though it's late I give you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm51ihfi1p4&ab_channel=RHINO
(2020 - 24 hours to go!)
Anyway, here we are at the end of this year and nearly at the end of the pandemic. Like, this thing has only finger-countable months left. I might not be able to fly to Scotland in summer 2021 but I'm pretty sure I'll see family for holidays next winter in person. This is also not the big one - this was a warning shot and we still nearly killed ourselves. Infecting ourselves with a fascist criminal empire instead of a government was also nearly fatal, but we seem to have skated past that pit for now.
I find myself in a weird position. Normally when you find yourself in a bad place, you want to go back. People wail about wanting it to be "like it was before". But here's the thing - the way it was before? That sucked. Part of what we've learned (I hope) from this year is that there were many broken things about the pre-pandemic world. We white people got to ignore most of them.
Racism? Broken. Our policies on immigration and refugees? Broken. Our relationships with dictators and autocrats around the world? Broken. Our bloated and too-expensive private healthcare system? Broken. Our underpaid and overworked and unappreciated public school systems? Broken. Our insane ideas about work-life balance? Broken. Our veneration of billionaires? Broken. Our starvation-wage employment of people who do everything from make our fast food to care for our elderly? Broken. Our casually destructive model of work and transportation? Broken. Our lack of concern for the planet we hold in trust for our children? SUPER broken. I don't want to "go back to the way it was" on any of those things.
Trump always was a symptom; he didn't invent any of these problems, though he made them all worse and shone a harsh light on their realities. After he's gone we'll still need to deal with the fact that 47% of Americans who voted thought having a fascist criminal enterprise for a government was just fine, thanks.
If you can't go back and you can't stay here, the only other option is forward, right? It's just damned hard to figure out what "forward" should be like when you're concerned about whether your neighbors are going to make you sick and your government is going to send black vans full of unmarked stasi to grab your friends off the street. Fighting to stay alive has kind of taken up all the mental energy I might have put into thinking about a positive vision of the future. All I can tell you is what it should not be.
This week I felt confident enough about my financial situation to turn on my charitable contributions, which I had turned off in April. It's a small thing, but it meant a lot to me.
May we all have a pleasantly boring 2021. I doubt it, but it's a wish right now. And 2020? Be gone and don't let the door hit you on your way out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm51ihfi1p4&ab_channel=RHINO
(2020 - 24 hours to go!)
Anyway, here we are at the end of this year and nearly at the end of the pandemic. Like, this thing has only finger-countable months left. I might not be able to fly to Scotland in summer 2021 but I'm pretty sure I'll see family for holidays next winter in person. This is also not the big one - this was a warning shot and we still nearly killed ourselves. Infecting ourselves with a fascist criminal empire instead of a government was also nearly fatal, but we seem to have skated past that pit for now.
I find myself in a weird position. Normally when you find yourself in a bad place, you want to go back. People wail about wanting it to be "like it was before". But here's the thing - the way it was before? That sucked. Part of what we've learned (I hope) from this year is that there were many broken things about the pre-pandemic world. We white people got to ignore most of them.
Racism? Broken. Our policies on immigration and refugees? Broken. Our relationships with dictators and autocrats around the world? Broken. Our bloated and too-expensive private healthcare system? Broken. Our underpaid and overworked and unappreciated public school systems? Broken. Our insane ideas about work-life balance? Broken. Our veneration of billionaires? Broken. Our starvation-wage employment of people who do everything from make our fast food to care for our elderly? Broken. Our casually destructive model of work and transportation? Broken. Our lack of concern for the planet we hold in trust for our children? SUPER broken. I don't want to "go back to the way it was" on any of those things.
Trump always was a symptom; he didn't invent any of these problems, though he made them all worse and shone a harsh light on their realities. After he's gone we'll still need to deal with the fact that 47% of Americans who voted thought having a fascist criminal enterprise for a government was just fine, thanks.
If you can't go back and you can't stay here, the only other option is forward, right? It's just damned hard to figure out what "forward" should be like when you're concerned about whether your neighbors are going to make you sick and your government is going to send black vans full of unmarked stasi to grab your friends off the street. Fighting to stay alive has kind of taken up all the mental energy I might have put into thinking about a positive vision of the future. All I can tell you is what it should not be.
This week I felt confident enough about my financial situation to turn on my charitable contributions, which I had turned off in April. It's a small thing, but it meant a lot to me.
May we all have a pleasantly boring 2021. I doubt it, but it's a wish right now. And 2020? Be gone and don't let the door hit you on your way out.
I wanna be sedated
Date: 2020-12-31 06:57 pm (UTC)I don't want it to be like it was before.
The only way out is through.
The only salvation is in ourselves and figuring out how to be the best version of ourselves and caring about each other. I'm glad I get to care about you.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 07:33 pm (UTC)Re: I wanna be sedated
Date: 2020-12-31 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 10:28 pm (UTC)With Biden's win I've switched my charity budget back from the ACLU to kiva.org again and that feels nice. So, I hear you on the contributions.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 10:34 pm (UTC)most of my money right now is going to MSF/DWB as before.
well put
Date: 2021-01-01 04:05 pm (UTC)