The New Menace

HUMANS, VIRUSES, MASKS AND THE END TIMES

Sometimes when I take a look at humanity in general I feel as though we don't deserve to be on this planet. Our ancestors obviously earned their place in this world, judging by the symbiosis they achieved with the ecosystem, but we in the current age have evolved devolved into something different. I think we have disconnected from nature and have become a net negative to the ecosystem. Like our cousins, viruses, we have become rampant and infectious, leaving nothing but destruction in our wake everywhere we go.

Talking of viruses, when SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the global pandemic known as COVID-19, first showed up here we were all a little confused. This was including the experts and scientists. This was to be expected since they were pressed for time and had to try to protect as many people as they could. I think they went for the sledge hammer, scorched earth, approach since there was a lack of information because the virus hadn't been adequately studied. In hindsight, there were things that we overdid, and things we didn't do enough of.

History will decide what we did wrong or right in late 2019/ early 2020 in the attempt to stem the flow of the pandemic around the world, but one thing I think we can all agree on is that we had too little information about what was really going on. The lack of adequate and factual information is perfect breeding ground for pseudo-science, half-truths and wild conspiracy theories of which we had many. All that mixed with the polarised political atmosphere most of the world found itself in made 2020 a pretty crazy year to say the least.


We have a new menace!

One thing that has been surprisingly polarising during this global pandemic is the issue of wearing face coverings, or "masks" as they are more commonly referred to. I think that name "mask" is unfortunate and partly to blame for the negative reactions to it. Perhaps if it had come to be known as something different, like "respiratory protector", or "facial orifice filter" or whatever, then we may not have had about half of the problems we've had with it.

I find that the issue is more evident in western countries. The wearing of masks during a pandemic (or at least an epidemic) isn't new. They were worn during the various "plague" breakouts in Europe, America, North Africa and Asia historically. Masks are also a common apparel in eastern cultures. Our good friend @maneki-neko (where the heck is he anyway?) made an amazing video about why masks are commonly worn in Asian countries like Japan. I will post it here if I can find it but it's probably lost in the IPFS wilderness of the old DTube.

A lot of the resistance to masks wasn't anything to do with the pandemic at all. Sure, some people have made the argument that they don't actually work. Some have said they make matters worse by introducing respiratory issues due to decreased oxygenation of the blood. Some have debunked that claim. Some have said it introduces more germs. Some have said it stops us from catching other germs that are good for strengthening our immune system. For instance, the "Flu" has been virtually non-existent in 2020. There was also a drastic reduction in cases of common colds. Some have argued that this is actually bad for us. Whatever the scientific truth is, some see masks as a sign of submission to authority - a taking away of their freedom. Some even don't believe in any preventative measures at all. They say let those that will naturally die, well, die.

We have a wide range of belief systems, philosophies, political affiliations, religions, social classes, and so on, that make up humanity. The year 2020 has tugged at those lines of division in a way not seen in a very long time. Some countries are now on the brink of civil war while some have directed the aggression outwards at other nations.

Whatever your stance on the wearing of masks, I think there is one issue that most of us can agree on, and it's what happens after the masks have been worn. A lot of people just take them off, and casually toss them away without a care in the world where they land. They are not being properly disposed of in a bin, but have become the latest litter items in our world today.

Just walking around my neighbourhood I'm utterly disgusted by how much of it I see just menacingly hanging from fences, wedged into plant hedges, clustered in puddles on the road side and so on. It's such a disheartening sight. It used to be just the fast food packaging, cigarette butts and plastic bags, but now we have masks. In fact, the masks have overtaken everything else in the litter items I see nowadays.

Basically, whether we think the masks are doing good or bad vis-a-vis covid, they are a catastrophe for the environment! The irony is that the same group of people that would traditionally support the universal wearing of masks (people on the political left) are also the ones that you'd expect to be against it because of its environmental impact.

Make no mistake, this is a behavioural problem, not a scientific one. The solution to this is for people to simply dispose of their masks appropriately and not litter with it. However, as mentioned at the start of this article, human beings are like viruses. Our effect on this plant is net negative and destructive. Sure, each individual may not see what damage he or she is doing. Heck, some like me can even think they're a net positive - always disposing their rubbish adequately, recycling and composting, e.t.c, but our very existence as it is (at least in the West) is damaging. We use too much energy, produce too much waste and don't replenish the earth enough. It's just a matter of time before the mathematics of the situation catch up to us.

The other option is for mother nature to take direct action and purge us from the surface of the planet - or at least cull us to a more manageable population. This is much like the way our immune system responds to viruses by making our body inhospitable to the microorganisms, like raising body temperature and changing the PH balance of the body fluids. I suppose we should prepare for some drastic conditions. Call it "end times" or call it "climate change" or whatever you like, but the future is not bright and there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it now.

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Peace & Love,

Adé