I should probably apologise for keeping writing about states of confusion, but this blog is (if it is anything) a stream of consciousness, and what I see all around me are people desperately trying to make sense of the world that we live in.
Many in positions of influence are seeking to do so in quite illogical fashion, as I have discussed in another post today.
Unfortunately, much of the media is promoting rather alarming ideas around Omicron, including that it is ‘mild' when that is definitely not the case given case numbers and admissions.
Underlying all this though is something that may be quite explicable, even if innocuously dangerous. It is the desire for normalcy. This is defined as:
The reference to war is appropriate. The word was apparently first used by President Warren Harding after WW1, and was deliberately differentiated from normality, with which it is confused.
I was reminded of it by seeing this tweet this morning:
I think that suggestion very interesting. Can our minds be repulsed by the idea of things so apparent and yet so objectionable that our desire for normalcy makes us reject their possibility? I have to admit that I think Emaz (who I do not recall coming across before) makes a good point.
Vitally, and by implication he also makes another, which is that we have to reject the bias to normalcy if we are to understand what is happening in our world, and then address it.
But I accept, that can be hard. Even the most open mind can want to believe fascism might not happen when the reality is that the threat is very real now. Normalcy might be the enemy within that lets the unthinkable happen.
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When you have societies that have been used to affluence (and let’s face it, there is still plenty of that around) I’d argue it becomes harder to get them to see otherwise.
That’s why its hard for them to take on global warming as well as dealing with the reality of a Covid I’m afraid.
Too many cannot separate the satisfying of their needs and wants in terms of ‘self-realisation’ through consumption from the challenges that we face.
Behavioural economists call it something like the ‘hot hand fallacy’ – just because we see something work well a number of times, the expectation is that it will continue to do so in perpetuity.
I think that it is also related to human beings being naturally I think optimistic beings – it’s part of our emotional make up and is part of our resilience as a species. We have become very optimistic though in the wrong things – like unfettered markets and poor economic theory. And we seem to less optimistic about each other which is sad.
Sometimes our positive attributes have a down side – they enable us to put up with people like the Tory party and their cruelty when really we should turn our backs on them and remove them.
And then there is the other thing about change – we don’t really like it. The problem is that such a lot of change we’ve endured over the years has been based on lies – take for example the chickens coming home to roost on the promise made about privatised energy provision (more competition, lower prices, more choice, more investment).
It’s the false promises of 35+ years Neo-liberalism/Libertarian ism that have have led us to be even more reluctant to face change in my view. But also more reluctant to accept limits on ANYTHING.
In many ways we are a hubris-tic society – as well as a remarkably unprincipled one.
Anyhow – just some thoughts.
Your post on January 10 2022 at 11:03 am
“When you have societies that have been used to affluence (and let’s face it, there is still plenty of that around) I’d argue it becomes harder to get them to see otherwise.”
My first reaction to this and what comes later in your post is why should such societies lose their affluence? Or is it that societies have created affluence because elites have been forced to share some of their power? Now such elites attempt to retract what has been lost from them.
After WW2 The British population created a welfare state. The small number of super rich wish to revert to the previous hierarchical model and are determined to succeed. What I refer to is a small wealth owning class at the top of the hierarchy with dependent servants layers below them and then at the bottom the majority, the masses of uneducated, unhealthy, often many on the brink of starvation. The welfare state undermined and in some countries, substantially abolished the power and acceptability of that elite. However, in many developed and successful economies austerity experiments have helped to establish a culture of belief that “normality or normalcy” is that we cannot afford welfare for everyone, we cannot afford to preserve the environment but we can afford global monopolistic corporations.
Present, individual attitudes and behaviour exist within such a context. We have lost leaderships and ideals which effectively challenge the destructive, negative perceptions driven by wealth, profit and corruption.
Environmental catastrophe is just around the corner. But we know this situation has been created by destructive decisions based on profiteering, reducing costs and making tiny sectors of global humanity super rich. But we also know it isn’t too late for remedial action in the form of global action on issues of human health as well as preserving the natural environment. This does mean redistribution of wealth as well as decision making of how such resources are utilised including ownership is possible. Globally accepted agreements, massive environmental regulation affecting everything and everybody is the remedy. It is up to humanity whether we self destruct or build a world for everybody and for everything.
The “normal” state at present seems to be a disease that has infected 30-40,000 people in this country every day from July to December, and over 100,000 people a day for the last three weeks. Where at present approaching 200 people die every day from this so-called “mild” disease (over 20,000 deaths since 1 July 2021).
Are we expected to become used to this “normal” state of affairs? For comparison, in terms of numbers, this is very considerably worse than the impact of measles in the UK before a vaccination was developed in the 1960s.
Apparently we must, indeed, ‘live with it’
Man up!
Richard, I have to say I worry somewhat that normalcy may possibly have been coined by President Warren Gamaliel (clearly his parents’ failed attempt to endow him with wisdom) Harding, of whom the wonderful poet, e.e. cummings said, on hearing of Harding’s death:
“The only man, woman, or child who ever wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors is dead.”
🙂
Talking of ‘states of confusion’ I went into Youtube today to look at a band someone had recommended and all I got was an advert from Nigel Farage (of all people) telling me that the inflation was killing the value of my savings because the Government had been printing and borrowing phenomenal amounts of money. It was their fault.
There was no mention of the effects of BREXIT (which he championed) or Covid.
It was nothing but rampant lying and misinformation with no means by which to question or challenge (it was sponsored by some company or other too whose name I forget).
So we’re talking of normal yes?
Well, lying seems to be normal these days and this is lying at scale.
No wonder its so hard to get things changed. It’s a disgrace.
Tosh. Brexit has nothing to do with it… lockdowns certainly do though… that much is pretty self-evident.
Dear ‘Eurodollar Drought’
I was minded to engage with you but reflecting on your comment a bit more I’ve realised it would be worth my time.
Sleep now in the fire.
I deleted many other comments from this person last night when I reached the same conclusion
Well, its proof if ever it were needed that there are still a lot of people out there in some form of denial or whatever.
Denial sells. I was looking at some of the more contrarian books on sale at Amazon the other day – hundreds of positive reviews on books challenging global warming or lambasting history (the so-called anti-woke brigade). It’s frightening to be honest.
The same with climate change where the real situation might be desribed as “the madness of ‘sensible’ thinking”.