Living in coronavirusworld 59:...and what we need now

5/21

Hope (Spring Bank)

Since we’re on the edge of Memorial Day weekend, I share one of my Pirates' camo hats.

Pirates' camo

A few years ago, Major League Baseball started having teams wear camo  on Memorial weekend to honor the troops.  Problem is, that’s not what Memorial Day is about. It’s to remember those  who  died in  service, not those still alive.  I wore this hat to visit my mom one day and my Quaker cousin who was there got upset at my celebrating militarsim. It's a bit more complex. Back in Pittsburgh, I spoke at several United Mine Workers rallies. UMW folks wore camo to rallies. My youngest son identified camp with miners. He’d see someone in camo and say, dad is that miner? And then  there is the whole western Pennsylvania hunting thing.  Camo. Complicated. 

Today we’re talking about Planet of the Humans,  (https://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/search?q=planet+of+the+humans )actually a Jeff Gibbs film “presented” by Michael  Moore. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE) A  For starters, there’s lots of critique. It is not as good as a regular Michael Moore film. Why was he so big on this? Data 10 years old. Too simplistic. Not the right time for this movie, etc. It is hard to think about clean energy during this pandemic. We can only deal with so much depression at a time. Though fact is, it’s not unrelated. As we destroy our environment, natural defenses against viruses diminish. The film is also right in its evidence that capitalism has found a way to capitalize the environmental movement. That isn't an entirely bad thing in that it shows there has been some significant shift in how we understand the world. Green has become, well, green. And the bottom line point is earth cannot sustain growth as it is currently taking place. We must of course , be careful not to slip into the old Zero Population Growth mode with its intrinsic perspective favoring privilege. The fact is, as economic reality improves for populations, birth rates go down. Earth currently can produce enough food to feed its population, it’s a matter of distribution, not production. What’s necessary?

* Reduce consumption

* Change distribution

* Reduce income inequity

Reducing mindless unchecked consumption is first. 

At first we wonder if people will ever change short of catastrophe. But as we think about the shift in public values related to  smoking, in one generation.  People  and cultures can change. What the film is so right about is the sense of urgency.

As peoples' attention begins to shift towards “reopening,” we are clear that the reality is there is no going home. Where we’ll end up will be someplace new. What we loved about Wednesday morning, crowding 6 or more people into a 4 person booth, as warm and nourishing as what we ate, as enjoyable as it was uncomfortable, we may never be able to do that again. 

There is a sense that for better or worse, we’re moving  towards reopening. Bike shops are open.

Bikes for the park

More bars and restaurants every day.

Reopening

You can feel people straining. 

I put some serious time into cooking. It’s a casserole with sauerkraut, egg noodles and ground up kielbasa. Pittsburgh again, that middle Europe vibe. 

The day ends with my friends Hot Glue and the Guns' Gluey Zoomy show. I really admire what they are doing. When compared to Pee Wee Herman this morning, Joel agreed and affirmed that in Pee Wee's  own way, that show was  about changing the world. They are riffing on the best of children’s tv here, which always has adults as a conscious and intentional part of the audience. (Remedial  ed perhaps?) A place of safety is created, an affirmation that the world can be a place we can live in without fear. That our friends are special people with unique gifts and personalities. That kindness is a common trait and a natural part of our relationships. And as we come to experience this as reality, we will come to accept nothing less in the wider world. That’s what was going on with Kukla, Fran & Ollie. And Pee Wee’s Playhouse, at the edges. And the urban celebration of Sesame Street. And Mister Rogers Neighborhood at the very center of what life in community can look like, what an ideology of neighbor can look and feel like. No to mention an alternative image of what it means to be a man. Acceptance. Kindness. Cooperation. And imagination. HG&TG know this intuitively and are smart  enough not to say it  explicitly. It’s what we are going to  need on the  other side of  the virus. And what we need now to get there.