COVID-19 Story that will make you smile...NOT.

[Anonymous]

Some fool called this a conspiracy theory. To me a lot of valid points were made.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2020/04/15/covid-19-lockdown-a-deal-with-the-devi...

[tasfleur]

Chameleon, I wasn't looking at it from a historical point of view.  It is not that your view is invalid, it is indeed, very valid.

History dictates there will always be conflicts and plagues.

I don't think anyone would deny the cruelty, severe hardships, death and destruction that mankind inflicted/inflicts on each other, or take anything away within the parameters of it and beyond, historically or otherwise.

There is no insult to your memories and realities intended, or indifference to what anyone has sufferred in the past and/or continues to do so and certainly no flippancy either.

I was not only posting about Australia, let's make that clear.  I was referring to what is happening right here and now around the world;  deaths and the shocking repercussions of those who are suffering the most.

Farmers will take a huge blow, no doubt you are right about that.  Many will recover though and hopefully grow new harvests again.  It will be a long and arduous recovery.

Everyone has someone in lockdown;  in sickness, in misery, in sadness around this covid-19 outbreak, none of us are unique in that.

So yes, I refer to it as a war, certainly variant of one.

[springyzone]

I think the key thing in any situation, right through history, is that not everyone is equally affected.

That's just the way it is.

During the Great Depression, I have heard the story about how one set of my grandparents were okay as my grandfather stayed in work. The other set of grandparents, they did it much harder. Then during the second world war, the grandfather who did it harder in the depression was killed and my grandmother (still quite a young woman) was left to bring up two young children.

So it will be the same during this pandemic. Some people badly affected, some virtually untouched and others who actually zoom ahead for one reason or another.

On the whole, I think that we in Australia over the last generation or so have been fairly lucky. We live in a peaceful country, there has been relative prosperity and desptite recessions, we have never had a Great Depression or world war to contend with. This is the first pandemic for most of us. But that doesn't mean no one has suffered hard times.

[tasfleur]

You are so right springyzone, it's different for all of us.  Our memories, knowledge, experiences, reactions and our compassion or otherwise.

It is not as though, whether here in Australia or anywhere else, that one does not understand the meaning or consequences of war.  Semantics play no part here, and what is war and death to one, perhaps is understood differently by another,

I can relate to it both ways, a "war on Covid-19" or a "war" where humans try to eliminate each other for whatever stupid reason ... as we all know and as history shows, a virus can also eliminate thousands/millions of humans with its own "war", and we have to fight that war the best we know how.

Médecins Sans Frontières was my experience.  It didn't matter what position one held, it was the same nightmare in that hellishly hot place filled with hatred, blood and sorrow as it was/is in all wars.

That's all I have to say on the subject and if the word "war" caused Chameleon such upset because he doesn't approve of another person's interpretation acceptable in the English language (and many others),  I can't influence or change that (neither would I want to).

Having stated that, I do respect the poster, he just about always is the voice of reason and down to earth ... 

[not_for_sale2025]

What I have noticed over the last few days is a change in attitude across the world towards the value of normality and one's freedom to live their usual life, compared to the value of life. I look at some videos of the horrors Covid 19 has brought to some third world countries, then the videos of protesters bemoaning isolation and restrictions in other rich countries. It seems that many people have already run out of patience and are prepared to forsake the casualties of this pandemic so they can re-establish stability and happiness.

It makes me wonder what the value of life will become as time moves on. As with war the value of life appears it will change as other stressors wear people down. A mate of mine who served in Vietnam told me that his attitude towards casualties and collateral damage changed the longer he was there. He had much guilt afterwards and questioned whether his concept of humanness was forever damaged. I see potential similarities with this Covid 19 war and fear the value of life will be lessened as we perceive a greater need to return back to the way it was.

[springyzone]

I think the word 'war' can be used to describe a fight against a killer virus. We already hear it used in lots of other contexts, such as war on waste etc

Certainly those in the front lines of medical treatment in places like Italy a month or so ago would have been working in hellish conditions, as you described. Words such as fight, battle & war.. we understand them in context and I do think countries around the world have been fighting to lessen the effects of the virus. The economic impact has probably been as severe as any other conventional war. I guess the only good thing is (hopefully) this virus won't be around for 6 years, wreaking havoc.

I was also interested in not for sale's comment:

It makes me wonder what the value of life will become as time moves on. As with war the value of life appears it will change as other stressors wear people down. A mate of mine who served in Vietnam told me that his attitude towards casualties and collateral damage changed the longer he was there. He had much guilt afterwards and questioned whether his concept of humanness was forever damaged. 

It reminds me very much of a Vietnam vet (now deceased) who used to post on another forum I was on. He was posting for 8 years so I got to know a fair bit about him and he always said that civilian casualties were normal in war and people shouldn't expect otherwise. That if civilians supported a side or lived in a country at war, they they should not expect immunity. At first i was shocked but in time I came to see what he meant.

Bottom line is this 'concept of humanness/value of human life' is not a constant either through history or across cultures and I don't think we should expect it to be.

I suspect we can only have a view that every life is valuable etc in times of peace, stability, prosperity. When times get challenging, then the reality is we make decisions. That's what happened in Italy when medical staff had to decide who would get a ventilator and who would miss out. And in a conventional war, it would be normal to be relieved to see your attackers killed or defeated.

[lionrose.7]

A lot of people hae suffered, how about the people with Cancer that could not go to hospital for treatment.

I myself had 2 hospital vists cancelled, finally to get a appointment and get a bloody shock.

Thank goodness a have a build in Happiness Gen