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We Can All Help
The biochemistry of being alone, and how we can improve the status quo
As blustering politicians around the world have plunged us into a global catastrophe in order to respond to the demands of hysterical citizens eager to be “saved” from covid-19, we’ve all ended up locked away and isolated from each other. When we venture out onto the streets we imagine (thanks to the irresponsible sensationalism of the mass media that created this problem in the first place) that our lives are endangered by everyone who has the temerity to pass nearby. We’re encouraged to practice “social distancing” and hide away behind face masks than in reality hugely increase our probability of bacterial infection of the lungs and throat while doing practically nothing to actually prevent viral infection.*
In short, we’ve all been terrified out of our slender wits and many of us are now completely alone.
As is always the case with panic-induced measures, the harms are greater than the benefits they’re supposed to convey. But as we can’t make ourselves less simple-minded and as we can’t combat the ever-present mass media’s pervasive fear-mongering, there’s nothing we can do about folly on a global scale.
We in the affluent and pampered West can, however, take small personal steps to mitigate a few of the many harms our foolish policies have inflicted on those least…
