Covid-19 - The silver lining (Positives!)

[gordon s]

I'm on medication, so happy to risk one ventricle.........

Edited March 26, 2020 by gordon s

[A1X]

Hopefully it should show society , who the actual key workers  are ! Not celebrities or sports stars but the nurses , doctors, retail workers, delivery drivers .  but one thing I have noticed is that no one seems so say anything about the thousands making sure the orders are picked and packed , Lorries loaded . We would all like to be safe and with our families but keeping the country  stocked up is vital . 

[runs as required]

2 hours ago, Southernman46 said:

 

She says she wouldn't want to be responsible for a country-wide increase in high blood-pressure ……….. 

... she might launch a thousand ships

[runs as required]

I really meant to say that was a memorable aspect of WW II - the Self- Education that came out of the endless waiting around and boredom until there was a sudden violent action  - over in minutes.

I can remember my grandfather - a fire watcher at Mt Pleasant Post Office being an avid self-improvement reader of (German!) philosophy.

The wartime Penguins are still expensive collectors items in Barter Books at Alnwick station - the origin of the only ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’ poster to ever survive! 

[298]

2 hours ago, A1X said:

Hopefully it should show society , who the actual key workers  are ! Not celebrities or sports stars but the nurses , doctors, retail workers, delivery drivers .  but one thing I have noticed is that no one seems so say anything about the thousands making sure the orders are picked and packed , Lorries loaded . We would all like to be safe and with our families but keeping the country  stocked up is vital . 

 

We've managed record tonnages of "Orange corn snack product no's 1 and 2" on about half of the employees present. And the commute to and from work is alot better....

 

....I still feel like a Cockroach in a post apocalyptic world tho...

Edited March 26, 2020 by 298

[Nearholmer]

There are a host of positives that could come from it, many already mentioned:

 

- focus on what actually matters in life, rather than on gross consumption;

 

- reminder of our mutual reliance;

- opportunity to ‘re-set’ on environmental destruction, by moving beyond unnecessary consumption;

 

- a deep rethink about international air-travel (Which means re-thinking holidays to Marbella, not just Thailand); 

 

- some sane thinking about how to distribute wealth in a world which doesn’t need so many worker-bees, because it invented robots and AI;

 

- ways of making economic mass migration unnecessary, thereby ramping down multiple tensions in multiple places;

 

- a waking-up to the fact that idiotic leaders peddling infantile solutions to complex problems will always and necessarily crumble in the face of the need to actually do real things;

 

etc, etc ......

 

But, to get to those things would require that, in many senses, “the meek shall inherit the earth”, and, thus far I don’t see even a glimmer of a glimmer that that is likely to happen, I’m afraid.

 

So far, everyone is talking about “restarting” as soon as possible, and there are good reasons for that, primarily that high-speed capitalism is the primary means of distribution of wealth (it distributes wealth in a grossly inequitable fashion, but it does distribute it), so that without it nobody gets any money to feed or house themselves with, except that ......

 

The UK seems to have invented a new method of distribution on the hoof (the government pays everybody), but that presumably isn’t designed for the long term!

 

Lots for quick-thinking progressive politicians to go-for, but against all the odds.

 

And, power-grabbers are already exploiting the situation for their benefit, and will continue to do so, naming the Russian State as one, creating the possibility of doubly negative outcomes, so protecting even a neutral outcome, let alone a positive one, will be a serious challenge.

[Reorte]

3 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

- some sane thinking about how to distribute wealth in a world which doesn’t need so many worker-bees, because it invented robots and AI;

 

Sorry to grumble in a thread about positives (not for the first time either) but that isn't one IMO - robots and AI can lead to two related things - greater efficiency, and less need to involve as many people in their production. This is good where we're suffering for want of stuff (i.e. throughout most of history) but in the western world we could probably do with getting by with less anyway now. It might be nice if it translated into everyone still working, just not as much, but there's little sign of that happening, instead a greater disparity between the haves and have nots and a massive growth of wealth at the top with little below seems the more likely outcome.

 

Anyway, another apology for the grump.

[Reorte]

In order to balance out the above, I'm actually getting more exercise now that I'm going for a walk at lunchtime (both nicer and hillier where I live than at the office).

[Nearholmer]

Too much stuff in (some of) the developed world is what I mean by ‘gross consumption’, and ‘removing the need for economic migration’ maps directly onto your point about ‘haves and have nots’ - ‘have nots’ migrate in an attempt to become ‘haves’, remove that necessity and you remove the drive to migrate.

[Mallard60022]

15 hours ago, jcm@gwr said:

 

I'll give you an 'interesting' positive!

On Radio 4 last week, it was pointed out, that although Covid-19 had definitely

taken over 3,000 lives in China, because it had also caused them to shut down

almost all the factories in that State, they calculated that approximately 5,000

people didn't die from air pollution normally created by those factories!

 

So, would you like to re-think your arrogant, holier-than-thou comments?

 

This thread is a great way to stem the feelings of helplessness, it can raise the

spirits, and is as important as doing a bit of modelling for the mental health of

many forum members. It is also not disrespectful to anyone, there are always

positives and we should always look for them in any bad situation or crisis.

Thank you, saved me doing it. The last of his paragraphs is just about OK but otherwise a very negative and badly thought comment.

Phil

 

[Satan's Goldfish]

[Nick C]

I think one of the key things coming out of it at the moment, which is both a positive and a negative, is that it's showing people in their true light - on the good side that's people looking out for their neighbours, 400k people volunteering to help the NHS, and the guy in Oxfordshire who has paid the local pub to deliver a takeaway dinner to everyone in the village, and on the bad side it's panic buying, people ignoring the rules because it doesn't suit them, and the greed of certain companies such as Wetherspoons and RyanAir.

[Mallard60022]

The lack if empathy of the Dog bollox comment is balanced here by the words of a Psychiatrist  that, I think, would be accepted as fact. "Negative thoughts increase anxiety, depression and anger...." (don't I know this)….." The only way to stop it is to turn things on their head, look for positives everyday, interact positively everyday …." (as here hopefully)…" and do positive activity every day. Nothing huge, just small changes will suffice to rewire the brain."

Hope that is clear Mr Bollox?

Anyway, who is for the clap at 20.00? 

Phil

Edited March 26, 2020 by Mallard60022

[Mallard60022]

9 minutes ago, Nick C said:

I think one of the key things coming out of it at the moment, which is both a positive and a negative, is that it's showing people in their true light - on the good side that's people looking out for their neighbours, 400k people volunteering to help the NHS, and the guy in Oxfordshire who has paid the local pub to deliver a takeaway dinner to everyone in the village, and on the bad side it's panic buying, people ignoring the rules because it doesn't suit them, and the greed of certain companies such as Wetherspoons and RyanAir.

The loss of Weatherspoons will be a huge positive.....just sayin'

[Stubby47]

9 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

The loss of Weatherspoons will be a huge positive.....just sayin'

ChrisF will have to find somewhere else for breakfast though...

[APOLLO]

Well I miss our local Spoons - one of the better ones. Staff there are brilliant and I feel sorry for them. I (used to) meet a couple of mates there every so often for a natter, couple of pints and a bite to eat. Only time I get to the pub these (those !!) days. Pity the big spoons boss is a complete prick.

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

[The Johnster]

Don't judge 'Spoons by it's reputation or the idiot that runs it; some are a bit rough and desperate but by and large they are safe, clean, good value, convivial, and comfortable; moreover the sound is turned down on the fruit machines and there's no music to interfere with your conversation (though this does get louder and more shouty as the evening develops).  The food can be pretty decent unless you go when they're busy, such as dinner time, and staff are friendly and polite.  

 

What you have heard about it from stand up comics who know they can get a cheap shot in for a free laugh and the sort of middle class drinkers who look down on you because they go to craft microbrewery bars (not saying all middle class drinkers are like this) may not necessarily be completely true!

Edited March 26, 2020 by The Johnster

[stovepipe]

Well to be fair they took a well publicised position on something they didn't need to have done, and alienated a sizeable portion of their clientele, who were basically made to feel unwelcome. At the same time micro-pubs took off, in many cases offering far more convivial surroundings, although at a higher price but also of higher quality. The less price conscious drinker had somewhere nicer to go, and I doubt the continued bletherings of the chains founder have tempted any of these drinkers back, unless perhaps when looking for a cheap meal in an unfamiliar town.

[LBRJ]

7 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

The loss of Weatherspoons will be a huge positive.....just sayin'

 

Presumably not so good for the huge amount of people that use them every week? 

 

I have been on and around the fringes of the trade all my life (and before, my mum was born in a pub) and the old 'spoons gave a lot of the trade the kick up the arse it needed to have - they also did a lot for sales of the "real ale" (no one is perfect  ) 

But of cause Tim Martin saw the way that a certain vote would go, and now he is anathema to a certain type of person

[LBRJ]

I am really starting to wonder (with a bit of empirical evidence so far) that the truly woeful "home delivery" services offered by the big supermarkets may not be the start of the end of them.

The country is full of people who "dont really like Tescosainsburies etc" but put up with em cos they have their uses....

now they are starting to prove that those uses are more than somewhat limited there is a spark of shopping local...We must fan that spark 

[big jim]

2 hours ago, stovepipe said:

I doubt the continued bletherings of the chains founder have tempted any of these drinkers back, unless perhaps when looking for a cheap meal in an unfamiliar town.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there, i will be doing my best at boycotting ‘spoons when all this blows over but it’s going to be difficult, as a non drinker I use them regularly for dining when out with the family or while lodging in work and I don’t fancy a hotel dinner, you know what you are getting, it’s cheap and most places are actually quite pleasant (rugeley, congleton, sandbach and Dumfries in particular)

 

saying that I’ve just discovered ‘hungry horse’ which by us is greene king chain and the food there is on a par if not slightly better than ‘spoons but a touch more expensive so I’ll try and use them more when out and about 

 

 

[Fenman]

13 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

...

"Negative thoughts increase anxiety, depression and anger...." (don't I know this)….." The only way to stop it is to turn things on their head, look for positives everyday, interact positively everyday …." (as here hopefully)…" and do positive activity every day. Nothing huge, just small changes will suffice to rewire the brain."

...

I think this is very sound advice. We can all choose the frames of reference we use — who are we comparing ourselves to/ measuring ourselves against? — and those choices can have profound implications for our state of mind. 
 

The fact is, compared to every human that has ever lived, most of us had already won life’s lottery by being born in a Western European country in the second half of the 20th century (+/-). Our chances of even just surviving birth and childhood were orders of magnitude better than for most of humanity. Free comprehensive-ish healthcare and free-ish education. Choices — lots of them — and at least a basic social safety net. What a time (for most) to be alive!
 

Unfortunately for their mental health, many people look in the wrong direction. There’s a tragic story explaining why all those rich businessmen sitting in the First Class section of the plane are so miserable: it’s because they’ve forgotten how much materially better off they are than almost everyone sitting behind them and, instead, they’re grumpy because their mates are travelling in private jets. 
 

Looking for positives in terrible circumstances is not disrespectful to those who are suffering, and nor is it necessarily a sign of mixed-up priorities: it’s about trying to keep a sense of perspective and to remain on an even keel. 
 

Paul

 

 

[eastglosmog]

15 hours ago, Satan's Goldfish said:

Good grief, I didn't realise that sea levels had risen so far as to drown Slough!

[RedgateModels]

18 minutes ago, eastglosmog said:

Good grief, I didn't realise that sea levels had risen so far as to drown Slough!

 

if only ......

[cactustrain]

It is much quieter at the moment. You don't realise how much background noise there is until it stops. As I get older I appreciate peace and quiet more and more.

 

The air quality is noticeably better and the air smells fresh.

 

You can see clear blue sky - plane vapour trails do seem to seed clouds.