Fear

Earlier today, I was presented with another interesting interview concerning the virus and our response to the same. This one:

It came to my attention with the claim that it has been banned by Youtube and removed to prevent it being widely viewed and shared. Subsequently, it was re-instated, but I felt complelled to watch to discover what Youtube and, more importantly, its controllers could have found so dangerous. In my humble analysis, there is precisely nothing therein to justify any form of censorship. This, I find quite frightening. What is/was the agenda behind such action? Sinister? Perhaps.

Setting aside such concerns, the content of the interview is nothing but two apparently rational, reasonable, Brits discussing COVID-19 and the various responses to the pandemic. I cannot but direct my thoughts to Taiwan, my chosen home. If you’ve been reading my thoughts before this, you’ll have a good idea where this is going next.

Taiwan has been held up as a beacon of hope, in the sense that it has managed to all but neutralise the threat posed by this pandemic. There is undoubtedly an overarching sense of fear out here. There has long been a culture of wearing masks for fear of passing on/catching something nasty. As mentioned elsewhere, it is not uncommon to see someone wearing a mask while driving an (otherwise empty) S Class Mercedes Benz, or a lone individual walking in the countryside, miles from anyone – except me passing 50 metres away on my bike, obviously – with their nose an mouth safely ensconced in a flimsy paper-based teabag with ear loops. Quite what they are attempting to protect themselves from in such circumstances is a mystery to me, especially when the very same person will be driving his/her S Class like a total bell-end, or will be walking to his/her scooter which will then be ridden in a manner so reckless that the wheels themselves might simply give up the will to live and explode spontaneously in a fit of pique.

Perspective, you see. The hysteria about COVID-19 is not entirely unexpected. I was once reprimanded for serving my son a bowl of cornflakes with cold milk when it was slightly chilly outside. There is a level of irrationality here that I have not witnessed elsewhere. There is immense national pride being expressed about the lack of new virus cases; the number of clear days as I write is, undoubtedly, impresive. Look the other way, however… Unnecessary deaths and injuries on the roads are essentially ignored. At least 8 people per day are being killed and God knows how many injured, quite unnecessarily. I think 8 people in total have died from the virus since the beginning of this scare. Which sounds the most scary to you?

Fear of something you cannot see is not unusual, but I also fear for what I can see. I cannot see any sign that serious steps will be taken to educate and (re)train [there was never any meaningful training, as far as I can ascertain] the road users all around me. I can see moronic, selfish, impatient, dangerous behaviour every time I’m out and about.

It makes no sense.