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I am simply going to put forward some of my thoughts in our present context. From my youth I have thought critically concerning the way of our world. Socrates offered me a solid standpoint on the problem of democracy. It requires the development of personal critical skills and determination. To be a citizen is to be free and responsible. Something which Socrates notices as absent in Athenian democracy. Rather, citizens have been diminished to consumers by the rhetoric of persons seeking power. This being pretty much the case where we have been and how that has shaped where we now are.

For the whole of our North American experience we have presumed mastery over the natural world. We cut down forests, we polluted waters and air, we indulged in diets harmful to our overall well being. By all available means we have worked to replace the natural with the artificial. This refusal of the natural order has produced outcomes now in plain view. For example, our collective actions have initiated the formation of rapidly mutating viruses. This pattern will unfold with increasing negative impact on human well being as we go forward.

Nature is an organism just as is our personal body. Harm to any aspect represents harm to the whole. We have done great harm to our environment and now it is in defense mode. Nature is in motion to curtail our human will and its harmful actions. Some will see this and others will not. I am one who will insist that resort to the means by which our present crisis was propagated will do no good. It is time to look at the ideas undergirding our social structures, refusing ideas that are harmful and promoting ideas that are beneficial. Saying this I am well aware that the market economy will not survive this change. It depends on our consumption of the unnecessary and the superfluous. Turning towards simplicity and thrift will put us in the sights of those determined to persist along our present destructive trajectory.

I am motivated to speak my mind rather than conform to the discourse of fear that has infected our collective humanity.
 
GeoFee said:
Rather, citizens have been diminished to consumers by the rhetoric of persons seeking power.
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GeoFee said:
Turning towards simplicity and thrift will put us in the sights of those determined to persist along our present destructive trajectory.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about this when we were out and about yesterday. All or most of the restaurants and bars are closed here. Rec centres and other entertainment venues are closed. We are being forced to find "old fashioned" ways of entertaining ourselves. I saw several family groups out on bicycle rides. People were enjoying the gorgeous weather by being out walking and hiking. We got out and hiked. People are talking about learning or returning to crafts such as knitting or other hand crafts. I'm hoping that this will be a time where we re-learn to see what is important in life and that our relationships benefit from this. It will of course strain relationships too for the record.
 
Yesterday I heard a health official on the radio say: "You will lose loved ones to this". Gulp. And today I am reading about more community spread than travel spread. In the worship message I prepared for this week, but will not deliver (prepared a few weeks in advance), I mentioned the animal kingdom and humans placing themselves at the top...but, even a few weeks ago, I suggested that maybe viruses were at the top. Words to haunt me.
 
I've seen a couple articles about younger people who have died from this. Yes, they had underlying conditions. They were otherwise healthy. The part that shocked me was their difficulty getting appropriate treatment and the relative speed that they declined. It was sobering to see. And sad. We're going to start seeing more faces to this.
 
I've been thinking about Nancy with the border closures - having some of your family just across the border from you. Hoping you will find some good ways to keep in touch.
 
Something I had not thought about was in the news here last night - the question of admitting migrant farm workers. In southern Ontario we have large populations of workers who come every year from the Caribbean - to plant, tend, and harvest our FOOD crops. Farmers are working with ministry of agriculture to see how this can continue to happen - otherwise we will face a serious food shortage. They may encounter 14 day quarantine upon arrival & the farmers who were interviewed were okay with that & would support the workers through this time. They often have long term relationships with these people who come year after year, to do jobs many Canadians would not. Prayers for all who create the food that comes to our tables to nourish us.
 
We were talking about farm workers yesterday too. There may also be people who are willing to do some of that work now that they aren't working. I would like to see a way to bring back people from the Caribbean as well.
 
One thing I read was allowing people to work at farms but not impact their EI that they are going to get from losing their regular jobs

it I agree, most people would be stunned at how hard the work is. And of course farms are in the country so they would need places to live too
 
Farmers definitely have trouble hiring Canadians. It is hard dirty work and doesn’t appeal to very many any more

had a friend who picked apples one year. Was newly retired and thought it would be fun. Hardest thing she ever did
 
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