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I have been increasingly disinterested in daily tasks, etc as this pandemic has marched on. I have even been going out, accepting there are risks, but still I'm

I have been increasingly disinterested in daily tasks, etc as this pandemic has marched on. I have even been going out, accepting there are risks, but still I'm not able to shake the sort of melancholy. The first few months of the pandemic were incredibly stressful at my job due to a vendor going under due to COVID, and I still have not recovered. Since then I've been seeing more and more of my friends or former coworkers being laid off from their jobs, the growing social unrest around the US, all while some of the richest people I know are doing better than ever. I think for me, the feeling is brought on wondering if this pandemic has put me further behind, after I've already been effected by the 2007-2008 crisis. It really does feel, maybe for the first time (for me,) that the divide between those that can take advantage of this situation and those that cannot has grown into an insurmountable chasm. I'm not even doing terribly but feel very far from my goals...which now feel even more in jeopardy, so I can't even imagine how other people are feeling.

munificent 6y ago
> It really does feel, maybe for the first time (for me,) that the divide between those that can take advantage of this situation and those that cannot has grown into an insurmountable chasm. I 100% feel this. One of the most acutely tragic aspects of this pandemic is that it dramatically amplifies the inequalities already present. Other natural disasters—wars, hurricanes, etc.—destroy physical objects. That effectively increases equality because it is most harmful to those that have the most capital. This pandemic leaves everyone's possessions and wealth alone and cuts off your ability to work. The people most likely to get it are those who don't have the wealth and power to insulate themselves from risk. And they are the ones least likely to have the healthcare required to survive. It is a horrible, horrible tragedy. At the same time, I try not to think of this as insurmountable. Everything good about our current society was created by people living in a world less just than the one we have today. It was the people living in a United States where Blacks were enslaved who emancipated them. It was men who legally had all the power that finally granted women suffrage. There will be many casualties and many people who don't get to experience better days. But at the national level, I have faith that we can overcome this and end up better than we are today.
- austinheap 6y ago
  > This pandemic leaves everyone's possessions and wealth alone and cuts off your ability to work. The people most likely to get it are those who don't have the wealth and power to insulate themselves from risk. And they are the ones least likely to have the healthcare required to survive. This is the most astute articulation of the problem I’ve seen. Well done internet person!
- danaris 6y ago
  > It is a horrible, horrible tragedy. A tragedy is something no one could have prevented. This is outright cruelty, bordering on genocide (particularly given the ways predominantly-black and native communities have been treated during the pandemic). This was foreseeable and preventable, and the group that is to blame for it is glaringly obvious.
  - munificent 6y ago
    The pandemic is a tragedy. The US federal government's response is a crime. It's very much like Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane didn't kill thousands of New Orleanians. Almost all of them were alive after the hurricane had passed. It was the local and larger government's failure to handle it that led to such a widespread disaster.
austinheap 6y ago
Completely agree — from my vantage point it seems like there’s three camps: those who can ride this wild market, those who can’t but would if they could, and those who don’t understand how to and/or err on the side of meme-based market analysis. My parents fall into the later category (both for different reasons) and it’s sad/frustrating. The historic gap was already near-or-at unsustainable. Add in the pandemic market and now we’re setting daily records for previously unseen inequality. If you take PEW at their word: the share of economic wealth taken by the ultra wealthy surpassed the middle class in 2018. Their 2020/2021 report will be...a lot. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-...
dpflan 6y ago
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This makes me think of the concept of "learned helplessness" [1.], it is useful phenomenon to be aware of when considered the influence on one's life due to systems and events that are outside of your influence and control. Martin Seligman, the psychology professor who initiated research on the topic, also developed the field of "positive psychology" [2.]. Concepts from positive psychology have helped me to understand and to cope and to come to terms with a state of mind similar to what your post insinuates -- a state of mind heavily influenced by the outside world and my perspective at the time. [1.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness [2.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology

munificent 6y ago

> It really does feel, maybe for the first time (for me,) that the divide between those that can take advantage of this situation and those that cannot has grown into an insurmountable chasm. I 100% feel this. One of the most acutely tragic aspects of this pandemic is that it dramatically amplifies the inequalities already present. Other natural disasters—wars, hurricanes, etc.—destroy physical objects. That effectively increases equality because it is most harmful to those that have the most capital. This pandemic leaves everyone's possessions and wealth alone and cuts off your ability to work. The people most likely to get it are those who don't have the wealth and power to insulate themselves from risk. And they are the ones least likely to have the healthcare required to survive. It is a horrible, horrible tragedy. At the same time, I try not to think of this as insurmountable. Everything good about our current society was created by people living in a world less just than the one we have today. It was the people living in a United States where Blacks were enslaved who emancipated them. It was men who legally had all the power that finally granted women suffrage. There will be many casualties and many people who don't get to experience better days. But at the national level, I have faith that we can overcome this and end up better than we are today.

austinheap 6y ago
> This pandemic leaves everyone's possessions and wealth alone and cuts off your ability to work. The people most likely to get it are those who don't have the wealth and power to insulate themselves from risk. And they are the ones least likely to have the healthcare required to survive. This is the most astute articulation of the problem I’ve seen. Well done internet person!
danaris 6y ago
> It is a horrible, horrible tragedy. A tragedy is something no one could have prevented. This is outright cruelty, bordering on genocide (particularly given the ways predominantly-black and native communities have been treated during the pandemic). This was foreseeable and preventable, and the group that is to blame for it is glaringly obvious.
- munificent 6y ago
  The pandemic is a tragedy. The US federal government's response is a crime. It's very much like Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane didn't kill thousands of New Orleanians. Almost all of them were alive after the hurricane had passed. It was the local and larger government's failure to handle it that led to such a widespread disaster.

austinheap 6y ago

Completely agree — from my vantage point it seems like there’s three camps: those who can ride this wild market, those who can’t but would if they could, and those who don’t understand how to and/or err on the side of meme-based market analysis. My parents fall into the later category (both for different reasons) and it’s sad/frustrating. The historic gap was already near-or-at unsustainable. Add in the pandemic market and now we’re setting daily records for previously unseen inequality. If you take PEW at their word: the share of economic wealth taken by the ultra wealthy surpassed the middle class in 2018. Their 2020/2021 report will be...a lot. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-...

dpflan 6y ago

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This makes me think of the concept of "learned helplessness" [1.], it is useful phenomenon to be aware of when considered the influence on one's life due to systems and events that are outside of your influence and control. Martin Seligman, the psychology professor who initiated research on the topic, also developed the field of "positive psychology" [2.]. Concepts from positive psychology have helped me to understand and to cope and to come to terms with a state of mind similar to what your post insinuates -- a state of mind heavily influenced by the outside world and my perspective at the time. [1.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness [2.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology