COVID (Change of View in Diaspora) or Stuck at Home
Over the last year I have been exposed to the unprecedented frying of the earth (drought), floods, freezing, fog, fires and now flu. Apart from the latter the former is the result of climate change or is the spread of extreme organisms (extremophiles) that we weren’t exposed to before also a result of climate change? The thawing of the artic permafrost has been likened to the opening of Pandoras Box and we are now the vectors of disease rather than mosquitos, ticks or flies (bugs). We admire our achievement in becoming a globally connected and a trade barrier free world and now we are paying the price of being dependent on importing cheap stuff. My Dad, a product of the Depression, knew the value of running a productive garden able to supply most of his family’s fresh food and my Mum preserved it. What a great take home message for all those self-isolating to get out and garden their small patch of dirt and we also recognise the wisdom of the survivalists who prepared for this.
But, to use a cliché, let’s unpack this. As a scientist I am interested in how our little and rapidly changing spaceship earth can return to homeostasis and be once again benevolent for human life. As hosts for various organisms we all want to live in harmony but our health and future survival is being compromised by pollutants/contaminants/toxicants/bio-hazards and their often-unseen impact on the global biosphere. We cannot compromise the biosphere any more on the whim of politicians in the pockets of profiteers otherwise known as free-market capitalists. Some of our wealthy have realised that they have benefitted from the current capitalist model and are making a difference e.g. Bill Gates. A scientist wants to make a difference and generate new knowledge and deep understanding of the biosphere, an engineer wants to use that information to produce useful things but a capitalist wants to make money. They may be all the same person, but at least the scientist understands the potential impact of their discoveries whereas the capitalist focuses on more profit.
Example: The medical profession has sold its soul to the pharmaceutical industry that are focused on medicating all of society (legal drug pushers) and are no longer concerned about healthy patients because that’s not good for business. We accept that a prescribed pill will treat our symptoms but conveniently ignore the underlying causes. We have kids who can’t breathe properly because they have asthma so rather than looking at possible environmental factors, we fix the problem not the cause because that would force us to look at where we live, what we breathe and what we eat. If we looked closely at our cheap mass-produced houses with shrinking land packages/gardens, we expose ourselves and loved ones to a number of toxic chemical substances in buildings and furniture, cheaply and poorly produced from oil (hydrocarbons/petrochemicals/organic aromatics). I say poorly produced because our paid government officials no longer police imported goods that despite worthless labels don’t meet Australian/New Zealand Standards e.g. non-fireproof cladding.
We expose ourselves by over-using toxic chemicals to kill all bugs and yet we become extremely indignant when the same chemicals are used in lower concentrations and much more carefully controlled to treat water. We live downstream, as the predominant winds blow (look at the BoM site for local wind roses), from mines, manufacturing plants (major hazard facilities), ports and highways where vehicles (ships and trucks) belch ‘black’ smoke. But that’s OK, because we run poorly maintained diesel vehicles ourselves. And to complete the picture we work in the same poorly ventilated spaces in concrete jungles made from reconstituted rust and lime powered by black rock. I know that when I go out for a walk/jog/hike that if I smell smoke, I get reactive asthma not because I’m exercising but because my body is telling me that I shouldn’t be breathing in the smoke. Hello!
So, here is a life-time opportunity to, after a ‘breather’, to put away your computer games, movies and music and wake-up and smell the roses. Because, whether we like it or believe it or not this may be the final straw that breaks the camels (free-markets) back and maybe it’s about time. I know that my more senior age and health predispose me to getting the virus and my environmentally compromised system may not cope. So, as a take-home message wake-up and start getting into the fresh air, expose yourselves to the maximum permissible UV (yes we did evolve on this planet so we need some full body exposure) and go for a walk/run/hike in the bush/park and smell the defusing roses/wild flowers, hear the birds sing, see the wildlife recovering and enjoy with your life partner the simple cheap pleasure of living in harmony and not disconnected from our shared planet.