In the pandemic companies needed support, and so wherever possible, it made sense to pay them to render services to schools and the poor rather than simply donate tax-payer money to them.
A levels and other examinations were always unfair, yet perhaps it took a pandemic to see it. You can be amazingly clever, but if you're disadvantaged then there is a high chance that you'll have issues with stress deregulation in your body. What that means is, that for your body, an increase in stress will defocus your brain and hinder exam performance. For a student who lives with more affluence, there is a good chance (yet not a guarantee) that their stress response is well regulated and in exam conditions their brain achieves a higher level of focus. So, maybe the government didn't do such a bad job of their algorithm (though there are heart-breaking stories out there for sure that need correcting), maybe it's actually evidence that unfairness has been "baked into the cake" for generations. Perhaps that's the "big lesson" the government needs to ace.
Our aim in the pandemic was to keep all of our policies as child-centred as possible, for our children are the future of our nation and their health matters. As a precaution we opened the "mom and pop" schools for vulnerable kids and key worker children. Their schooling was to remain open year round with fun "camp" activities in the holidays. If that wasn't sufficient, the next stage was alternate "week on, week off" schooling for the remainder of the school population. As a last resort we sent pupils home from the schools in the most affluent 2/3 of postcodes and spread the pupils from the least affluent 1/3 of postcodes between the newly emptied schools to give proper social distancing. This way the kids most likely to be living in stressful or cramped housing with more stressed parents were always taken care of, well fed, educated and loved by their teachers. By doing this we reduced the ACEs in society and gave our entire country a better future in terms of health, happiness and our economy.
In the pandemic we opened university accommodation all year round, enabling students to stay on campus, thus protecting their parents and reducing community transmission. The virus did effect younger people of course, and some of them seriously so, yet they needed to live, to love and to make the life long friends that come of university days.
To age is a privilege, to care for our younger generations is a sacred duty, for no society who believes otherwise has any future that is good. And so, in this pandemic, as we do the very best we can for people of all ages, to reduce the ACE score of the younger population, to give them the conditions they require for full health in terms of neurological development and body health, is our priority. Children and the young are the future, we love them, we support them, we are honoured to care for them.
In Britain pubs, restaurants and cafes became overflow schools to provide food and a good learning space for the most needy students. Business boomed and so did educational outcomes. The rest of the school population had more space to socially distance too, it was a societal win-win.
Homeschool could be challenging for many people for many reasons, and so we started the government "mom and pop" schools. They were run by a pair of teachers (one male, one female where possible) out of local cafes and restaurants. The teachers were good role models and emotional anchors in the storm that was rocking the world. The renting of the space was a much needed boost to local business and the kids were fed a full days worth of good food in a relaxed learning environment. We did it in the homeschool way with siblings together, with time to relax and socialise built in. The teachers took on a loving parent approach combined with teaching tailored to each child's ability and interests. Homeschool has better results than private school, so the educational outcomes were optimal. Kids who feel loved develop healthier brains and bodies, and so the social and health outcomes were great too. It was a big reorganisation, for sure, but these bubbles were needed in the pandemic and once we tried it, why go back? It was far better for everyone.
The pandemic and climate change needed a slowing of people and goods to bring health to people, and so we needed to find a way to make food and housing also linked to that slower pace of living. We needed to speed up the formation of functional communities, of working for love and volunteering, and let the frenetic pollution causing need for "jobs" be a thing of the past.
From the level of friends to nations, in the pandemic the phrase, "Friends first, competition second," took on a grander significance.
In the pandemic we had stranded international students, and so we started the adopt-a-student scheme so families could volunteer to take on students and care for them as if they were their own children until they could return home. Without these offers many of them would have starved, become homeless and suffered mental health troubles. After all, when we start to love each other's children, we start to unite as one world.
The need for scientists to work with and support agriculture had never been greater than when the pandemic hit, because without their help the pressure on the environment and soils would have led to unsustainable practices, the lowering of the water table and the loss of natural habitat.
Since famine follows pandemics, it's time not only to focus on food production, but also to limit or stop biofuel production, thus taking pressure off grains in terms of volume available and price.
"In this pandemic," said Clara, "it is time to start talking seriously about the conservation and utilisation of plant genetic resources in relation to food security. We can't keep on letting the money-market determine the strategies of seed companies, especially in relation to their 'terminator seeds.' If we had arrived on Earth from some other planet and started devising a food security plan, it would certainly bare no resemblance to what we have now. And then we add in climate change, of new weather patterns changing the diseases our farmers face... we can act together now, or starve tomorrow. I'm voting for food security, how about you?"
Only a demonetized world can give us optimal neurology, a healthy era with robotised factory and food production, protect against climate change. And though a chequer-board pattern of self-sufficient capable city and country units to give needed flexibility in pandemics isn't entirely incompatible with some form of monetization, it's a whole lot simpler to implement without it.
When we reduced the virus to a low enough level, we put into place better trace, test and treat procedures, keeping it as low as possible until the vaccines were ready. Our aim wasn't to live with the virus, it was to end it.
Jesus would lead is flock to safety, with real wisdom and love - and in these challenging pandemic days we need to follow his example; we need to feed, clothe, house and love the poor as brothers and sisters, as fellow children of our creator.
There comes a time when "pushing" one's ideas that could save our world becomes morally the right thing to do. And so, if you have the time, I urge you to read my book, "Nexus. A Treatise in Defence of Love as Mankind's Answer," so that we can rescue each other and our planet from the trouble of our current era. There is a link to a free version and a Kindle version from my bio (bio-link below).
It made sense to put stimulus money toward paying farmers, stores and restaurants to provide food for free. That way, regardless of social status or access to bank accounts and such, everyone got fed well and we avoided the social unrest other nations saw in the pandemic.
In the authoritarian regimes they controlled official numbers by releasing a rumour that went viral - that anyone found with the virus mysteriously disappeared along with their entire household. Soon there were no reports, no bodies found and the "unanimous support" for the regimes continued.
Emotionally coping with the pandemic was a challenge for all, yet especially the young, for their brains have yet to gain the ability to calm anxious thoughts - that being wired in by the mid-twenties. And so the best advice we could give was to imagine a line on the ground, such as a middle line upon a long road that stretches into the horizon and beyond, and imagine one foot on each side of that line. One side is empathy, the love we have for everyone regardless of age, the other side is logic, science and pragmatism. Then we walk that road always with one foot on each side of the line, always rooted in both empathy and logic. Our empathic side educates us to do our best for all, and to ensure everyone feels loved. Our logical side reminds us that everyone needs food, a home, warmth and a feeling that life will go on and we will need a united and strong society going forwards - one fair and appreciative of everyone.
Pandemic protocol 101 was to stop international transportation, especially between areas of land that were separated by bodies of water. That finances were put above lives in the past was the most shameful aspect of the pandemic response. And for those that must travel, with produce and such, health screening is paramount. So now our protocols are clear and internationally agreed. When a virus spreads so rapidly, your first line of defence is always prevention of infection, to test and go for elimination of the virus. When you get that right, the uninfected areas of the globe are able to help the infected parts by sending in resources. When the entire world gets infected there's nobody left standing to help anyone. Indeed, we save each other as a global team or we drown in the slurry of international competition, financial greed and emotional indifference.
Pandemic protocol 102, after case one in on any land mass, is to instigate the national "Russian doll" - to stop travel between cities, towns and villages and to close schools. This is only possible when the agriculture and provisions society needs are all capable of regional production and everyone has enough income to stay at home as required. It also depends on there being good housing for all, well ventilated, sanitary and with access to the outdoors - be that a one-way bike track or walking loop to maintain proper social distancing.
The pandemic was the mother of all "trolley problems." On one track was a smaller number of children and young people, on the other was a vastly larger number of elderly folk. We chose to save the kids as much as we possibly could - and not only from the virus, but from abuse, neglect, starvation and social unrest. So while our body count is higher, we're trying to save the young from multiple threats and we ask the press to keep that in their thoughts - to ask themselves what "lever" they would have pulled. Additionally, the press and scientists alike appear to not be making a clear distinction between personal infection curves and population death-rate curves. One person suffers and recovers (we hope), at the population level that is not the case until enough people have become immune. In short, the lower your first "death-curve" the potentially higher and worse second waves can be. And so, until "the fat lady sings," let us support each other the best we can. Let us look for all the signs of a healthy society and, though we love and care for all the best we can, we put kids and young families first. Let us hope for a vaccine and pray that we have learned the lessons from this challenging time, lessons that will enable us to build healthy nations and a healthy world with liberty, equality and fraternity for all.
To cope with the pandemic we needed intelligent and creatively flexible policy makers - people who could put the wellbeing of humanity above ego, vanity and greed.
We realised that society needed a more flexible structure to cope with pandemics, so we gave the education budget directly to parents, allowing them to homeschool or form community schools as they wished. That way, if another pandemic came we could protect the core of society - young families - all the faster.
Perhaps the first step out of social distancing is to allow our youth to meet up with one or two friends, to have a "buddy system" to ease their loneliness - and to allow for young love to boost mental health.
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