My God. Really?
My first thought upon reading the title was "I wonder if covid-19 is causing people in general to behave "badly"? As in, if there wasn't covid, would there still be unacceptable and more 'aggressive' behaviour? Would the riot at the Capitol have happened, or if it did, would it have been so violent? Would the protests in Hong Kong have got more violent? Would the aftermath of the political climate in Hong Kong be so strong, with the length of Agnes Chow's prison sentence as long as it is, or the mass resignation of legislators be so many? Would Nathan Law have gone to England? How about the housing prices in Hong Kong, the wealth of Jeff Bezos, the viewers of Netflix, would their wealth and viewing have increased significantly if covid wasn't around?
Yes, I understand the circumstances we are living in now are not ones many have ever lived through. War time is difficult, but it is not a health issue. It affects the countries involved, but even WWI and WWII didn't affect as many countries as covid I don't think. Covid also has the added layer of confining people at home, whereas during war time, I don't believe the people not at war had to stay inside their homes for such long durations. There was food rationing and basic necessity rationing, but I think I will stop there because a comparison between life during conflict and a health issue cannot and should not be drawn.
What one can say is this covid-19 pandemic is definitely a historical event and there has been and will be many 'firsts' as a result of it.
Definitely, in the reality of the pandemic, the protests are violent, the penalty for disobeying covid restrictions is not negligible and it seems in general when you hear about drug hauls and other less than palatable events, they are more aggressive than pre-pandemic. It seems there are more murders, more crimes, more sexual assault and harassment; dilemmas as a result of Brexit. Maybe it's just because all the majority of news these days is about covid and we're in a more negative state of mind so the news published is about bad happenings.
New Zealand is always pretty neutral in terms of news, or inane news, like 'a cat got stuck up a tree', but although it's not violent, it seems the house prices are rising there, immigration issues are present regularly, tenancy laws, contraception distribution, so it's going up or are more complicated.
It seems crystal clear there are some people who are not only adamant Trump supporters (I never thought I'd be writing that on my blog), but they also refuse to believe he is not President anymore. This is not only blind, but it is dangerous. It also seems hard to believe that such people exist, especially after the Capitol riot, where they came face to face with the most realistic situation that might ever be possible. Human lives were lost yet some are still fighting to have Trump as President.
As an extension of the above paragraph, I would also like to say that one of the worst affected politically, and maybe even personally, must be Obama: He must wonder on a regular basis what His eight years as President were for, when it has been undone a lot and was it even worth it. It must be hard waking up some days. A President is not only the present, it is after the previous President and before the next one. Yes, if the President is from a different political party, then the 'direction' of the country may not be continuous, but in this case, Trump seems to be in a league of his own, regardless of his political stance. It is said President George Bush Jr said words similar to this during the inauguration of the now-predecessor of the current President, Joe Biden: "What the Hell was that shit?"
I admit with no shame, I did not keep up with Trump throughout his four years. The little I heard was enough to disengage completely from Him. I have only ever seen Him on a screen and heard Him once. Maybe more, but I was not engaged. I was shocked and surprised that one time, by the sound of his voice and he was actually orange. However, when I found out He was no longer President, my concern wasn't "Thank God", my concern is He can still be re-elected for a second term. That is my concern. The whole World is not safe yet, He can still be re-elected. Which also made me think: is it better to have Trump twice in a row, or once and then another President and then Trump again? 8 years of Trump Presidency and having to work hard to undo a lot of the shit he causes or 4 years of shit, then 4 years of undoing his shit and maybe doing positive progress, then another 4 years of shit? I don't know the answer. I still am not at peace knowing he can technically be re-elected and 'technically' is enough for this subject at hand. Not for everything, but this it is.
I think many people are hoping there will not be more harm done because of the existence of Donald Trump.
And may I never need to type His name again or even allude to Him.
- A.M.
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