- Re: we need to end growth now or we are heading for huge death tolls. Archived Message
Posted by Willem
on May 5, 2020, 10:45 pm, in reply to "we need to end growth now or we are heading for huge death tolls."
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You paint a rather rosy picture of life under lockdown. No doubt there are many silver linings -- as you say, car sales going down drastically as well as plane travel, while lots of unnecessary junk is not bought. The quieter roads allow for more cycling and walking. It would be great if this continues after the lockdown. Indeed, in some cities seem ready to promote more cycling https://www.cntraveler.com/story/cities-like-new-york-paris-and-berlin-are-adding-more-bike-lanes However, set against this is the huge increase in screentime that many kids are experiencing, both because the schools set their homework and classes online and because they can't see their friends. Not only kids, many adults do the same, either because of work or to be entertained -- all coupled with an increase in food and drink. Also the climate of fear is very strong now, so strong that the 80% of the UK population wants to continue to be locked down for fear of catching a virus which leaves the overwhelming majority healthy. (Sorry, I don't believe people want a lockdown because they're thinking of the vulnerable and old, or even NHS workers.) You may have a particularly harmonious family, because in many families the opposite is happening to what you describe -- they cannot stand being continuously on top of each other! Hence the big increase in domestic abuse. Completely agree that with the massive problem of climate change, our lives have to change drastically; but life during the lockdown doesn't strike me as particularly positive role model, nor the fact that it needs a punitive police state to enforce. |