Thursday 26 March 2020

Pistis cautiously ponders 'never again' (weekending March 28th 2020)


‽istis cautiously ponders ‘never again’… (weekending March 28th 2020

 ‽istis, very cautiously, with the greatest of respect and with recognition of the powerful associations of the phrase with times and acts of utter terror and horror, ponders ‘never again’…

Perhaps, possibly, maybe - never again may we:

 ‽        underestimate and underpay the truly essential workers – including[i]:

·       cleaning, portering, admin support and domestic staff, nurses, doctors and every layer of staff in health and social care settings (but oh, the apparent inequalities of pay and status)

·       teachers (oh, the patience!) and social workers (oh, the frequent vilification!)

·       journalists (oh the occasional high-profile denigration) providing public service broadcasting and speaking truth to power

·       those involved in the production, distribution, sale and delivery of food

·       those keeping oil, gas, electricity, water, refuse collection and sewage operations running and keep us connected vitally online

‽  think that the money cannot be found

 ‽  be swayed by opinions, and the thoughts and feelings of ideologues (however forcefully they are asserted and however apparently exalted the office holder) - rather than evidence and the rational, transparent and verifiable consideration of experts (through knowledge or experience)

 ‽  forget that unprompted outbreaks of kindness and optimism and altruism can spring up in unlikely places; that many, many people will volunteer; that mass rounds of applause can be so moving and motivating 

 ‽   fail to worry for those who are isolated, are out of the public gaze (away from the vigilance of teachers, social workers and health staff, away from the watchful concern and support of friends, neighbours and extended family) who may be experiencing child abuse, domestic abuse, vulnerable adult and elder abuse in their own homes

  ‽  forget that engineers and designers and manufacturers can make ventilators, protective equipment and testing-kits rather than weapons and weapons systems

  ‽  underestimate the power of positive social connections – even if they have to be virtual

  ‽  think that competition is necessarily better than collaboration to bring out the best in medical research and so much else… 

  ‽  forget that risk assessment is perhaps an inexact science; that probability and likelihood calculations are key but may be 'best guesses' or just guesses... and influenced by a host of heuristics - recognised or hidden; that low probability events sometimes happen

 ‽ fail to value and support the international organisations that can bring together and enlarge our sense of us: World Health Organisation, United Nations...

 ‽   forget that many illnesses and diseases are no respecter of persons, status, geography or wealth - but also that so many fatal illnesses year in year out are preventable and that the way I live may be utterly connected with the way that so many die[ii]

And on, and on… 
‽istis asks: What would you add? What will you realise or remember? What will you ‘never again’…?

But with a heavy heart ‽istis wonders how often ‘never again’ has been proclaimed, inscribed, intoned, whispered, or cried…     

© Pistis  


[i] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/key-worker-official-list-of-uk-personnel-who-can-still-send-children-to-school

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Thursday 19 March 2020

As ‘them’ and ‘us’ perhaps becomes a greater ‘we’ - ‽istis perhaps, possibly, maybe realises just a little of what life is like for so many… (weekending March 21st 2020)



As ‘them’ and ‘us’ perhaps becomes a greater ‘we’ - ‽istis perhaps, possibly, maybe realises just a little of what life is like for so many… (weekending March 21st 2020)


 ‽istis realises (as the responses to the Covid-19 threat embed) perhaps, possibly maybe a little, just a little of what life has been, and is like - for so many[i]


‽        As schools in the UK close: ‘Globally, an estimated 617 million children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age—more than 55 per cent of the global total—lacked minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics in 2015. One third of those children and adolescents were out of school and urgently needed access to education.’


‽        As some shops run out of basics: ‘An estimated 821 million people were undernourished in 2017… 149 million children under 5 years of age—22 per cent of the global under-5 population—were still chronically undernourished in 2018.’

‽        As toilet paper is hard to come by: ‘The proportion of the global population using safely managed sanitation services increased from 28 per cent in 2000 to 45 per cent in 2017…  Despite that progress, an estimated 673 million people (9 per cent of the global population) still practised open defecation in 2017.’
‽         As rigorous and frequent handwashing becomes standard (even in the Gents!): ‘In 2017, three out of five people worldwide had a basic handwashing facility with soap and water on the premises, compared with less than one out of three (28 per cent) in least developed countries. That means that, globally, an estimated 3 billion people are still unable to properly wash their hands at home.’  

‽        As financial worries multiply and job security is threatened: ‘The nowcast shows the 2018 rate of extreme poverty at 8.6 per cent, and baseline projections suggest that 6 per cent of the world’s population will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030, if current trends continue.’ ‘More than one third of employed workers in sub-Saharan Africa still live on less than $1.90 a day. Having a job does not guarantee a decent living. In fact, 8 per cent of employed workers and their families worldwide lived in extreme poverty in 2018.’

‽        As health services are stretched: ‘Health personnel are stretched beyond their limit in countries where they are needed most. Available data from 2013 to 2018 indicate that close to 40 per cent of all countries have fewer than 10 medical doctors per 10,000 people, and around 58 per cent of countries have fewer than 40 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people. This is only a slight improvement from 2010 to 2015.   Evidence shows that health workers are unevenly distributed across the globe and even within countries. Not surprisingly, regions with the highest burden of disease have the lowest proportion of health workers to deliver services. All of the least developed countries have fewer than 10 medical doctors per 10,000 people, and 98 per cent have fewer than 40 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people. It is estimated that around 18 million additional health workers will be needed globally by 2030 to ensure healthy lives for all.’

‽        As the Courts and trials face disruption: ‘Realizing the goal of peaceful, just and inclusive societies is still a long way off. In recent years, no substantial advances have been made towards ending violence, promoting the rule of law, strengthening institutions at all levels, or increasing access to justice. Millions of people have been deprived of their security, rights and opportunities, while attacks on human rights activists and journalists are holding back development.’


(Just some examples that may resonate at this particular time and with detail from the ‘UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019’). But pick a theme, pick a place in the world, pick a period in history and perhaps, possibly, maybe reflect for a moment on many, many people’s and peoples’ past and present realities…)

‽istis wonders whether:

·       as a taste of what everyday life is like for so many becomes the experience of more (and especially the more usually powerful, the more usually exempt, the more usually protected, the more usually comfortable, the more usually safe, the more usually well),

·       as ‘them’ and ‘us’ perhaps becomes a greater ‘we’

could this herald (or force) the start of something more fundamental and radical:

·       a rebalancing[ii];

·       more communitarian than individual;

·       more collaborative than competitive;

·       more ‘world first’ than ‘insert nation state name first’;

·       more all than some

·       …and perhaps necessarily reparative, restorative, progressively redistributive, just, equitable, humanitarian, universal…?


And ‽istis fears that realisation may be the easy bit. But just for a moment imagine[iii]… Perhaps, possibly, maybe a new realisation (either recognised through empathy and compassion, or very sadly forced through circumstance) could find a new will, that would find a new way?    

© Pistis  


[ii] With more than a nod to John Rawls (see, for example:  https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2018/07/27/john-rawls-a-theory-of-justice/ )
[iii] Perhaps (if we can get behind the apparent frequent appropriation, the ‘nice-ified’ versions, the gendered language?, if we can bear to hear the radical words behind the familiarity, the perhaps safely-gentle tune and the lauded or derided celebrity sing-alongs! (edited: 20/03/2020)) with the assistance of Mr J Lennon…?  e.g: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8fUcagy_Uc or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvXKavlH5O8 or many, many others…
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Thursday 12 March 2020

Pistis reclaims naming and framing - rebuilding Babel (weekending March 14th 2020)


‽istis reclaims naming and framing – rebuilding Babel (weekending March 14th 2020)


 ‽istis ponders the power of language to frame thoughts and words and deeds (will we act differently now the WHO has announced pandemic status? will fiscal expansion somehow be acceptable now that it has been proclaimed from the UK Chancellor rather than the opposition?[i]); to open up or close down understanding; to construct or demolish consensus; to include or exclude; to empower or oppress; to reveal our views and positions intentionally or as sub-text…  
‽        perhaps refusing to name a virus with a geographical location, with a cultural, occupational or species reference (Spanish flu, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, equine encephalitis, paralytic shellfish poisoning – all in the World Health Organisation’s guidance on names to avoid)[ii] can indeed ‘minimize unnecessary negative impact of disease names on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare, and avoid causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups.’  …though we are perhaps beyond that now  


‽        if we accept that one person’s freedom fighter may be perceived very differently by others, then we may possibly increase the chances of seeing things from another’s perspective. We might even reduce the likelihood of seeing them as an ‘other’ and increase the chances of finding common ground to create a shared peace, justice and freedom?


‽        Pistis half remembers an old British comedy sketch (Les Dawson?): maybe the trouble with neighbours arguing - across a fence or wall - is that they are speaking from completely different premises!


And ‽istis wonders, with sadness and with anger: if we had been left to finish building that Babel Tower[iii], if nothing that we could plan to do together would have been impossible, then what other wondrous shared constructs could we have made – and, just perhaps, possibly, maybe how different the world might be.

© Pistis  

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Thursday 5 March 2020

Pistis reclaims the right to be wild - and the responsibility to be livid? (weekending March 7th 2020)


‽istis reclaims the right to be wild - and the responsibility to be livid? (weekending March 7th 2020)
‽istis, learning perhaps, possibly, maybe nearly too late about:
‽        the quarter of all species perhaps presently at risk of extinction in the coming decades[i]


‽        the very possibly missed future targets of ‘the Paris agreement, the Aichi biodiversity targets and 80% of the UN sustainable development goals (food, water and energy security), because of our poor stewardship of the natural world’[ii]


‽        the maybe surprisingly identified existence of 12,500 species of ant and the flip-it-on-its-head humbling picture of fragile connections leading to the view that ‘we need the invertebrates but they don’t need us’[iii], that without them 'I doubt the human species would last more than a few months' (biologist Edward O.Wilson) 



…but newly determined not just to grieve us on our way[iv], ‽istis hailed the United Nation’s General Assembly resolution 68/205[v] and the proclamation of March 3rd (the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 1973) as World Wildlife Day. 


Smiling wryly at a half-remembered UK television sketch[vi], and in solidarity and intricate, complex co-dependence with the herds and shivers and maelstroms and ostentations and fluthers and clowders and pods and charms and sedges and murmurations and basks and schools[vii], ‽istis resolved to think on the potential implications of this: that we ‘share the same roof’; that, ‘after all we are only one link in the chain of life.’[viii]  And ‽istis determined to rage, rage and not just be wild, but to be livid!   

© Pistis  

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