What can we do to cope? We can start each day and end each day with a Gratitude List, as suggested by Ariana Huffington, Huffington Post. It is grounding and never more than now, we need to engage with life in a positive way realising that COVID-19 has no cure, and it will take probably a year or more to have a vaccine or sera.
A wise old Judge (Michael Comyn KC) once said and this was back in the 1950’s when there was no internet available to most people “Knowledge is no Load”. What we need to achieve now is to ensure that the digital divide is eradicated and people are encouraged into lifelong learning as the opportunities are available. If you have no computer at home; there always is the library. The idea of a Universal Basic Income becomes essential as artificial intelligence, robots, technology, eHealth and so much more, are the future and there may be a reduction in work as we know it. What is important is creativity and this can be fostered by people who may work but in a different way to others; they are imbibed with a gift or a talent and this is often rooted in the will to improve the lives of others through being creative in thinking and engaged with society through the internet and social media
This week Ireland finally has managed to achieve a new Government after months of negotiations between varying parties. Fine Gael (Leo Varadkar); Finana Fail (Micheal Martin); the Greens (Eamon Ryan) are in power now. The Cabinet selection resulted in disappointments for certain truly committed politicians and below is a copy of an email sent to some of them, politicians who I would regard as able and now become the untapped resources of intelligencce and political endeavour with a power to finally dispel corruption which has hindered Ireland which remains a young State, now in its centenary year.
Subject: The Doctor Is In: Scott Atlas and the Efficacy of Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Closings – YouTube. Halt LockDowns in line with common sense argument. Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2020 17:07:31 +0100 From: Michelle Clarke <michelleclarke@upcmail.ie> To: John McGuinness <john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie>, Eamon Ó Cuiv <eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie>, Jim OCallaghan <jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie>, Thomas Byrne <thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie>
To those who should have been chosen for Cabinet positions.
Highly recommend this: Too much negativity surrounds the world and Ireland, being a small open economy is particularly vulnerable to recession. A little vision as Whitaker and Lemass had at another time after the near 30 years of recession/depression in Ireland when we exported our people in droves (no longer an option).
It will take about 45 minutes to listen to Dr Scott Atlas, Hoover Institution being interviewed by Peter Robinson above but what he says is profound and is about common sense with the reasoning of true cost benefit analysis.
I can’t stress the importance of listening to this interview from the Hoover Institution. Deaths of Despair* (Sir Angus Deaton, Anne Case) needs to be considered. Unemployment and I know about this from an earlier life, because it set me on a path of multimorbidities, have profound costs that empirical data will corroborate. Dr Scott Atlas, you may have heard of him or you may not but if not, what he says makes common sense and especially now as we exit LockDown we must be able to take a view of the glass half full otherwise we will ensure a recession/depression most likely worse than the 1930’s. Just one example: because retention is not a strong point for my brain … 35% and above of children taken to A&E in America (with severe injuries) are noticed and referred to A&E, in the school system. Unemployment happens at the lower end of the salary scale and therefore to have no school puts children in serious jeopardy and this is a cost in its own right as distinct from having COVID-19.
* “Deaths of Despair”: This is a short interview talking about suicide, addiction, unemployment and how people reach that level of being disconnected from society. COVID-19 has not even considered this crisis in the making but the time has come to value the lives of people who suffer from Despair. There will be many casualties over time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXf-xcR8bdA
Recommend this link too: COVID-19 and Lesson from Pandemics (Professor Niall Ferguson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmmOiG8Odm8
Panorama BBC 1: No screening for cancer because of COVID-19 priority; so many dying or having worse experiences with cancer as a result of hospitals being closed off and the cancellation of screening, or worse chemotherapy, drugs trials, radiology, being interrupted, is worth watching. The figure could be as high as 35,000 deaths as a result of COVID-19 priority.
Private treatment under Professor John Crown, Oncology, St Vincent’s Private hospital. My mother paid throughout her life for my VHI cover. Imagine if it had been through this COVID-19 ominous Pandemic period. Professor Angus Deaton and Anne Case – Deaths of Despair and the End of Capitalism is recommended. Poverty, unemployment, illness, violence in the home, hardship are bad cards to be dealt in life. My treatment went smoothly and I wrote a book logging my experiences which may be interested to those looking at how COVID-19 had impeded their treatment. Timing is so important. Too many are not being screened now and nobody is talking about it. Thank you Panorama because as always you aim to shock people with truth and facts, into a reality they wish to avoid.
My book:
Fortune Favours the Brave by Michelle Marcella Clarke
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fortune-Favours-Michelle-Marcella-Clarke/dp/1912639610
canisgallicus 