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Post by Subtext Mining on Mar 16, 2020 10:47:37 GMT
I think the world is going to be a different place after all this dust settles.
This is going to be the Order 66 of our times. The main victims being small business. (People too, of course).
I'll say this; I have a feeling if George Lucas had made the ST I bet one of the main threats to the Galaxy and the Jedi would've been some sort of virus.
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Post by ArchdukeOfNaboo on Mar 16, 2020 15:24:24 GMT
I'll say this; I have a feeling if George Lucas had made the ST I bet one of the main threats to the Galaxy and the Jedi would've been some sort of virus.
I think this one has been covered pretty well elsewhere...
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Post by Cryogenic on Mar 16, 2020 20:11:07 GMT
I'll say this; I have a feeling if George Lucas had made the ST I bet one of the main threats to the Galaxy and the Jedi would've been some sort of virus. Indeed. Lucas understands the power that microorganisms have over human life. But when he put midi-chlorians into his saga? Nah, man. That's, like, so stooooopid.This whole unfolding crisis shows we've been living in a bad way for a long time. As a Facebook friend just put it: Imagine thinking the institutional and systematic tools we used to get us into this mess will get us out. Here are a couple of GL quotes/reflections on the fundamental issue and what's really being brought to a head now: GEORGE LUCAS: The legal system, the financial system, the political system -- they're all based on "winner take all". That's not a good society, that's not a good culture. That's a culture that is built out of a caveman mentality where the guy with the biggest hammer wins. That's not a good society.
CHARLIE ROSE: And you want to see a society that is defined -- how? By everybody comes out...
GEORGE LUCAS: By compassion. By saying, "We care about everybody in our society and what we wanna do is what's best for everybody in the society. And we wanna build the best society where everybody gets the best possible life they can possibly have."
CHARLIE ROSE: And would you call this "democracy"? Would you call this "socialism"? Would you call this some other "-ism" that we don't have a name for?
GEORGE LUCAS: I'd call it common sense.
*mic drop!*
(Title: George Lucas details his ideal society, Uploader: CBS News, Date: Jan 20th 2012)
Lucas has always been a smart cookie. Here's his younger self pontificating on much the same thing: "I believe in a certain amount of determinism, from an ecological point of view. It's that things essentially reach their own equilibrium. If you don't live a certain way, ecologically speaking, you will be forced into a position that will level it. What I would call an "unpoetic" state will eventually become a "poetic state", because an unpoetic state will not last. It can't. It's like economics. It's like life, it's like animals, it's like everything. You can set up an artificial reality, but eventually it will equalize itself, and become real."
-- George Lucas (p. 108, Dec 1975 to March 1976, The Making Of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind The Original Film, J.W. Rinzler, 2007) |
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Post by ArchdukeOfNaboo on Mar 17, 2020 1:15:06 GMT
I do hope everyone in this very small but very bright forum is keeping safe and well. These are definitely extraordinary times, or at least they are here in Europe with borders now being locked down, arrests on sight for those travelling without an appropriate reason and the drafting of armies and military hospitals to support relief. The elderly and medically suffering are the most vulnerable parts of society, and It's my hope that we can keep them most in mind throughout this crisis.
I'll personally be volunteering to help out in my own country (I'm fit and well - why not?), and if you have the opportunity to do same, I would ask you to consider it. But listen, it doesn't have to be anything grandiose. Everything from looking after your grandparents shopping needs to checking up on your elderly neighbour who lives on their own matters.
Let us be prudent, mindful of the health authorities instructions, but careful not to slide into hysteria either. We all know how panic worked out for the Galactic Republic, do we not?
May the Force be with us all.
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Post by Ingram on Mar 17, 2020 2:37:55 GMT
It's a novelty. But novelties never last. Normalization is a way of life.
If space aliens landed on Earth tomorrow and started diplomatic relations with world leaders, it'd be the biggest thing ever ...for a while. Then it'd be just another thing. If the ghosts of our ancestors returned from the grave and started walking among us, I reckon the stock markets would do cartwheels and store shelves would be emptied of Ramen noodles or other such random shit. But then it'd just be, well, people and ghosts; they'd probably end up getting jobs or posting Youtube videos about #GhostsHaveRightsToo. I'd be walking through Bed Bath & Beyond when all the sudden:
"Abe Lincoln! What are you doing here?"
"I work here."
"Oh."
*awkward silence*
"I'm looking for sea shell soap dishes."
"Aisle nine."
Anyways, yes, more people will inevitably get infected and, yes, unfortunately, more people will die. In tandem however, and generally speaking, quantities will become increasingly better known and daily routines on a socioeconomic level will average out. Everyone will have an opinion about how this shoulda been handled that way or vice versa. Everyone will have an anecdote. Before the end of the year the whole thing will be little more than post hoc talking points amidst political debates and fodder for online meme culture. As for myself, I start burning up sick/vacation hours starting Wednesday, which is "terrific". Thankfully, I have a lot. But still. As for behaving responsibly and helping others, sure. But do we really need a China Wuhan Corona (#StopBeerCompanyPrejudice) COVID-19 virus to do that?
Speaking of which, am I the only one picturing a wicked Star Wars droid villain with that name?
Disclaimer: I don't actually shop at Bed Bath & Beyond—that was merely a hypothetical.
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Post by ArchdukeOfNaboo on Mar 17, 2020 19:16:03 GMT
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Post by Subtext Mining on Mar 23, 2020 18:08:19 GMT
Yeah, the virus trope has been done to death, There's even a TCW arc about it, featuring JarJar! But I think Cryo got what I was loosely getting at. George has such a good handle on how things work, i.e. how global/galactic crises can arise and how they expose the cracks in society and government & infrastructure and create opportunities for power grabs. Essentially, it wouldn't surprise me if he were to go that route to some capacity.
In my idea it wouldn't even need to part of the films, it could just be mentioned in the opening crawl while describing the effect it had on everything, and the trilogy opens in the aftermath of it. Just a thought experiment.
Ingram, I sure hope you're right.
Although I don't know if going back to normal or business as usual is the best direction in some cases. As long as the changes aren't for the worse.
Inspirational quote:
The unconscious ways we have been living - as well as our illusions - have become unsustainable and are breaking down at warp speed. The meaning of the word "catastrophe" in Ancient Greek is "a turning point." - Paul Levy
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Post by Subtext Mining on Mar 24, 2020 20:49:43 GMT
A contagious virus that remains asymptomatic for 2 weeks sweeping across the globe is kind of the ultimate phantom menace.
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Post by Pyrogenic on Mar 24, 2020 21:23:35 GMT
A contagious virus that remains asymptomatic for 2 weeks sweeping across the globe is kind of the ultimate phantom menace. I was actually just thinking the other day about how the synonymous sense of GHOST/VIRUS you're alluding to is almost wholly dependent on the vocabulary of the age that you happened to live in. An invisible agent that torments a human population... |
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Post by ArchdukeOfNaboo on Apr 7, 2020 14:53:47 GMT
Has this scene ever been more relevant?
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Post by Subtext Mining on Apr 7, 2020 22:28:54 GMT
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Post by ArchdukeOfNaboo on Apr 8, 2020 0:32:19 GMT
I don't think we wanna start naming names, Subtext  Remember what Ingram said in the other thread.
Let's try to be a bit more ambiguous 
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Post by Subtext Mining on Feb 15, 2021 14:51:25 GMT
Well, after four months of Czech Republic consistently being amongst the top five worst countries at handling the pandemic (with some weeks at #1 worst), and being on our third Health Minister, the parliament voted not to extend the State of Emergency on Sunday. But the regional governors all ended up declaring their own the minute it expired.
So, from Emergency Powers to a meaningless Senate to regional governors having direct control. Sounds familiar. And now they're "changing the constitution".
And all of it to thunderous applause.
But on a personal level, I've been organizing group hikes to help stave off lockdown madness. One each weekend and one during midweek. Its literally the only thing to do.
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Post by Ingram on Feb 16, 2021 10:41:04 GMT
Well, after four months of Czech Republic consistently being amongst the top five worst countries at handling the pandemic (with some weeks at #1 worst), and being on our third Health Minister, the parliament voted not to extend the State of Emergency on Sunday. But the regional governors all ended up declaring their own the minute it expired. So, from Emergency Powers to a meaningless Senate to regional governors having direct control. Sounds familiar. And now they're "changing the constitution". And all of it to thunderous applause. But on a personal level, I've been organizing group hikes to help stave off lockdown madness. One each weekend and one during midweek. Its literally the only thing to do. CR? Do you live in a rural area or close to any of your national parks. I wouldn't mind hiking through some of your country's mountainous regions or amidst your spire-rock formations. Interestingly, much of your lakes, dense forests and rock outcroppings that I've seen in photos do not appear all that dissimilar to the landscapes I've hiked through in Kentucky.
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Post by Somny on Feb 21, 2021 18:18:42 GMT
But on a personal level, I've been organizing group hikes to help stave off lockdown madness. One each weekend and one during midweek. Its literally the only thing to do. Great initiative! Unfortunately, I've seen fairly close up how pandemic-driven isolation can adversely affect even once-otherwise-thriving people. I count my lucky stars that I'm a writer with enough to keep me occupied for the rest of my life. |
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Post by Subtext Mining on Mar 5, 2021 15:48:54 GMT
Just wanted to give a brief recap of the last year here in Czech Republic regarding the pandemic, because it’s been particularly bad. I moved here in November 2019 to teach English, travel, immerse myself in the culture, meet lots of people from around the world etc. etc. I started teaching my first class in the last week of February. On March 12th the country went into hard lockdown. My classes were canceled with no new ones on the horizon. After two months many things opened back up but there were still bans on a lot of things like concerts, and traveling was also difficult. However, we were considered one of the best countries in Europe at handling the pandemic. (And I still of course had no work because of the weakened economy). On June 30th, the city of Prague held a celebration Farewell To Covid Dinner on the historic Charles Bridge with no safety precautions taken by the hundreds of participants.  Well, summer seemed to sail along somewhat normally but in September numbers started rising again. Nobody seemed to care. In mid-September the Health Minister resigned but never stated why. By mid-October the numbers were rising at one of the highest rates in the world and by the 13th we were in hard lockdown 2.0 with an 8:00 pm curfew. Literally everything including grocery stores had to close on Sundays. Incidentally the temperatures were also now plummeting, meaning spending time outdoors was no longer an option. From October 19th  By now we were skyrocketing at an almost 90 degree angle in many categories and were #1 worst in the world in several as well. From October 28th   (We quickly surpassed Belgium) Around this time the current Health Minister, our second, was fired for eating a private dinner for his family at a restaurant and not wearing a mask in public. In late-November Bloomberg compiled a list using several factors and Czech Republic was ranked 5th worst in the world at handling the pandemic.    This graph only shows Belgium and Sweden (no lockdown) but Czech Republic was doing worse than Belgium.  In mid-December the shops, pubs and restaurants opened up again for Christmas season but the numbers quickly spiked again and before Christmas everything closed back down. I had a cold so I didn’t get to do anything those two weeks. By January we were #1 worst again.  By Valentine's Day we had once again left the rest of Europe in the dust.   This is also when it was decided to remove the field hospital built in Prague way back in October, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, because "there's not enough personnel to operate it." (Didn't they know this in October?) From late-February  Newer, harsher measures starting March 1st.  And like I said, we’ve also recently bypassed parliament, changed the constitution and given the Health Minister solitary power to declare lockdown. But last week a newer even harder lockdown was announced in which nobody can leave their district meaning no hiking outside of Prague for me, nobody can visit anyone even family, all schools closed, and it will all be enforced with military presence with violators fined 1000 Euros. And our vaccine rollout is going extremely slow. Update: Now two cities have declared their hospitals have reached the point of mass disability. |
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Remember what Ingram said in the other thread.
