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Feeling Pity

 When I talk to friends and family outside America in these pandemic times, I sense a incredulity over how poorly the situation has been managed and how unthinkable that is. America of all countries could not get its act together. This Rolling Stone article is spot-on

For the first time, the international community felt compelled to send disaster relief to Washington. For more than two centuries, reported the Irish Times, “the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the U.S. until now: pity.” As American doctors and nurses eagerly awaited emergency airlifts of basic supplies from China, the hinge of history opened to the Asian century.

Could not agree more with how the previously unthinkable is becoming normal and acceptable

Fluidity of memory and a capacity to forget is perhaps the most haunting trait of our species. As history confirms, it allows us to come to terms with any degree of social, moral, or environmental degradation.

Over the past weekend, on my LinkedIn feed people I know posted about their career milestones and success in 2020. These are the lucky few who have thrived in the darkest year of our collective lives. I know several people of my age group with kids in college and some in the tail end of high school, who have had their whole life upended. They lost their jobs and were caught unaware and unprepared. For months, they are struggling to get back on the saddle with no luck. Some of those who are promoting their good fortune have worked with these folks who are in desperate need of help - indeed they are most likely to be in a position to help.

But in a time of overall degradation, such expectations of decency and empathy don't have a place it seems. The other trend I see around me, is people opting out of the workforce of their own volition - I have some friends who have done that. The pandemic made the decision somewhat involuntary and easy. They are willing to use this chaotic and difficult time to make a hard switch that they had not been able to make on their own so far. I have experienced this moments a lot the past year myself where I wished I could make that life altering switch - flow with the chaos into a better place.

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