The Pandemic: A Catalyst for Political & Spiritual Change

The Economists and Bloomberg have recently reported that not only are people just up and quitting their jobs but a whole bunch of people are retiring early. Nearly three million of the five million people who are still missing from the pre-pandemic work force are retirees according to studies. Almost everyone who has written about this phenomenon has attributed this wave of early retirements to a strong housing market and even stronger stock market.

There are some mentions of older folks who gave up the job to take care of grandchildren or to make life easier for their kids but that fact is somewhat downplayed. As a boomer myself, I’m not convinced that it’s all about income. I’m a white haired, white bearded guy who’s a bit overweight and past my prime just like a whole lot of other fellows my age. I still work but I work from home and I talk with a lot of people who are half my age and they’re not about to retire, but they are fed up with the grind.

I’ll offer an “alternative reality” to consider here. Not a lie, but something practical to consider. Let’s start with the fact that more than 1,000,000 people have passed away from Covid in the last three years. Most of them cut down in the fullness of life. For those of us who are in early retirement age, so many people dying has pulled us up short and given us reason to wonder if our lives have been all we’ve wished them to be. Besides we’ve had a couple of years of lockdowns and social distancing to spend time with those we love. That hasn’t been easy but most people who are resisting the return to commutes and offices with whom I’ve visited, express a decided desire to continue with the relaxed lifestyle they’ve cultivated during the pandemic. Not to mention there are still a lot of people who are just too stupid to wear a mask or get vaccinated. I’m sorry if you’re offended by me calling you stupid but if the shoe fits wear it, is what I’ve heard.

All of this brings me to the actual subject of this particular rant. Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a changing. It’s blowing in the wind.

Yes, and how many times must a man look up, before he can see the sky?

And how many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry?

Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows, that too many people have died?”

With the travesty taking place in Ukraine, the world is coming to the understanding that we have too many stupid people masquerading as politicians in the world. Marjorie came from a good family but the girl just didn’t grasp all she could have. Matt’s daddy had common old horse sense. I don’t know what happened to Loren, maybe she was on one or two too many augmented explorations of her inner worlds. Even Daren’s daddy tried to talk sense to the boy. It just didn’t take. I don’t think it’s hard to understand that fascist ideals do not a democracy make.

There’s very little difference between “Make America Great Again” slogan and “National Socialist German Workers' Party”. I know, I know, the two statements have different words but they do not have different meanings. Initially, the Nazi political strategy focused on anti–big business, anti‑bourgeois, and anti‑capitalist rhetoric. But it soon degenerated into antisemitic/us against them demagoguery. But I think Mr. Dylan had it right. There’s a reason that Coke, Pepsi, MacDonald’s, Starbucks, Visa, Mastercard and a host of other international companies have stopped doing business in and with Russia. People the world over have had enough death and dying. No one has the stomach nor the patience for death and dying brought on by one man’s mega mania.

I have to wonder if the political hacks are thinking or just repeating time tested old wives tales. Conventional wisdom inside the beltway is predicting that the house will lose Democratic seats and the Senate will revert to the loving care of dear old Mitch. Okay, then why are so many people booking AirBNB rentals in Ukraine just to make sure the folks there are getting some direct assistance? I think it’s because the times they are a changing. Even Daren will have a hard time gushing that he doesn’t think Putin did it much less that Vlad made a brilliant move by ginning up fake news about Ukrainians committing genocide against ethnic Russians.

I can see that Ukraine is in the wrong about cutting off the water supply to the Crimea, but then Israel set boundaries with Palestine that did pretty much the same thing. I can not see that as a justification for murdering civilians in either instance. I don’t care who is doing the murdering or how righteous their cause. Genetics are not a political issue. However human suffering is a political issue. I suspect that the pandemic has shown a bright light on the stupidity of “us against them” and political theater.

The likelihood of the Republican Party coming back to power in November is diminished with every day that Vlad continues his attack on those who wish to address the reality his behavior is causing for millions of people. The invasion of Ukraine cannot be justified from a spiritual basis any more than Daren’s treatment of black and brown people here in the United States. Fascism will try to succeed yet again. It has raised its ugliness for a long time, dating all the way back to the early 1920’s in India, right up until the incident on a bridge in Orlando.

I can understand how short-sighted, politically-minded people would think that the new normal would entail those ideals espoused by the Ex-US president, Daren, but maybe it would behoove them to look at history. Fascism is only popular with people who wish to be in control of other people. It is never popular with people who are to be controlled. Those people always push back and they always win.

The reason I think that the Republicans are going to lose in this upcoming election is that there is a reason that all those boomers are retiring early. I think they’re all looking at the meaning of the Spirit in their lives. I think their early retirements are related to the growing preponderance of “Nones” being the religion of choice with so many younger people. It might serve the Marjories and Lorens and Matts of the world well to consider the implications of these changing political winds. There may be a profound answer in those winds.

“Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows, that too many people have died?”

Having lost people who were important to me this last year, this is one boomer who is looking for politicians who have enough common sense to get in out of a shower of rain and do the right thing. I don’t need people who put themselves first. That means I don’t need politicians who want to put America first either. That's what Vlad is doing with Russia, and the Ukrainian people are paying the price.