A Health(y) Discourse
We believe in a cooperative economy, especially now when we see how many of the modern day constructs that define how we exist could easily be waived due to COVID-19 pandemic. It only shows how many of these constructs are non-essential to human existence. Who knew that by keeping only what’s enough can maintain modern lives? In the long run, this is more sustainable than jump-starting (again) the gears of capitalism.
This is not to say we endorse far-left state communism – far from it. It’s just that all our lives, we have relied on authorities for our lives – from the food we eat to our health care system – and where really has it lead us?
This current pandemic is all sorts of bad, and in order to flatten the curve, we are advised to stay at home away from crowds, and wash our hands with soap. As evidenced by many photos online, our collective confinement has cleared the skylines of many major cities, which is all sorts of good. That said, we don’t mean to thank the pandemic for reducing global pollution, that would be myopic; rather, we use it as a lens with which to study the effects of our behavior and their impact on our environment, and of course ask, “Do we really need a third rogue party to influence our (in)actions?”
Everybody affects everyone, if that’s still not obvious, regardless of geopolitical location, socioeconomic status, or whatever identifier you have for yourself. Each individual action ripples out, and has the possibility of gaining momentum as it reaches more people. Only if and when we agree to help one another can good things move forward at steady pace. We owe it to one another to be organized as this is a mutual benefit for all people concerned.
Health is wealth
The best time to be thinking about good praxis is the time you are the healthiest, as this is also the time that you are most capable of enduring stress – stress you will inevitably encounter should you choose to help others in these hard times. Each and everyone of us knows, or at least has some idea of, our own temperament. This is important to gauge for yourself, so you’ll know how and when you can help others, setting expectations for yourself and for them.
We don’t imply to preserve just yourself, though; rather, you’re more capable of helping others when you’re already in a relatively stable condition. We encourage you to evaluate some lifestyle choices you can make in order to keep yourself as healthy for as long as possible.
We have the capacity to go beyond the hoarding mentality that has been instilled in us by generations past. If and when we finally do that, we will begin to see that there is enough of everything for everyone.
In a profit-driven society, what then is our incentive to help one another?
It helps to borrow a great quote from Malcolm X to reframe the mindset:
“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even illness becomes wellness.”
Don’t flinch if it sounds cheesier than your mousetrap bait; it only means that as social creatures, we are, in many ways, responsible for the well-being of our neighbors (as we already said). The ‘incentive’, then, is obtained in helping others enrich their lives, that in so doing, most likely, enriches us in turn. they would reciprocate. This is the nature of volunteerism, of developers contributing to open-source software, of editors editing Wikipedia entries for free, and other pro bono endeavors. Even insulin and penicillin was made available to the public un-patented.
Do what you can!
That is, help in whatever way you can. Small actions yield big benefits, especially when it’s for the betterment of many people.
Bonus
The following is a non-exhaustive list of plants that are considered superfoods because they: (a) can easily be grown and propagated with requiring basic knowledge and little effort; (b) are always available either on your nearest wet market or in the wilds of your backyard; (c) are packed with nutrients.
-O)-
Go back to Index