modest proposal. I think it’s time we came to accept the situation. The government lies daily. It’s probably not their fault (I would hate to blame them) but they tell us one thing and then reverse it. It all has to do with scientific data; and one cannot question the science of course. And daily, doctors on television eye us, dourly, and say: “There will be more pandemics in the future.” They say this with a kind of forced gravity, the subtext being ‘ignore what I say at your own peril.’ So it’s time to accept the truth; our lives will, in the future, consist of pandemic after pandemic, of lockdown after lockdown. I don’t see any reason to imagine otherwise. What we have learned is that during lockdowns the overall economy functions quite efficiently. The stock market, in fact, skyrockets. I know there are those whose lives have been ruined and for them this may not seem true. But — realistically — you must put your suffering in context! You are one of the ‘little people.’ The government is quite willing to give you handouts forever to keep you alive (I’m not entirely sure how they manage it, but as I say, ours is not to question how or why). However, if you had imagined you might get your little store or restaurant back after the pandemic you won’t. What has happened during COVID-19 is this: the rich have gotten richer, and the poor have gotten poorer. This is the way it has always been and always will be; it is our destiny. We must accept this. We have created a society that functions best in this manner, and if there was something that could be done about it, it would have been done already. Why have our lives changed in this way? Well, a major cultural shift has occurred. In the past we accepted a certain amount of risk. When we got up every day and left the house, and went to a bar, or a restaurant, or a ball game, or to our jobs — we knew that this might cause infections of some kind, that we might infect the old, etc.. But we valued being in the public square. This is simply no longer the case. We have made a clear choice. It's time to come to terms with the fact that leaving the house has been deemed too risky for our health. And the truth is this; most of us value our health more than we value leaving the house. The internet makes this a lot easier. In fact, very recently many of us have come to live less in the so-called ‘real’ world than in the digital world we find in our computers. In fact most young people have lived a large part of their emotional lives online. We now meet people on zoom and social media, and instead of finding a person to have sex with, we masturbate to pornography. It’s not pleasant to talk about sometimes; but we must call a spade a spade. People do have needs; but mostly those needs are met in ‘digital reality.’ The Spanish Flu was followed by the roaring 20s. We will have no ‘roaring 20s.’ There is simply no need. When they spoke of the ‘new normal’ they were not kidding, and what has happened — and there’s no point in complaining about it — people have simply shifted their lives into a ‘virtual reality,' which is basically the real thing, without the hugs. Let’s face it, people may want hugs but they don’t need them. I think now we understand this for sure: the difference between want and need. There is only one problem. And we must deal with it. There will be a small number of people who will not be able to adjust to the ‘new normal.’ We see this in the increased number of shootings in the USA. I have no doubt these shootings will not only continue but increase. This is evidenced by the statistics: rising drug overdoses, rising instances of spousal abuse, and rising crime rates. These are people who have fallen through the cracks. They are often poor -- but what they really share in common — as the government is certainly willing to make sure they survive on a stipend — is what we must now call a lack of ‘mental health.’ ‘Mental health’ must be redefined. In the past, it was defined at least partially by one’s ability to socialise, to interact with others -- in what we used to call the ‘real world.’ Nowadays it is quite possible to survive without these skills, nay, it is even better not to have them —- why develop skills you will never use? But there are people —we will now define them as the 'new mentally ill’ who will turn to violence, because they cannot imagine living their lives online. This happens, because for them — in their delusional thinking, a lockdown life is not a life. Take ‘incels’ for instance. These are young men who are unable to find women to have sex with even on online dating apps, and they are also not willing to simply relegate their sex lives to pornography (that’s not fair really, it’s not about relegating, pornography can be quite satisfying, we all know that). So they — not so inexplicably — go out and shoot people, in frustration. I am not suggesting these young men commit suicide instead of shooting other people (I would not suggest suicide as a viable alternative for anyone). Anyway, many of them do commit suicide after shooting people - but of course it would be better for all of us if they just offed themselves without hurting others. I must say — just as a digression — that I myself have recently thought about the idea of suicide -- I won't do it, but I never ever thought about doing it before. Not only am I an extremely social person — probably pathologically so, but my whole life (since I was a little boy) has centred around putting on little shows. I remember always thinking -- whatever happens I have that: I can get two people together and ask them to stand in front of two other people, and then write a scene to be performed. I see no reason to believe this might be ever be the case again. Theatre was dying anyway; COVID-19 has killed it. I don’t want you to feel sad for me, I probably won’t commit suicide, and if I finally find the courage to take my own life it will only be because I no longer have the courage to live this one. As I say, this is just my own personal solution to the problem. My modest proposal is this: the rest of you -- the ‘mentally healthy’ -- just come to terms with the ‘new normal.’ It’s the only way.
