Category Archives: COVID-19

THE BEADY EYE ASK’S: SHOULD WE ALLOW GPS TRACKING FOR THE COMMON GOOD TO DEFEAT COVID-19

19 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by in #whatif.com, 2020: The year we need to change., Algorithms., Big Data., CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, Digital age., DIGITAL DICTATORSHIP., Emergency powers., Freedom, Google, GPS-Tracking., Human values., Lock Down., Modern day life., Our Common Values., Political Trust, Reality., Robot citizenship., Technology v Humanity, The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Obvious., The state of the World., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., VALUES, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage.

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(Ten-minute read)

Emergency powers have a tendency to kindle emergencies.

Granted most of these powers adopted by countries to stop the spread of the coronavirus are needed.

At the moment we are not concerned and willing to give up liberties that were won by the sacrifice of millions of lives before us for the common good.

We also know that in order that contact tracing could be more effective if it wasn’t voluntary. But it is vital, that our governments, that these powers (granted to governments during times of crisis) do not continue once COVID-19 is over.

The COVID-19 pandemic is barely four months old and there is no doubt that when it is over that “big data” will present new challenges as well as opportunities.

The threat of a disease as a “pretense” to justify authoritarian impulses to amass power and that technology can be used as a tool in that process could create a Big Data surveillance machine.

One present-day example comes from South Korea, which introduced an electronic system that sends out an automatic alert to people living nearby a known COVID-19 case.

Or Chinese authorities that are using software to sort citizens into color-coded categories — red, yellow, green — corresponding to their level of risk for having the virus.

Or for instance what if Google introduces a smartphone App that monitors social distancing. It will know your whereabouts down to 2 meters -7/7.

Or Governments introduce GPS to track the movements of citizens without their consent to prohibit gatherings of other 250 people. But what if the governor used that measure to stop a rival’s political rally?

But more importantly, if consumers don’t trust a smartphone-based tracking system, they can simply leave their phones at home. That would render the technology useless.

Even if voluntary it might provide people with a false sense of security if they don’t get an alert. Those who have opted out of tracking might be walking around with COVID-19 and infecting others without ever being picked up with the system.

Just think about it.

The potential in using new technology for public health surveillance to get ahead of an infectious disease outbreak must be tempting, so-called contact tracing,

There is a real danger that we could end up creating a society of untouchables. (The former name for any member of a wide range of low-caste Hindu groups and any person outside the caste system.)

Moreover, unless public health officials are involved, there’s potential to “game” the system by falsely claiming a person has the virus when they haven’t tested positive for it. That could lead to other harms, like a business intentionally undermining a rival or a political party suppressing participation.

A terror attack and a pandemic are vastly different, but both present opportunities for governments and the private sector to take on new powers in the name of keeping citizens safe.

The September 11th terror attacks led to the Patriot Act, in the USA, which gave the federal government vast new investigative powers that it claimed were necessary for the fight against terrorism.

During the HIV crises in many cases, public health officials would notify an HIV patient’s past sexual partners that they may have been in contact with somebody who had the disease, but never identified or named them.

One of the big issues at the time was the idea of doctors reporting the names of HIV patients to the states. Some states refused to accept name-based reporting so for years because they feared that it would discourage people from getting tested.

Public health and privacy rights do not need to be in opposition.

Good public health must respect civil liberties, and anything that advances human rights and civil liberties would advance public health.

So we are going to be faced with the rights of Individual freedoms against collectivism. 

The behaviors that define individualism may also enhance the likelihood of pathogen transmission, and thus may be functionally maladaptive under conditions in which pathogens are highly prevalent.

By contrast, the behaviors that define collectivism may function in the service of anti-pathogen defense, and thus be especially adaptive under conditions of high pathogen prevalence.

The question is which one will we choose or will we have a choice when all this is over.

An open-air prison-like the Gaza Strip or Equality among all. 

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S. WE CANNOT AVOID IT. CHANGE IS THE LAW OF LIFE.

18 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020: The year we need to change., CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19

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(Ten-minute red)

John F Kennedy said ” Those who look only to the past, or the present are certain to miss the future”

We are surrounded by change and it is the one thing that has the most dramatic impact on our lives.

There is no avoiding change it will find you, challenge you and force you to reconsider how to live your life.

Our lives now with the coronavirus are reactionary rather than an activator of change.

It has forced us to step out of our comfort zones and see the realities that need to change. There is no escaping the fact that change is a disruptor but it is the power of our choice that enables us to activate positive changes in our lives.

“Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw.

We all know what we don’t want…

We have been talking about it for years and our consensus is that climate change is happening and the risks are real. There is overwhelming evidence that both current impacts with significant costs and extraordinary future risks to society and natural systems.

That the reality of climate change means that there are climate change impacts we can expect, but we also must consider what might happen, especially the small, but real, chance that we may face abrupt changes with massively disruptive impacts. Moreover, while the public is becoming aware that climate change is increasing the likelihood of certain local disasters, many people do not yet understand that there is a small, but real chance of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes with highly damaging impacts on people around the world.

97% of climate experts have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening.

The sooner we respond, the better off we will be.

We don’t need to debate if the climate is changing anymore. By making informed choices now, we can reduce risks for future generations and ourselves, and help communities adapt to climate change.

Climate change puts the well-being of people of all nations at risk.

The problem is that the world is now and for the foreseeable future will have its attention on the effects of COVID-19 for some time.

When the Pandemic is over, or under control what needs to change in the world.

Think about it for a minute.

There are so many changes that stick out like sore thumb it is impossible to believe that we have tolerated there existence.

So let’s fantasize.

There is such inequality, pain and suffering in the world we could start by ensuring that everyone on the planet should have access to electricity, fresh air, drinking water, green technologies, free education, and decent housing.

The world today is definitely not a paradise. Hunger, abuse, poverty, pollution, and violence are all too common.

Granted, the world never has been, and probably never will be perfect, but that means there’s lots of room for improvement!

If we are going to move forward we need to collaborate and push for policies that complement both sides of the political spectrum. We need to put yourself into another person’s headspace.

We don’t have to take on everything at once, in fact, it’s better if we don’t.

If there is one lesson we can and should learn from the present crises it is this:

When the experts tell us the sky is going to fall if we don’t take action we had better take action or the sky really may fall.

We may be able to prevent the emergence of some new pathogens, but for most, we can only prepare.

We can, however, prevent the looming climate disaster.

We can ensure that emerging Technologies serve us all and not just profit.

We can reform our world organizations.

We can reinvent Nato ( See previous posts)

We can fund the United Nations and the WHO.

We can establish World aid silos fully equipped to handle disasters.

We can with our buying power have a sustainable economy.

So the question is why have we not?

Because no one wants to pay for it.

In fact, no one country or the economy or individual has to.

It can be achieved by making a profit for profit sake pay.  By applying a 0.05% World aid commission on activities that are profit-seeking like Algorithms, High-Frequency Trading, Currency Transactions, Sovereign Wealth Fund accusations, Lottos, Gambling, etc. ( see previous posts)

We can become educated on the issues and what’s being done to address it. Especially now with social media, your message can go viral on the internet, spreading the word even faster. Bring your true, authentic self to every situation.

The crucial first step is getting the forces for change off the ground. Having a roadmap to success is crucial for establishing a sense of trust that the change is possible.

Maybe COVID-19 might save the world it has created a sense of urgency.

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THE BEADY EYE ASKS: IS IT NOT SOMEWHAT PATHETIC. THAT A MAN CALLED TOM AT ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AGE HAS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE NHS.

16 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020: The year we need to change., CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Human values., Nato, Our Common Values., Reality., Survival., Technology v Humanity, The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Future, The Obvious., The state of the World., The world to day., What Needs to change in the World, World Leaders

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  (Twelve-minute read)  As much as one has to admire the initiative and courage of Tom. The generosity of the public and the power of social media in raising millions for the NHS he high lights what is wrong with a Government, that put the economy before its people’s needs. One key question to ask ourselves about the current pandemic of COVID-19 is: Why are we so unprepared? After all, this is far from the first pandemic and three to four of them were in the last six decades. Anyone with even a modicum of historical knowledge is aware of the infamous Black Death. (Between 1346 and 1353.) Even though none of us were alive then in that pandemic, Eurasia suffered between 75 and 200 million deaths, at a time when the entire global population was less than 500 million. Just over 100 years ago, the so-called Spanish flu killed some 100 million people in the closing months of the First World War and into 1919. The pandemic killed about five times the number of people killed in that war. Why humans kept making the same mistakes over and over again over a period of many centuries. Essentially, it can be blamed on our arrogance — a psychological condition that affects most of us most of the time — drove people to believe that they had nothing to learn from the past.   Today, we are smarter. We have learned more. We are more aware of the traps that lead to disaster. But we really are not. We say that we learn the lessons of history, but we do not.  Did anyone really believe that no global pandemics were ever again going to wreak havoc on human life? We now spend hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, on detecting space objects that might crash into the Earth, potentially causing many deaths, and maybe even leading to extinction. In the last 10 years, we have started to take this prospect very seriously. And it is good that we do. But aside from small numbers of immunologists working in different countries on different vaccines, how much effort was put into deflecting a new pandemic? Or preparing governments or people for how to cope with one? Not much, overall. We now know that a vaccine was in the works years ago, but that work on it was halted because no money was available to fund the research. Will we learn from this? The major lesson is that we will not unless we take these lessons to heart. We will have more Troys, Vietnams, Afghanistan’s and COVID-19s, unless we really, truly, smarten up. It is only a matter of time before we face a deadlier and more contagious pathogen. We also face the specter of novel and mutated pathogens that could spread and kill faster than diseases we have seen before. With the advent of genome-editing technologies, bioterrorists could artificially engineer new plagues. We can start by learning four lessons from the gaps exposed by the Ebola and Zika pandemics and now this COVID 19.  The most effective way to stop pandemics is with vaccines. Therefore the world must come together to develop preemptively vaccines for diseases predicted to cause outbreaks in the near future. What’s needed are point-of-care diagnostics that, like pregnancy tests, can be used by frontline responders or patients themselves to detect infection right away, where they live. We need to help developing countries establish health systems that can provide routine care and, when needed, coordinate with international responders to contain new outbreaks. Local health systems could be established for half the price of battling future pandemics. They would be essential for knowing when an outbreak is taking root and establishing trust. International actors are essential but cannot parachute into countries and navigate local dynamics quickly enough to contain outbreaks. Investing in our ability to prevent and contain pandemics through revitalized national and international institutions should be our shared goal. We need stronger global coordination. The responsibility for controlling pandemics is fragmented, spread across too many players with no unifying authority.  So Mr. Tom you have inspired me to suggest this. If we are going to keep NATO that has reinvented itself and built a new headquarter at a cost of  €1billion let it be the global coordinator to fight future Pandemics.  What better enemy could it have. Pandemics are an existential threat on par with climate change and nuclear conflict. We are at a critical crossroads, where we must either take the steps needed to prepare for this threat or become even more vulnerable. It is only a matter of time before we are hit by a deadlier, more contagious pandemic. Will we be ready? WHO, which is taking a battering from prevailing political headwinds in the United States, should continue to anchor global action.  All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin

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THE BEADY EYE ASK’S . WHAT ARE WE GOING TO KISS GOODBYE BECAUSE OF COVID- 19.

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020: The year we need to change., CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, Disconnection., Honesty., HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Human values., Humanity., Inequality, Life., Modern day life., Natural World Disasters, Our Common Values., Post-Covid-19, Reality., Survival., Sustaniability, Technology v Humanity, The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Obvious., The state of the World., The world to day., Truth, Unanswered Questions., VALUES, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Organisations., World Politics

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(Twenty-minute read)

Apart from the tragic loss of loved ones what if this epidemic is a turning point, and after it, the world is never the same?

Will the world come out of this crisis better than it was before?Ball, Earth, Glass, Globe, World

It all depends on what we do and how we behave right now.

Even in the height of the darkest of times, people are already imagining what the future world would look like.

It is, in Metzl’s words, “a convergence of the worlds of science and biology and the world of geopolitics.” And as the coronavirus crisis continues to play out, its geopolitical implications are going to become much greater.”

The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born.

Post-WWII planners envisioned a world that shared sovereignty and curbed nationalism. But we’re now in a period of dramatic re-nationalization of the world, with the populist, extremist, or authoritarian leaders in power from Brazil to the US to China, and many countries in between.

The one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that we don’t have effective structures in place to address global crises—and not just coronavirus. Think of climate change, protecting the oceans, preparing for a future of automation and AI; no country can independently take on or solve these massive challenges.

Crucially, we’re more connected to each other than we’ve ever been. It used to take thousands of years for knowledge to transfer; now it can fly across the world over the internet in minutes.

The tools we’re bringing to this fight are greater than anything our ancestors could have possibly imagined.

Unforuntitly this is bottom-up energy and connectivity, as we witness the abysmal failure of our top-down institutions.

We don’t know the way out or how long it’s going to last. In the meantime, a lot of unexpected things will happen.

There will be an economic slowdown or recession, and there will be issues with our healthcare systems—and these are just the predictable things.

We may see fragile states collapsing and even the EU disintegrating.

We’re going to come out of this into a different world.

We don’t know exactly what that world will look like, but we can imagine some of it. Take the trends that were already in motion and hit the fast-forward button. Virtualization of events, activities, and interactions. Automation of processes and services. Political and economic decentralization.

In hindsight, it’s easy to picture a far better response and outcome to the COVID-19 outbreak. What if, three months ago, there’d been a global surveillance system in place, and at the first signs of the outbreak, an international emergency team led by the World Health Organization had immediately gone to Wuhan?“

We need to be articulating our long-term vision now so that we can evaluate everything against that standard.

There’s not a total lack of a positive long-term vision now: the UN sustainable development goals, for example, call for gender equality, no poverty, no hunger, decent work, climate action, and justice (among other goals) around the world.

The problem is that we don’t have institutions meaningful enough or strong enough to affect the realization of these principles; there’s a mismatch between the global nature of the problems we’re facing and the structure of national politics.

We couldn’t have done this in the industrial age or even the nuclear age. There’s never been this kind of motivation combined with this capacity around the world.

This time will be different; to succeed, the new global plan will need to have a meaningful drive from the bottom up. We need to recognize a new locus of power. And it’s us. Nobody is going to solve this for us. This is our moment to really come together.

We have to turn the United Nations from being a gossip, veto voting, begging shop to an Institution fully funded. ( See the previous post on a World Aid commission of 0.05%. So it can establish around the world Aid Silo fully equipped.)

What better way to help the damaged world economies and to prepare for the next pandemic and climate change.

There is no need for further Climate change deliberations.

If we don’t want to be haunted by COVID-19 saying one thing and doing another is over

 

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THE BEADY EYE ASK’S: NOW THAT YOU ARE IN LOCK DOWN WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVING?

12 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020: The year we need to change., CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, Digital age., Digital Friendship., Disconnection., Human values., Humanity., Life., Lock Down., Modern day life., Our Common Values., Post-Covid-19, Reality., Religion., Religious Beliefs., Technology v Humanity, The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Future, The Obvious., The state of the World., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., VALUES, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World

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(Five-minute read)

I know it’s a heavy question, but now perhaps it is one of the most important questions we all have to answer in the future. 

It can be tough to notice all the amazing things that life has to offer.

Can we be satisfied with the successful pursuit of love, work, and play?

A fulfilling life can be elusive, as there aren’t any concrete factors that truly determine whether or not a person has truly found happiness. Satisfaction often yields happiness, but even the pursuit is enough to give life meaning.

For me, it is sharing that gives life meaning. 

Active listening by taking your friend’s feelings into account when making a decision and phasing out people who introduce stress or negative feelings out of your life.

The successes of your friends are important and worthy of celebrating.

Get to know them.

Find value in what you do. I.E. finding a job that aligns with your personal passions. It’s important to find a line of work that offers the amount of freedom you feel is necessary and appropriate. Accomplishing something of value.

Obsessing over past failures can’t change what happened. The opinions of others carry only as much weight as you allow them to.

Giving back. Find a cause you are passionate about and donate to it, volunteer your time, or offer your support in some way.

Remember that your strengths are a big part of what makes you great.

Forgiving can be among the hardest things to master, as often it’s the things that hurt the most that are most in need of forgiveness.

Remember, life is always worth living and there are people out there that can help.

It’s about the relationships we create, develop, support and maintain with people, colleagues, friends, and members of our family. Every person we meet adds invaluable experience to our life. Even the most complicated relationships we find ourselves in teaching us something worthwhile.

The answer rests in the ability to create, to dream and to strive to turn those dreams into reality. It’s all about big and small achievements when we prove ourselves being able to push the limits away. It’s about discovering the depths of your unlimited potential. 

By accepting what is going on and what happened, we release ourselves from oppressive judgments and wishes for things to pan out differently.

Enjoy all the little things, and with the time you will discover their profound meaning and that they weren’t little after all.

One thing that makes life more fulfilling and worth living are really connecting with the world around us. Nature. 

Religious faith may be reassuring, but science cannot objectively tell someone whether they should adhere to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or some other religion. It cannot even tell an individual what version of Christianity (Catholic, Baptist, Morman, etc.) or Islam (Shia or Sunni) they ought to adopt. Hence, religion and vague spiritual ideas—such as “everything happens for a reason”—can not provide an evidence-supported basis for living.

But most people, fortunately, can find lots of reasons to value their lives. 

Time does not stand still for anybody so perhaps Boris Johnston Priminster after his Coronavirus experience now realizes that sharing is what makes life go around and not get Brexit done.

One thing that makes life more fulfilling and worth living are really connecting with the world around us. If you consider your most precious memories they are probably with other people when you were doing something beyond your personal satisfaction.

Living a full, meaningful and thriving life comes down to being engaged in the world around us, not in virtual reality.

All human comments appreciated. All lie clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.

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THE BEADY EYE ASK’S; HOW WILL HISTORY RECORD THE CORONA-VIRUS PANDEMIC.

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19

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(Two – minute read)

When nations emerge from the tragedy of the pandemic amid distressing human loss with there economy in ruins, they and history will seek to blame someone for the devastation. 

There are many factors other than the death toll that will determine this. 

They say that history is written by the victor but the lesson to be learned this time is humility.

Our glorious, multinational globalized, technological miracle- has been brought to its knees by a pathogen so tiny no one is able to see their complex structures until the last century.

History will show that we were mocked by a speck of nature that technically not alive.

 History will show that our addictive elixir, economic growth evaporation, and our only defense is social distancing.

History may well show that by suspending our entire way of life we saved lives but we will not have defeated COVID-19 as the virus exploits or togetherness mercilessly.

History will record a brutal fact that the virus ripped off our delusions of control of nature.

History will place the origins of the virus in Wuhan China.

It will show that integrating a communist dictatorship into a democratic world economy is a mug’s game.

It will show that Donald Trump is a pathological liar.  The virus is in a way a symbol of that reality.

When the masks are removed it will show that we were saved by a vaccine as there is no surrender.

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S. Here is the latest news for Valued Workers:

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, Post-Covid-19

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(Twelve-minute read)

Workers of the world, good news! You have been rebranded as “stakeholders”

Stakeholders for a cohesive and sustainable world.

At the moment this is like believing that your Aunt Mary is you Uncle.

In other words, everything is going to change when the Coronavirus disappears.

What I find somewhat amazing is that the current coronavirus pandemic has created this eureka moment of enlightenment.

To be brutally honest receiving a round of applause for your heroics is all jolly good but before we learn how to identify the values of others, we should make sure that we understand our own values and that is that the value of everything from the smallest ant to the very air we breathe is all interconnected.

It’s not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time.

Its called treating people decently and valuating the world we live on.

Up to now too many at the top whether it’s in government or industry seem incurious about the realities of life for people lower down the valued charts.

Valued workers thanks to COVID-19  is all the rhetoric across media. BEFORE THE CORONA VIRUS IT WAS ALL ABOUT austerity working for a miserable PAYCHECK.

NOW IT ALL ABOUT CONTRIBUTING STILL ON A MISERABLE MINIMUM NO CONTRACT WAGE TO THE GREATER GOOD OF SOCIETY.

(60 percent were ALREADY struggling to make ends meet each month.)

When all the employee costs are subtracted from the employee’s assets, the remainder is the employee’s value.

Now it appears that we are rethinking, what work is done, how it is done, and by whom. After we get back to living this will be more than an interesting question.

In the profit-focused world while people demonstrate their values every day the sense of purpose up to now has been overlooked and underpaid with the basic living wage reflecting this elusive, and, perhaps, somewhat arbitrary value.

There is no doubt that there is going to be not just a recession in the economies of the world but a depression.

This is not just because of the pandemic, that will leave vast groups of citizens jobless but also because of robotic automation and climate change.

Even Donal Dump ( the climate changer denier) has recognised this by breaching the American dream of making oneself rich without government assistance.

Last month U.S. lawmakers agreed to send direct payments to citizens as part of its historic $2 trillion stimulus package. Most Americans will receive cheques of up to $1,200 for an individual earning up to $75,000 a year, with an additional $500 per child.

Cash is the best thing you can do to improve health outcomes, education outcomes and lift people out of poverty.  It’s the only solution to an economy where “a small group of people are getting very, very wealthy while everyone else is struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, hedge funds have got their dancing shoes on. 

With automation, a depression of global magnitude and now a pandemic, not to mention climate change  a guaranteed income is inevitable.

All are destroying the employment market therefore citizens should have simple, straightforward financial assistance that minimizes bureaucracy.

Universal Basic Income. Universal Basic Income (sometimes called Unconditional Basic Income, Citizens Income or just Basic Income) is a proposed economic system in which all adults within the economy receive a guaranteed basic income irrespective of whether they have a job or not.

The intention behind such a payment is to provide enough to cover the basic cost of living and provide financial security.

It would cost less to administer such a program than with traditional welfare and the payments could help stabilize the economy during recessionary or depression periods.

(The unprecedented fall in GDP, investment, consumption, and economic activity will cause lasting scars on the economy – higher debt, business closures, permanently lost income, and new barriers to global trade will cause a prolonged economic downturn.)

It would remove the problem with existing welfare programs that keep people “trapped in poverty.

The argument against it is if everyone suddenly received a basic income, it would create inflation.

Most would immediately spend the extra cash, driving up demand. Retailers would order more, and manufacturers would try to produce more. But if they couldn’t increase supply, they would raise prices. Higher prices would soon make the basics unaffordable to those at the bottom of the income pyramid. In the long run, a guaranteed income would not raise their standard of living.

It would be too expensive. It could remove the incentive to work.

However, it is important to remember economies are adaptable. No matter how bleak the situation is, human resourcefulness can help economic activity bounce back.

How would a universal basic income be funded?

Larger-scale basic income initiatives could require central banks to create new money, as they did for quantitative easing programs after the 2008 global economic crisis.

It is remarkable that in postwar Britain the support for those living in poverty was closer to average earnings than it is today. This is the very simple fact that lies behind the record levels of personal debt, rising use of food banks and increasing destitution that we see in the UK.

( Who needs Trident replaced at an expected cost of £31 billion. Another £10 billion has been put aside to cover any extra costs or spending over the estimate.

Who needs HS2 at an estimated cost of £106bn.

Who needed two new aircraft carriers with a price tag of £6.2bn.

How needs to spend 2% of GDP on defense

Who needs a new Hinkley when most countries are going green.

Who needs Brexit which is already around £130bn cost to the economy, and a £70bn cost still to come: )

Of course, a whole new system would take longer than the urgency of the coronavirus situation requires.

However, the virus is exposing many of the flaws in sick pay and wider welfare system that leave people financially vulnerable when ill. Universal Credit is clearly not suited to the urgent support needed by many.

With as much as 80% of the population of the world liable to be infected means that planning for the long term will be necessary. Until a vaccine is developed.

The coronavirus epidemic could last until next spring even a year is entirely plausible. In this context that the question about the organization of human society post-COVID-19 becomes relevant and urgent.

Before I continue at this point it might be best to face the truth and confess ignorance for what the year or years ahead might bring.

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No longer can we afford a lackluster attitude to the poverty of the majority, while a few enjoy a decent quality of life.

An increasing concentration of political power and financial elite has up to now influences the rules by which an economy runs.

The need for shared prosperity and security requires co-ordinated national and global response. If not we could be looking at leaderless mass responses that will serve no one.

When this Pandemic is over corporate priorities will revert, recalibrate their priorities, but for the rest of us, the ramifications of all of this apart from the tragic loss of lives (Coronavirus kills on an average of just 18.5 days) must go where no man has gone before.

Regardless of how health care is funded, all countries face similar challenges – namely, how to meet the rising demand for services and transform care in response to an aging population and changing patterns of disease. This is leading to increased pressures on services and funding challenges in countries around the world.

It’s currently unknown what exact procedures would be given to a patient with suspected COVID-19. And, depending on your symptoms, you could have a quick 15-minute visit to urgent care or an urgent visit to the ER — not necessarily both. 

In the USA Coronavirus testing might be free, but the hospital trip may set you back thousands.

Depending on where you are the average cost of COVID-19 coronavirus patients may reach more than $20,000.

It all comes down to what treatment and what medical coverage you have.

Paying people a living wage and convincing them that you are listening to them is not the current UK Living Wage is £9.00 an hour. The current London Living Wage is £10.55 an hour.

Salary is a fixed cost, which may increase annually as an employee becomes more valuable to the employer.

Your organization’s workplace values set the tone for your company’s culture, and they identify what your organization, as a whole, cares about.

The average cost for burial is £4,321.

We all have our own workplace values these values must come to life.

Remember that we human race has never been able to eradicate any disease except smallpox, let’s hope that out of this one we eradicate inequality.

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: HERE IS YOUR CHANCE. WE HAVE THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

08 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in #whatif.com, 2020: The year we need to change., A Constitution for the Earth., Civilization., COVID-19, Evolution, Fourth Industrial Revolution., HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Human values., Humanity., Inequality, Life., Modern day life., Our Common Values., Reality., Survival., Sustaniability, Technology v Humanity, The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Obvious., The pursuit of profit., The state of the World., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., United Nations, VALUES, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Economy., World Leaders, World Organisations., World Politics

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(Twenty minutes read to change the world)

NOW IS THE TIME TO WRITE A CONSTITUTION FOR THE PLANET THAT WE ALL LIVE ON – THE EARTH.

We can observe our Planet from space, but many of us are still not able to see it as a unique and precious miracle of life.

Why a Constitution?

Because most of the declarations like the universal declaration of human rights or the US constitution do not, constitute viable instructions for change: they are rather moral discussion papers, containing much wishful thinking, or a list of flaws people are perceived to commit in their relation to Nature.

Because neither human beings nor culture is independent self-sufficient existences – they are dependent on the Earth.

Only the Earth can be thought of as a relatively independent existence within the Universe.

They depend on the health and prosperity of the biotic assembly that constitutes our Planet.

Because there will be no exit strategy without a healthy Earth.

The relationship between man and Earth up to now has been exploited for profit.

All noble sentiments and efforts to understand and resolve the current crisis while ignoring the splitting of the planet into two opposing systems – Culture and Nature – are doomed to failure.

The currently prevailing anthropocentric vision of the world is incorrect, not only in its details and in its specific arguments, but also in its deepest underlying principles – in short, in its entirety.

Culture is not a continuation of natural evolution by different means.

Culture is an artificial system opposing Nature.

If it were set as Nature is in biophilia, life-reverencing format, then Culture’s self-activity would grow in a desirable way.

Culture would respect Nature and both systems would co-operate at a new level.

Our world is not only surrounded by junk it is full of junk.

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HERE: IS A DRAFT EARTH’S CONSTITUTION.

Feel free to add.

Article I

The Earth

  1. The Earth is the natural home to all of its interdependent live beings. It cannot belong to any biological species, not even to the human species. Humans, the founders of Culture, must not ravage the Earth to the detriment of themselves or of any other living beings.
  2. The Earth represents the highest value for both our species and for human Culture. It constitutes the oldest, broadest and most powerful creative activity, the unique planetary subjectivity. We have to defend its right to evolution, and its right to maintain a planet-wide balance between animate and inanimate systems.
  3. Our Culture must not expand further, neither at the expense of the natural diversity of the planet nor at the expense of human health.
  4. As a system superordinate both to humans and to their artificial Culture, the Earth is sovereign and our elected and controlled institutions must become its defenders and advocates.
  5. We commit ourselves to halting the decline, destruction, and pollution of Earth’s natural existence and, to that effect, also to advancing the recognition of a system of human responsibility, including effective and deterrent sanctions against those who fail to respect this Constitution.

Article II

Humans

  1. Human beings are not the immediate cause of the current environmental crisis. The root cause of the crisis is the systemic conflict between the artificial cultural orderliness and the natural orderliness of the Earth.
  2. Humanity is not responsible for the Earth. It is responsible for Culture, its product, which has divided the Earth into two mutually opposing systems: the Cultural and the Natural. It is the paramount task of law, politics, and science in the coming period of life-reverencing – biophilia – Culture to reconcile Culture with Nature.
  3. The human species subjectivity is restricted by the superior subjectivity of the Earth. All persons and government authorities are obliged to respect this wider subjectivity, protect the diversity and unity of the biosphere and sparingly use the inanimate products of the Earth.
  4. We hereby declare that the human species can only be biologically congruent with natural existence – not with artificial cultural existence. We acknowledge that anything that is good for the Earth is good for human beings as well.
  5. All legal systems must protect and enforce the natural orderliness of the Earth.

Article III

Culture

  1. Culture is an artificial system with its own internal, intrinsic information, and that is intellectual culture. A change in the orientation and contents of the intellectual culture, including values, knowledge, and precepts, is a prerequisite of the biophilia transformation of Culture.
  2. Culture, which is a human creation, is neither a continuation of the evolution of Nature nor a process in its improvement. It is an artificial and temporary construct, which is dependent on mass, energy, and information coming from Nature. It is a structure incongruent with the biological structure of human beings and it will cease to exist after the demise of humankind.
  3. The Culture system’s growth marginalizes and exterminates live systems and breaks up the natural structures of the Earth. Should the evolution of the Culture system’s continue, it must abandon the predatory orientation and adopt a position of a humble integration into the superior evolution of our planet.
  4. It has been political entities – States – that have made the ravaging of Nature possible, since these States have, directly or indirectly, supported the development of the predatory entrepreneurship and unrestricted extension of both materials- and energy-intensive consumer techniques. These States, therefore, bear the main responsibility for the current crisis of civilization.
  5. All States must be obliged to take steps towards a state of sustainable co-operation between Culture and the Earth. They are charged with the task of changing the predatory spiritual paradigm of Culture, starting the process of adopting biophile laws and spreading knowledge about the need for reconciliation between Culture and Nature.

Article 1V

Technology.

1. New innovations and uses of technology will be an active and integral part of the
international development story going forward. Developing a deeper understanding of how technology can impact development will better prepare everyone for the future, and help all of us drive it in new and positive directions.

2. The link between technology and governance is critical to consider in a better
understanding of how technology could be developed and deployed. The distinction between “developed” and “developing” nations should no longer apply.

3. Strong global cooperation on a range of issues drives technological
breakthroughs that combat disease, climate change, and energy shortages.

4. Governance, in turn, will play a major role in determining what technologies
are developed and who those technologies are intended, and able, to benefit.

5. Transparency allows states to glean insights from massive datasets to vastly improve the management and allocation of financial and environmental resources.

6. All technology must carry a world-recognized seal of safety verifying the authenticity of anything.

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But no one was prepared for a world in which large-scale catastrophes would occur with such breathtaking frequency. Not surprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic has put enormous pressure on an already overstressed global economy.

Most nation-states could no longer afford their locked-in costs, let alone respond to increased citizen demands for more security, more healthcare coverage, more social programs and services, and more infrastructure repair.

So yes I can hear you saying this will never happen.

How would such a constitution be ratified, by who, at what cost, who will pay?

It can be ratified in the United Nations, passed at the next global climate summit, the cost of not doing so outweighs any alternative, and it can be paid for fairly by placing a world aid commission on all activities that are for-profit sake. ( see the previous post on world aid commission)

As you have seen, each of the scenarios, if it were to unfold, would call for different strategies and have different implications for how a range of organizations will work and relate to changes in technology. But no matter what the world might emerge, there are real choices to be made about what areas and goals to address and how to drive success toward particular objectives.

“Biodiversity is the totality of all inherited variation in the life forms of Earth, of which we are one species. We study and save it to our great benefit. We ignore and degrade it to our great peril.” Wilson, Edward O.

All comments and contributions welcome. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S. YOU CAN’T MANAGE THE TRUTH. WE ARE OR WILL WE BE LOOKING A SOCIAL BOMB WITH THE CURRENT PANDEMIC.

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by in Civilization., Communication., CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, Dehumanization., Disasters., Disconnection., Environment, Evolution, Fourth Industrial Revolution., Humanity., Inequality, International solidarity., Life., Modern day life., Our Common Values., Political Trust, Reality., Survival., Sustaniability, Technology v Humanity, Telling the truth., The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Future, The Obvious., The state of the World., The world to day., Truthfulness., Unanswered Questions., United Nations, VALUES, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Leaders, World Organisations., World Politics

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(Four-minute read)

We already have the power to destroy ourselves without the wisdom that we don’t, but this Coronavirus pandemic is another kettle of fish altogether, there is no need to press a button. 

Most species live for millions of year so we are at 200,000 are teenagers. 

If we play our cards right we could be around for hundreds of thousands of years to come. 

Now that we realized the truth, of the fragility of our present times we need to revamp our World Institutions to get the risk of living down and keep it down forever. 

Perhaps after this Pandemic, we as a species need to write a constitution for humanity to set us on the right course to sustainability. 

Why? 

Because no one individual, no president or politician has been able to solve in the last century even if they wanted to, the problems that Earth our home must tackle as a species. 

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Worldwide we are now looking at more than 838,000 cases of COVID-19 leaving the majority of citizens jobless, broke, and without options.

You’d think people would be used to it by now. Every couple of years the world is thrust into hysteria by the latest virus that is threatening to wipe out a significant portion of the population.

How many shocks can an international economy sustain?

How many shocks are likely on their way?

Forests are burning. Glaciers are melting. Ecological systems are collapsing. Resources are running out.

Coronavirus has and is changing everything and not everything.Post image

We just haven’t noticed it yet.

But those changes will become more apparent by the day.

Suddenly, we may have to think about things we’ve never needed to consider before.

Like a social bomb that can explode at any moment.

In our global society, this outbreak moved from a remote village to a major city on the other side of the world in under 36 hours.

Despite generous government-mandated disaster pay, unemployment, and stimulus checks, it’s only a matter of time before many issues combine to become the flashpoint that leads to an explosion of civil unrest.

The consequences will be very different in countries where political institutions are weaker and where the illness or death of a leader has been known to generate the kind of power vacuum that might inspire rival leaders, opposition parties, or the military to launch a power grab. 

HOWEVER, ultimately its impact will not be counted in human fatalities.

Nor in the cost of treating the sick.

It will be in our minds. It’s in our economic system. In our societies that are all linked to the overwhelming extent of globalisation, urbanisation and ecosystem collapse.

Our interconnected world – and its ultra-efficient flow of trade, investment, knowledge and people – has been revealed to have feet of clay.

Globalisation will have to be rethought because most of the population is the urbanised disassociated from even basic agriculture, NOT TO MENTION THE WORLDS ECOSYSTEMS. 

We have skewed supply chains so far to the extremes that when they are perturbed, people get into a lot of strife and our way of life isn’t built to cope with it.

What COVID19 is emphasising is that our system is set up ideally to transmit such a disease and is extremely susceptible to even small interruptions.

It jumped into a world humans have moulded to their own purposes. But that world is also nirvana to a virus.

We’ve actually put ourselves in an ideal position from the perspective of a virus, which is why we see estimates of anywhere between 30 and 60 per cent of the population likely to get it.

It has burst on an unready world.

COVID-19 will eventually pass and become more controllable with vaccines and developed natural immunity, but not yet and not before it could wreak profound change on those who currently hold political, economic and military power around the globe.

It has set in motion a chain of events that will bring consequences, that none of us  IMAGINE NOW.

Everybody is suddenly very aware of just how reliant we are on China for everything from medicines and machinery to electronic components and rare Earths.

There is a big judgement call to make such are the levels of interdependency built by reliance on global just-in-time supply chains that the developed economies will largely sink or swim together.

But it’s not just China. It’s the whole globally specialised network of supply.

Diversification is now a necessity, not just strategic aspiration.

Suddenly the logic of many belts and many roads is plain.

It is not possible to manage the truth.

When benefits run out on a national scale, fear, lack of food, employment, the number of people dying with the potential for much more yet to come there is risks of a domino effect leading to Civil unrest.

Fear becomes the default emotion. The very emotion that motivates people to take to the streets to engage in civil unrest and protest.

Exceptional conditions of imbalance between needs and available resources.

Historically, larger outbreaks of civil unrest tend to occur in largely populated areas.

But most people don’t go further and ask the question; “What exactly are people afraid of?” Is it death? Of course, that is mankind’s greatest anxiety, especially for those who have children. 

South Korean soldiers, in protective gear, disinfect the Eunpyeong district against the coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: Woohae Cho/Getty Images

Civil unrest affects more than just the civilians involved and the law enforcement that are called on to subdue it. It isn’t limited to riots. Violence and destruction aren’t necessary to classify civil unrest. It can start for many reasons. Of course, any prediction is hard to make given that infections haven’t yet peaked.

The sooner you accept the need to go into lockdown, the better.

The sacrifice isn’t fun, and borders on tragic. Hopefully, people will see fit to prepare for such setbacks in the future as history has shown that this will not be the last impending “catastrophe” to derail us from our lives. 

All human comments appriciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.

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THE BEADY EYE ASK’S. WILL THE WORLD BE EVER A SAFE PLACE.

05 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020: The year we need to change., Artificial Intelligence., Biotechnology., Capitalism, CORONA VIRUS., COVID-19, Dehumanization., Democracy, Digital age., Disasters., Disconnection., Environment, Evolution, Fake News., Fourth Industrial Revolution., HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Human values., Humanity., Inequality., International solidarity., Life., Lock Down., Modern Day Democracy., Modern day life., Nanotechnology, Pandemic, Political Trust, Post - truth politics., Reality., Robot citizenship., Social Media, Survival., Sustaniability, Technologically Enabled Genetics., Technology v Humanity, Technology., The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Future, The Internet., The Obvious., The pursuit of profit., The state of the World., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., VALUES, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Aid., World Economy., World Leaders, World Organisations., World Politics, World Trade Organisation

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    (Thirty-minute lockdown read )  My previous post asked the question of what skills will be needed to rebuild …

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