By: MKHUNJULWA DHLAMINI C.B
As the Philippines goes into a new season of enhanced community quarantine, the impact that the supposed new normal has on the psyche of the populace has been well documented. It has been possibly the most difficult period endured worldwide since the economic recession in 2008 and yet the effects of being in the throes of a seemingly unending pandemic grow increasingly stark.
The biggest issue facing most households is how to make ends meet. Many business owners and vendors took the brunt of the financial hit and many were left scrambling to find alternative means of income. The government did intermittently provide food packages that were nowhere near enough to assist low-income households. Thus, the question remains in many cases probably unanswered – where does the money to feed a family come from?
Also pertinent is the new reality of drastically reduced social engagement. Many who were used to and thrived in socializing with friends, family and neighbors, suddenly had to come to terms with being unable to see their loved ones for long stretches of time. Now faced with the prospect of reclusion, a growing number of people are starting to see the importance of engagement and the relief and peace fresh air brings.
There are so many problems and very few meaningful solutions. The impact of being in a new state of existence for a year is jarring but even more so the knowledge that where once there was the belief that the situation was becoming less arduous, the playing field is once again stacked against the country. The implications of having to go back into quarantine and return to the same situation that was the norm for much of last year, grow ever dim. How does one come to terms with a constant state of fear, reclusion and financial freefall?
There is also the bitter feeling of coming to terms with the fact that the government has no adequate resources to ensure the safety and upkeep of a tax paying citizen, in spite of the citizenry abiding by the law in the belief that in a time of crisis, the government would come to their aid. The country and the world at large, is in crisis and the pandemic did not create new problems but in effect magnified the societal inequalities we are faced with.
As the pandemic rolled on the enduring feeling was that the resolution as the situation reached its nadir was that the vaccines would put an end to the saga and things would return to normal. Yet the vaccines are here, and the situation remains untenable, and the people grow increasingly wary of their government and its purported solution to their quandaries.
It is clear that in the ensuing fallout is that there are no winners except the 1% and the regularly spouted nonsense of everyone being in the same boat. The truth is, we are in the same storm.
Some have boats and are riding the waves without a care in the world, safe in their haven of opulence. Others have boats that are feeling the effects of the choppy waters and just managing not to capsize. And then there are the others who have no boats, no life rafts and are left to the mercy of the elements and their choices are grim. Either they sink or swim.
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