In contemporary times, Japanese people are famous being good at waiting in lines and otherwise maximizing social cohesion. So when I heard that Japan was running out of toilet paper and that there were issues with people hoarding and buying out stores, I knew that there was going to be trouble. Although my inner-prepper had already led me to prep with things like things canned foods, fire-starting devices, and knives (for cooking and chopping up plants), it became clear to me that preparing more couldn't hurt. So while stuff was still in stock, I went out and bought some more essentials. At this point in the virus explosion timeline, everything in the US was running as usual. COVID-19 (then sometimes called "Wuhan Virus") was in the mainstream news, but businesses were still open and running as usual. I think the stock market took some little dips, but nothing major.

Zoom ahead a few weeks, and we see major market crashing action, Joe Biden leading the Democrats, and some areas of the world (e.g. Italy) hit very hard. Optimists say to expect maybe three more weeks of this, but the inner Doomer within each of us knows to expect more chaos for longer than that.

I had not too long ago finished filing taxes, so I didn't go sell off all my stocks. I didn't wanna think about markets, government intervention, and everything in between. Then the Federal Reserve money printers started whirring. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Invisible Enemies

Following the news through all of this has been a bullshit filtering exercise of great proportion. The scientifically minded are a bit more comfortable with just how little we know, but this is not the case for the public at large. People turn every which way for authority. Some turn to popular personalities, others to governments, and yet others to corporate e-mail announcements.

There is one common thread that I see running through all these reactions. In the words of President Donald Trump, we're fighting an "invisible enemy". Each person has constructed a different "invisible enemy", though none can deny the chaos befalling our dear globalist order.

Containment Measures

Okay, so you like... can't see a virus with the naked eye. So in a very literal sense, we are fighting an "invisible enemy" since we can't see viruses. I hope you are doing your part to not be part of the problem.

This "invisible enemy" does not immediately manifest itself. Even breathing the same air as a healthy looking person can potentially mean infection. The orders to practice "social distancing" thus urge people to not just avoid overtly coughting and weezing humans around them, but to generally avoid breathing the same air as others since we don't know who may be infected. This is how we try to contain the spread of COVID-19.

As a mostly-remote web developer, practicing "social distancing" hasn't been much of a change for me in terms of day-to-day lifestyle. However, as businesses continue closing their doors and governments have begun issuing "shelter in place" orders, even my already rather isolated remote life is being affected.

I do not yet know anyone personally who is infected with the virus, though I expect I probably will in the near future. I plan to consider taking quarantine stuff seriously. In terms of positive goals (as opposed to negative goals like avoiding sickness and death) I intend to do more pushups, squats, and crunches on the dungeon floor as well as skipping rope in the corner of my yard. Current hobbies continue to be studying foreign languages, doing computer nerd stuff, and occasionally trying to make pleasant sounds on musical instruments.

The best thing for young-ish healthy people to do, I think, is to respect the enemy (virus) and to not "YOLO, whatever I'm traveling to Italy!". This is mainly out of concern for others, though it may very likely be a life-saving alignment for oneself. Those who have the power to not end up in the hospital should choose to not end up in the hospital so that those that need help can get it. Plus, it is no fun to go to the hospital, but I didn't have to tell you that probably.

Fanning the flames of ethnic tensions

The mainstream media's response to COVID-19 has also done much to fan the flames of existing tensions. I see my ethnic demographic (Asian-Americans) getting worked up against (white) people who do not xenophilically embrace them. Certainly, hostilities exist between different people groups. Just listen to a second-generation Chinese-American immigrant mother describe how dirty white people are for leaving their shoes on in homes...

Yet we (Asian-Americans) are programmed to see micro-aggression in any vanilla colored smile.

As COVID-19 rages, we see individuals returning to ethnic enclaves (oftentimes families where near everyone is of the same ethnicity). I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. But it is worth pointing out that in times of trial people tend to reveal where their loyalties really lie. Narratives of persecution have not helped Americans towards further solidarity with one another. Rather, they have encouraged people to dig deeper into their Semitic/Chinese/Indian/etc. tribes.

I also see people withdrawing into philosophical/intellectual (rather than ethnic) camps. Groups of people united by something like a common profession (e.g. programers) or a shared ideology (e.g. "secular humanists") band may be able to survive together, at least for one generation. However I believe that in the long run, ethnic and/or religious affiliations are a more robust strategy, because neckbeards cannot give birth to new generations with other neckbeards.

Religion Rising

Facing institutional incomeptence, religion is looking healthier overall from what I can see. People want to see other people and communities. They would rather pray to God than see what demonic bargains the governments of the world have to offer them next. The promise of liberalism and globalism seems less appealing, even if the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be known except through faith.

Online social lyfe

In these tough times, we must recognize our nature as a "social species" (though I think individuals differ drastically on how much social contact they want).

I'm around if you contact me on FB, LINE, Kakao, or whatever.

For a more "public" like experience, I've been very impressed with Discord. Come hang out with me and others on the Xah Lee Discord server to meet interesting people from all over the world and talk about anything under the sun.

Notes to self

There is a whole boatload (non-infected, I hope) of topics to discuss relating to all this coronavirus stuff. Here I list some things I want to discuss further in the future. Feel free to reach out and suggest ideas if you would like to see a discussion on anything...

• Antifragile (N.N. Taleb) and why none of the "collapse" we are witnessing is surprising at all.
• Chinese media vs Western media on current events
• the Internet and signal vs noise; bullshit filtering
• about Internet communications, generally
• my experience with remote work

...will make more blogs in the near future.