Is this thing on? Can you hear me?
The Pessoptimist
Vol.1 | Issue 01 | April 2020
When blogs were a thing, I had one. And it came with a devoted following and comments. Through it, I formed many friendships. Now it lies there dormant, filled with photos of twenty-somethings wearing lamé and American Apparel taken on Blackberries and iPods, featuring sentences like "interwebs" and "after the jump" (so Gawker). Those of you who suggested I start a newsletter are pushing me to write more (what I always tell myself to do), so thank you. I hope I don't let you down.
Structure: This irregular newsletter will begin with some short-medium-long form of writing, followed by links and things of note, and conclude with details on Imagining the World, Anew sessions. If the latter is what you are here for, please scroll to the end.
Contents:
Thoughts, or something like it
Things and Links
Imagining the World, Anew session information
Thoughts, or something like it
Yesterday was the first day I only checked the news twice. Next week, I was meant to be in Cape Town for a conference on revolutionary publications from the Global South. Like many things, it has been postponed. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of too much information, grappling with people struggling to use technology, listening to myself ask if everyone on the call can see me or hear me, observing highly intelligent people believe everything they read, and dreading trips to the grocery stores where everyone looks around suspiciously to make sure the person behind them is an arbitrary two metres away.
Last week's Imagining the World, Anew session had my mind racing all week. I have been thinking a lot about communication. The UK government is telling us to wash our hands and to not touch our face, but, in typical Conservative party messaging, it lacks detail (the how). I am not suggesting overkill either (too much is confusing). Washing hands – an individual solution to containing the pandemic as Giroux states – means scrub them thoroughly using a specific technique for at least 20-seconds. Before the lockdown, guidance with illustrations (some good, some poorly designed) appeared in public toilets. Setting aside how amazed I am that people have no idea how to wash their hands properly, or that they do not do it as often, I have not seen an official video that demonstrates the process, just images of foamy soap and hands under a tap. Clear instructions are needed, as people may not realise they need to also be conscious of how they open the tap, areas missed, etc., These are lessons beyond Covid-19. Then I started thinking about the design of taps, but that's for another day. How about not touching my face? When? How? It's almost impossible not to touch your face. Should the messaging be avoid touching your face when you are out and before washing your hands? In the meantime, check out this article that analyses the graphics of messaging.
Throughout this pandemic, the government has also assumed people have immediate access to:
a thermometer
masks
gloves
hand sanitiser
tissues
ear plugs (if your walls are paper thin and everyone hears every little sound)
It's as if all of these things just happen to be lying around in the house. The moment these items became the things to have, panic and panic buying! Some countries, like South Korea, whose mass testing has been impressive (the surveillance through technology is deeply problematic of course), provide citizens with a mask and a thermometer upon being tested. UK: barely testing. And now anyone that feels a slight tingle in their throat is convinced they have Coronavirus.
Just like washing your hands, these are individual solutions. While essential businesses are being disinfected more often (makes you wonder how little they cleaned before), what about cleaning the city? There are images all over the media of workers in hazmat suits spraying down the streets of cities across the world. But walking down the streets of London, there seems to be no cleaning taking place (aside from garbage removal). The number of people I have seen spitting on the streets, picking their nose, sneezing and coughing without covering their mouth or nose despite all of this is shocking (runners, I'm looking in your direction).
Finally, the messaging of "Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives" (particularly Protect the NHS), makes me think that the UK believe that epidemics are only fought by virologists, epidemiologists, doctors and nurses. But I'm still trying to formulate my opinion on this.
Things and Links of Note
I'm sure you're all overwhelmed with everyone's hunger to put more stuff out there (including myself). Here are a few things worth your time:
Read The Covid-19 is exposing the plague of neoliberalism by the wonderful Henry Giroux and Adam Hanieh's take on the effect of the pandemic in the Global South.
Watch a highly emotional portrait of three generations of exile A World is Not Ours on aflamuna.
Listen: I'm not into podcasts like everyone else seems to be 'into podcasts', but I'm a big fan of Annie Mac's Essential Mini Mixes. Ejeca's French House and Duck Sauce 'Behold the Duck Sauce Quackery' are worth a listen.
Imagining the World, Anew session information
Another world isn't possible, it's necessary!
When: Saturday 18 April at 16:00 (BST, London time)*
Where: https://meet.jit.si/worldanew (To join by phone: +1.512.402.2718 • PIN: 2847941328#)
*I've moved the time back to a weekend for those in other time zones who cannot make it during the week.
Session 3 asks attendees to discuss:
What are the appropriate means/platforms to communicate and generate debate on the proposals we make?
During session 2, we discussed communication, focusing on how Covid-19 has been communicated through graphic design, government briefings and media. The discussion touched on themes including space, readiness of businesses, leadership, general government preparedness, and new concepts of protests.
Key points are in this map
This folder contains all maps produced so far
Participation Guidelines
Anyone is welcome to join the call, as a participant or an observer. We ask that everyone include a name and introduce themselves to the group.
About Imagining the World, Anew
We are scrambling to find 20th century solutions to 21st century problems. It seems the only ‘innovation’ we have lately is gimmicks (not value creation), and we’ve lost sense of what innovation means. Key decision makers are rarely diverse, and to come up with radical ideas, innovations, and embrace different ideas in decision making, we need diversity of opinions and perspectives from multiple disciplines. This requires us to move away from specialisation.
The goal is not to replicate old patterns – we are facing wicked problems, and wicked problems are ill defined and have innumerable causes. If we continue to rely upon experience from a single domain, we end up with limited and at times disastrous solutions. The purpose of these proposed sessions is to draw sets of people with different experiences and backgrounds to think of new possibilities to wicked problems. We need, as James Flynn says, habits of mind to dance across disciplines. Now more than ever, we need to bring this breadth of experience from academics, intellectuals, cultural producers together to discuss new possibilities and imagine the world anew.
Be well.
Danah
(The Pessoptimist)