Being secluded.


It's been 11 days of lockdown here in Madrid. Although the government did not officially announce it on March 14. We have been confined at home, only to go out for basics, like groceries, for work, to take your pets out.

We cannot go out for walks, do exercise, and everything else that does not apply to the established State of Emergency protocols.

Things one has always taken for granted have been stripped away by the government due to the circumstances, but it makes you think, doesn't it?

All the countries one knows have authoritarian regimes or dictatorships live under these circumstances every day of their single lives. Stripped away from their freedoms and freedom of speech and free-thinking, we take things for granted in free countries.

The current situation has imposed a social distancing that some experts have expressed concerns in the past, referring to the adverse effects of social networks and it's addiction to modern society.

Now everybody is confined, dependent on social networks to communicate with their relatives, friends, and work out. Things have gotten from dependency to ultra dependency. What has changed?  Purpose! Now we have a real purpose and a real objective to call people, Facetime with your family, to participate in Hangouts with other people who share thoughts and experiences on the current situation. People are turning to social media to share their experiences during the confinement. It seems that now we are missing human contact. Go figure!

There is also a dark side to all this. People's lives are changing in a way that we still don't know how it's going to impact the future. People are losing their jobs, companies are closing their business or putting them on hold and temporarily firing people.
How long as a society will we remain quiet during this confinement? How long will it take for the first people to start disrupting the imposed system?  A few people defy the status quo and go on for long walks, go out shopping 3 times a day, and go out for a walk with their dogs for hours. The police are tracking these behaviors and are using the full weight of the law by making arrests.
We are living in strange times, and I think this is our first test, sort of an introduction to the pandemics of the future. It's like a simulation. And so far, we are losing. I've read experts saying that we should be doing more "pandemic games" instead of "war games." Bill Gates mentioned in one of his Ted Talks from April 2015, "The next outbreak? Were not ready" https://youtu.be/6Af6b_wyiwI that we weren't ready at all for the next pandemics, the cutbacks that governments did and do to their health systems and professionals have a tragic impact of unthinkable consequences.

I hope that the current situation has a good outcome for humanity. That we understand and appreciate the positives and the negatives of being secluded.  The impact that we humans were having on the Planet was terrible! Really bad! And now there are reports that the levels of pollution have never been so low as of now.
Peacocks were walking down the streets of Madrid!!!
There were sights of wild boars in Barcelona!!!! Some humans are dangerous to the Planet, and we only have one!

Be safe!

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