“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

– Ursula Le Guin

Fear trumps depression and drives us into acceptance of a completely dystopian reality.

Everywhere we turn there are people who are weighed down by depression.
The Covid-19 pandemic means this state of being affects more people than usual.
There are many aspects/types of fear, currently the world is consumed by mass paranoia induced by the media and the politicians over the Covid-19 pandemic.
Twelve months of twenty four hour rolling news largely dedicated to spreading news that points up the failure of most Western capitalist governments to get a handle on what was a forewarned inevitability has ramped up serious levels of mental health problems.
There are different things to be frightened of as a result of this virus and the confusion that surrounds it.
Covid and death,
Poor Government,
Capitalist Greed,
Fake news,
Forced isolation,
Further destruction of certainty,
Social unrest,
Populist exploitation of fear of the other,
The fear of being alone,
Euphoria deliberately manufactured for political purposes leading to dashed hopes again and again.
How do we overcome the underlying fear?
Build in your mind the future you want,
Find others with similar interests,
Where ever possible work with those on the points where your interests cross.
Be ever aware that there is much to do to build a better world.
Envision that world as a place beyond war, inequality, Racism and Injustice.
The name of that place is civilisation.
The raison d’etre of civilisation is the emancipation of mankind beyond the shackles of false political ideologies and artificial religious prisons.
Many people talk of human civilisation as if we were already civilised. We’re clearly not.
How can we call ourselves civilised when, as a species, we continue to resolve disputes through primitive ritualised military means?
How can we claim to be civilised when there is such gross inequality between the richest and the poorest?
A world where multi millions of the population live a totally precarious existence, never knowing where their long term future lies, where their food will come from, where they will live, and where often it is dangerous to think for oneself and question the status quo, is not a civilised world.
A world where human rights are trampled on by rogue Randian states run by criminal power mad sociopaths is not a civilised world.
A world where capitalism is the dominant arbiter of power and economic exploitation is not a civilised world.
A world where the United Nations fails to ensure justice for the global oppressed is not a civilised world.
What we need to strive for is global emancipation for all, the utilisation of the common wealth of knowledge and skills for the betterment of all, only then can we claim to have achieved Civilisation.
To build for that dream of civilisation is one way to overcome state induced fear and depression.
There is a better world, if we can imagine it we can build it. Let’s go forward and build a socialist civilisation together.

Harry Rogers in the Red Bedroom, 11th February 2021.