Greater Good = Worst Bad

I believe the “greater good for society” argument is a decision taken when an unprecedented scenario occurs. It is a cop out for not being prepared for something, it allows the entirety of authoritative and legislative power to be in the hands of the government while simultaneously removing it from the people. Individuals struggling to survive and provide for their families must deal with mistrust in the real world, standing far from people, avoiding public places, large gatherings and work. Along with this political pressure on racism and rights is at an all-time high, adding even more to the us vs. them issue. This measure of public interest has worsened mental illness, divisiveness, group think, tribalism, trust, freedom and rights and has affected everyone from students to large business owners. Workers have been going more and more on strike. Our economy is collapsing and everything that used to be of value and good to the people of Canada is now a debatable issue that causes more division rather than togetherness. I would like to believe that people are individuals capable of rational and independent thought, but just as children, we look to our authorities to make us understand what the proper behavior is. The government making one decision for everyone has created a thought process for individuals to think that their way is the only way. Therefore, if another’s does not conform to the way one individual thinks, their privacy is invaded, they are reprimanded, they lose their jobs and they are alienated by extreme thinking individuals. Where is the sense of community, respect and understanding? What happened to discussions and progressively thinking together by communicating? Why does everyone believe there is only one way to think of an issue, but that way deems them as less than human and makes them deserving of punishment. This issue was a long time coming, but I believe it was exacerbated because of the actions of the government in dealing with the pandemic. By not being prepared for a pandemic, the country is now suffering from the direct actions of a government who claims it is acting in the interests of the people, but that was only the case in the beginning. Now, the new normal is something that is too sensitive to think about, and rather than continuing to adapt and provide under privileged people with funding and benefits, they are stagnant and refuse to adapt to the online age. Schools are remaining open for elementary not to teach students, but to babysit them for parents who need to work to provide for their family. Nurses and doctors are being pushed to their limits and this is causing even more unrest and division between them and patients. Everyone surrounding us is a potential carrier of a virus and nobody can be trusted. Nobody is getting the opportunity to read genuine emotion due to our faces being blocked by masks and workers and customers are just fulfilling their obligations to one another on a robotic level. There is growing fear of death and deception and the only thing keeping individuals from going outside and venting about these issues is the fact that they may die if they do so. People are trapped in their homes for a long time and when they finally go outside, they are forced to avoid any human contact in fear of contracting the virus. We have even more to worry about now that winter is coming. People will be cold, hungry, scared and alone and they will not be able to recover without the dependence on medication. The government with its GREATER GOOD reasoning has poisoned the next generation of students and professionals by over working both classes of individuals and not allowing for examination of the root problems of their grief. Professors do not take the time to look at things from the perspective of students because they are just individuals who are being paid the same amount as they were under normal conditions and they simply have too many students to be able to give a personalized experience to. Students are assigned vast amounts of work based on teachings that were put across over a 2:45 hr. period. Students are not being taught; they are teaching themselves. Yet they continue to pay the same tuition as if they had access to the same amenities as they would if there was no pandemic. In a nutshell, students are not being taught effectively, are being assigned gross amounts of work and are expected to absorb the information on their own. Finally, the homeless are starving, getting even more addicted to drugs, and are losing even more access to services they would normally have. Come winter, we will see a tremendous increase in deaths amongst these people and blaming their mental illness and their unsightly appearance for them being unable to get a job just will not fly anymore. These people are the ones that contract the disease and when they have no nutrition or home to sleep, they will undoubtedly commit more crimes in the hopes to have a place they can stay and get fed. This wonderful system we have in Canada will be questioned, challenged and debated for years as it already has, and even in the most serious of times, nothing is being done to fix it. I pray for every single individual who is suffering right now, the person who looks at me with disdain because they fear me being a carrier, the person who is alone in their home unable to leave out of fear, the person who has no home and is freezing in this already cold weather here in Canada, the person with no job who can’t get one because they may contract the disease and spread it to their loved ones, the person who can’t get a job because there simply are not enough businesses open to support them, the person who can’t wake up every day and just feel like things will be okay, the person who wants to make a difference but just comes off as angry and hateful, the person who feels powerless to do anything about the state of things here today, the person without a voice, the person with a voice who is too scared to speak, the person who is suffering from mental illness, the person who wants to die, the person who take all the pressures of this world, the person who just wants to go for a walk or to a cafe and sit and talk to somebody, the person who is dying for human contact but is too scared to do it. All the people of Canada who think twice before seeing their families in fear that they may give them the disease, all the people who feel trapped in their country, all the people who can’t afford the things they need, all the people who feel they are oppressed, all the people who feel they are ignored and made to feel less than somebody else, all the people being abused mentally and physically right now. I pray for you, I believe you can make it through, but your government needs to be held accountable for what it has done and what it is doing to you and your children. If you aren’t a number, if you believe in right and wrong, if you have even a bit of strength, don’t fight each other, don’t fight your colleagues, try and respect each other’s will and don’t forget that you have the power to accomplish all of your dreams and even if you fail at something, it doesn’t mean you will fail at everything. You are good enough, you are strong enough, you can make a difference and you are worthy of love. Do not let this isolation destroy your individuality and those beautiful things about yourself. You are the master of your world, and even if the state makes a decision that destroys your way of life, you can still hold on to those amazing values you grew up with and still help people in your own way. You don’t need to raise millions of dollars, you don’t need to volunteer, you don’t need to do what I am doing right now, you just need to do what you feel you need to do and that is all you need to expect from yourself. You are great, you are smart, you are strong, you are beautiful, you are brave, and YOU ARE NOT ALONE.