There are many exciting things going on, spanning the globe from the earthquake in Haiti to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and all the Covid in between. For the millionth time: T.G.Y.F. It’s not perfect, but where else would you prefer to be if not the Philippines? And if so, why aren’t you there? Or maybe you are there at least in mind and spirit.
For the rest of us, we will continue on to make the nation first survive and then thrive. Of course, there are far too many that “survive” on complaining and try to “thrive” on whining.
It is extremely difficult to even think about a light at the end of the tunnel. In truth, we old guys have an advantage. Priority one is to stay alive by not contracting Covid. That is actually easy if you use common sense for your own behavior and keep the family recognizing that your health is ultimately in their hands. Priority two is to stay alive long enough to not have to live under any sort of “CQ.” The list of gentlemen and ladies my age and older who have died under quarantine—and usually not from Covid—grows longer each day.
Fortunately—from my viewpoint—my four sons know that I am worth more alive than dead. However, I know that my mental health has suffered being locked up and my family has had to bear the brunt of my frustration, anger, and disappointment.
Beginning in March 2020, it was my intention for my wife Ada and I to spend one weekend a month (forever) at a beach resort or a fancy hotel. Would you believe that I still have a pre-paid weekend for two in a suite at the Makati Shangri-La hotel? You know the Makati Shang. The hotel that closed its doors “temporarily” on February 1, 2021? Curse you, Covid!
Looking back, I wonder how the world would be different today after 18 months of pandemic if not for social media. I am relatively active on Twitter and Facebook, so I do not know about the other SocMed platforms.
Abraham Lincoln—or maybe Albert Einstein—said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” Social media has removed all doubt for a tremendous number of people. But they cannot be blamed. Some studies are showing that maybe one of the long-term effects of Covid is a reduction—literally—in the brain’s “grey matter.” That is where all the neural cell bodies, axon terminals, and dendrites, as well as all nerve synapses exist.
But even for the 99.9 percent that have not contracted Covid, SocMed has fed so much “official” nonsense that undoubtedly the global grey-matter count has gone lower just as a defense mechanism.
But we may take some comfort that it is not just we ordinary people that are probably less intelligent than 18 months ago. The US Congress Speaker of The House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said this on the fall of Kabul to the Taliban: “Any political settlement that the Afghans pursue to avert bloodshed must include having women at the table. The fate of women and girls in Afghanistan is critical to the future of Afghanistan.”
We can hope that this is not an indication of Mrs. Pelosi’s cognitive ability and awareness and that this statement was written by a 25-year-old intern who never heard of the Taliban until last week. During the time that the Taliban were in complete power from 1996 to 2001, they never thought to consult with Afghan women as to the proper size of rock to stone to death a female victim of rape. May God have mercy on someone’s soul for the Speaker’s bizarre statement.
E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.