Twitteretter

I may have, with this headline, pulled the trick of compelling many to read this article. An unfortunate 81 year old died of a heart attack in Seville, Spain, whilst queueing to receive the Pfizer vaccine. It is always sad to hear of anyone’s death. In this case, however, I think we all, as a species, need to be grateful to the gentleman in question for his promptness. Just imagine the potential consequences, had he suffered his heart attack a few minutes later, just after receiving his vaccination. Global headlines, vaccine rollout pauses, Medical Agency investigations, new conspiracy theories, thriving antivax groups, collapsing stockmarkets… 81 year olds will of course occasionally die of heart attacks, in all kinds of circumstances, but given humans’ capacity to confuse coincidence with causality, this poor chap’s timeliness has saved us a huge amount of trouble, even if depriving news outlets of a much juicier news item and millions of the hankered for clicks. Requiescat in pace L...

I just read on the financial papers that the inflation resulting from economic stimulus post pandemic is good for stocks, which was presented as a positive. This may well be the case but, even if some individuals, with significant stock investments, may regard it as positive, society certainly cannot. Inflation reduces the acquisitive power of all families, many of which are already just managing, to quote Theresa May. Growth in stocks value would be a positive only for a few, for those whose stocks yields represent a larger proportion of their income than the proceeds of their work and that, sadly, is not the case for most. Thus, this inflation, welcomed with the words Good News by the relevant paper, will be another of the many mechanisms by which the pandemic would have increased inequality. And this is the key challenge of capitalism. Unabated and without restraints, that is just what it does. Most events, framed in it, increase inequality, accumulation being intrinsic to its natur...

The administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine was halted last week in the EU as some cases of Deep Vein Thrombosis post vaccination were reported. This has resulted in a loss of confidence in the public, yet more proof if any were needed that the average citizen does not understand big numbers. When you are vaccinating, so quickly, such a large number of people, you are going to see all kinds of apparent after effects, just because things will happen with their normal frequency in a population and, given the large numbers vaccinated, some are bound to happen just after the vaccine. A number of just vaccinated people will crash their car, in line with current car accident prevalence, and a number will enter the menopause or lose their wallet. It is easy to draw causality when there is just coincidence and, when numbers are big, coincidence will happen. We should investigate to be sure, but not panic or develop conspiracy theories once causality is discarded, as will likely be the case L...

It seems the UK is coming to the end of its winter lockdown, with schools opening to students last week, after over two months of confinement, and restaurants and pubs able to open their outdoor facilities on the 12 th of April. I have found myself, in light of these news, as excited and looking forward to a humble pint with friends in the local pub’s beer garden as I would have been, pre-pandemic, to a two week long haul trip to an exotic location. This is an incredible moderation of expectations, a recalibration of excitement which, if able to be maintained, is doubtless a recipe for enhanced happiness in our society. If the effect is lasting, and we find equal pleasure in simple, everyday pursuits as we used to seek in expensive, once or twice a year extravaganzas, we will have a lot to thank coronavirus for, a rehabilitation of sorts, a last minute rescue from a pandemic of unsustainable consumerism and baseline boredom. Oh, man, I cannot wait for that garden pint, I hope it’s sun...

I am following with interest the vaccine distribution saga. The EU is complaining, and rightly so, that it is not getting the supplies contractually committed, due to export restrictions in other countries. The UK, the US and India, to name a few, are, by different, open or stealthy methods, blocking those exports, maybe also rightly so. In the meantime, fraudulent vaccine supplies are appearing and many who get a chance are jumping the vaccine queues, to get ahead, regardless of their need, putting their wish for a holiday, for example, ahead of the lives of the vulnerable. This is a sorry state of affairs. It turns out that the vaccine is not only a prevention method for a specific illness, but a diagnostic method for several others, lack of solidarity and selfishness, short sightedness and low integrity, both at the individual and national levels, since states are, after all, an imperfect reflection of the imperfections of their citizens. Time to show some patience and stay cool? Le...

Huge amounts of airtime and ink have been spent chronicling the economic recession resulting from the pandemic. Apparently, the biggest economic contraction in 300 years. However, another, simultaneous, worrying and much more unexpected recession seems to be going on as a consequence of the pandemic. Whilst the economic slowdown, given the restrictions on activity imposed by the virus, is fully understandable, this second one is counterintuitive. I am talking about the birth rate recession. Spain just reported a 25% drop in births in January and February, 9 months after the first lockdown, apparently replicated in other countries. It seems that, contrary to what you might have expected, at a time when one of the very few activities available to the population was making babies, most decided to go for box sets instead. Spain already has a natality problem, so this is quite concerning. It seems that it may become a case of ‘Your country needs you…to spend some money and make some babies’...

Quite a few of you, especially if you are in the UK, will remember the famous poster of a finger pointing, handlebar moustachioed Lord Kitchener, issued by the British Department of War at the start of the WWI, with the message: ‘Your country needs you’. A hugely successful campaign, which has become one of the XX century’s iconic images and which got millions of British recruits to take up arms and leave their lives and physical and mental health in the trenches of Belgium and Northern France. The slogan is being recovered after the biggest economic contraction in 300 years, caused by the pandemic. It turns out that, unable to spend their money, Britons alone (I imagine the same applies elsewhere) have saved over £180Bn. The trouble is, saving can become a habit, just as consuming was, pre-pandemic. So, after years of being told we don’t save enough, now that we finally managed it thanks to an aggressive virus, we are being told to drop it and spend in 1920s fashion, another parallel ...

Many of you may remember the heady days of ‘Clap for the NHS’, the times of the first lockdown, when many regularly came out of their houses to express appreciation for the doctors and nurses on the front of the battle against coronavirus. Health workers, as we call them, were immensely popular and hugely appreciated by our society, happy to dispense with profligacy cheap, empty, rewards. Clapping, after all, is free. The UK Chancellor, a member of the government elected by a majority of those doing the clapping has revealed a meagre pay increase of 1% for health workers, adeptly borrowing the oft repeated slogan and, by changing a letter, delivering ‘Crap for the NHS’. We will soon see whether this, missed real opportunity to show meaningful appreciation, is a government miscalculation or whether the rest of society, the clappers, will shrug their shoulders, get on with paying as little tax as possible, and join the crappers. I hope I am, but do not expect to be, pleasantly surprised ...

One thing we are all missing during the lockdown is experiences. We have become a society which punctuates a generally grey, monotonous existence, with exhilarating experiences organised by a thriving industry. Long haul trips, city breaks, spa weekends, adrenaline chasing adventures and cultural events. This rainbow of colour has now been replaced by the monotonous repetition of the lockdown, for most, every day the same as the one before and the one that follows, which many are struggling with. This brings into focus what might be a fundamental problem with our so called normal existence, the greyness of the days between the punctuations. We only have one life, as far as we know, and accepting that daily irrelevance and making do with the occasional bright spot is a surrender of sorts, giving in to the demands life places upon us, instead of placing demands on it. Don’t get me wrong, experiences are great, but everyday needs be an experience, the punctuations should be just variety L...

Reading Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’, his imagining of an ideal society in the XVI century, one is also reminded, by contrast, of the conditions in his home country, England, at the time. One specific passage explains that theft, however small, was punished by death. This is certainly Draconian. We are living through a period where getting vaccinated against coronavirus, at least for those who have not surrendered their brains to mindless conspiracies, is a primary aspiration. And UK pharmacies are offering some vaccines outside of the government priority lists, under the counter, if you like. All you have to do, if offered, is lie about your circumstance, invent some vulnerable household member whose life is at risk while you don’t vaccinate. The problem is, in so doing, you are stealing the vaccine from those who do need it, putting them further down the list and, by doing so, putting their life at risk. It may look like a victimless crime, but although it is a crime, victimless it is not ...

Vaccination is not about individual protection, but group protection. What this really means is that a vaccine with 95% protection will be ineffective if only 60% of people use it, whilst a vaccine with 65% protection will be effective if 95% of people use it. It is not about doting an individual with a shining, Arthurian armour, but about impairing the ability of the virus to spread in a population, so that its famous R number dwindles, and the virus does with it. This poses a significant problem for our highly individualistic societies. It seems, in fact, that many people are incapable of thinking in these terms. They only care, can think of or understand individual protection. The concept of group protection, maybe the concept of group or collective all in all, is beyond them, as if their ability for collectivism, precisely the ability that made humans who we are, has completely deserted them at a fundamental level. The virus, of course, hunts in groups, we must defend as a herd Len...

I’m quite enjoying my lockdown hair. Normally, I am quite traditional and unadventurous, when it comes to hair. Not because that is necessarily my personality, but because my responsibility in the companies that employ me kind of demands it. Tidy, unassuming and inconspicuous. Pretty much the same thing since I entered the workplace. Not too much of a bore so long as you are not too obsessed with self image, I guess. But lockdown has come along and I have the perfect excuse to let my hair express itself, run amok, unrestrained. The consequence is that it looks completely different everyday, just at the time when every day looks the same, an interesting contrast. The big question, of course, is what to do when lockdown is over and we carefully return to normal activity. This question, the whole of society is grappling with. What lockdown developed habits and customs to allow to survive normality? For me, my lower carbon footprint is one, free hair may be another. What are yours? Length:...

While coronavirus continues to rage, wreaking havoc and destruction all over our planet, we continue to develop and manufacture our vaccines, the silver bullets that may slay the monster of quasi lycanthropic horrors. The problem is global, and so called First World countries are well aware of this. Many are contributing money to initiatives to fund the purchase of vaccines by the poorest countries in the World. On the face of it, solidarity, an admirable, philanthropic gesture. But, alas, what one hand gives, the other takes away. These same countries are buying and storing vaccine stocks which exceed what is needed to vaccinate their whole populations, so there are no vaccione stocks left for the countries they have funded. A live experiment, trying solidarity and selfishness simultaneously. When doing so, the latter will win the day. Virtue is often more fragile than sin, less prepared for the head on clash. If you act morally and immorally at the same time, you are acting immorally...

After an unprecedented technological race, humanity has researched, developed and approved several vaccines against the virus which shook our society at the start of last year. The approval comes with record speed and may provide a welcome solution to the otherwise possibly unsurmountable social problems the pandemic is creating.   We now can continue to develop, to grow, to increase wealth (the distribution of which is not for this post) without unpalatable sacrifices of life. Alas, vaccination success will rely on its adoption, on a sufficient percentage of the population accepting it. Given the speedy development and approval, many are justifiably wary of its potential risks. Humanity will, once again, split down the middle, those who believe in institutions and in the fundamental virtue underpinning society and those who believe in conspiracy, exploitation and nihilist individualism as their only antagonist. It is not a matter of safety, but of outlook. My arm is ready, is your...

An announcement of new lockdown restrictions yesterday by the UK government in light of a novel coronavirus strain which is out of control in the London and South East area was immediately followed, predictably but still disappointingly, by news of full trains and jammed roads, as many in the capital tossed themselves to the four winds, in direct contravention of the advice, abandoning the about to be locked down area for others less restricted. With them, they will take the virus. Given the current prevalence in London, an average of at least two people in each one of those carriages would have been infected, and now many more will take the new strain to their extended families and friends all over the UK. Society and democracy are based on a balance between citizen freedom and civic responsibility. When we demand the first but relinquish the second, we abandon democracy and functioning society for dysfunctional individualism with ultimately dire consequences we are about to witness...

The term R zero number has become familiar, due to the coronavirus pandemic, to many more people than it used to be. I think the concept is only just faintly grasped by most, but that is a start for sure. The problem with coronavirus is that, if unchecked, it has a very high R zero number (anything over 1 is high) and as a result it will spread like wildfire through a population. As a writer, of course, I want my work to be read by the highest number of people possible. This means Twitteretter needs to have a high R zero number. If you support my aim and believe Twitteretter to be useful or interesting, the way we can achieve a high R zero can be modelled on the virus spread. You need to read the articles and convince more than one person to not only do the same but also convince a subsequent person to do those two things, and so on. This would bring wildfire to the Twitteretter readership. It sounds easy when you look at it that way, and I really think we should give it a go Length: 9...

Metaphors have their dangers. They require the same level of cognitive intelligence in those who hear them than in their proponents and, without it, they can lead to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. We’ve seen a good example this week. Humanity was challenged this year by a new virus which spread like wildfire, changed our way of life and reminded us of our ultimately frailty. Humanity, always resourceful, responded with a herculean effort to develop vaccines, diagnostics and treatments which would restore our freedom, conducted with such unprecedented speed, internationally, that the analogy of a race was used. Humanity against the virus. This is how most understood it. Except the UK government, it seems. Whilst the rest of the World cooperated to beat the virus, Hancock, Williamson et al were engaged in a different race. UK versus Europe, the eternal, imaginary enemy. Luckily for us, most governments and normal humans understood we were racing the virus, not our neighbours...

I went out in town yesterday, food shopping, one of the few activities available in UK during the just finished second lockdown. The streets were full, to the brim. People everywhere, long queues to enter the shops and cafés. This is not surprising, considering that yesterday was the first Saturday after the end of the lockdown and therefore the first full day of unrestricted consumer freedom. I was surprised, however, by my reaction to it. Seeing these agglomerations made me uneasy. My love of buzzing streets and activity flurries seems to have been replaced by a mild case of enochlophobia, not consciously elicited by my rational mind, but primally subconscious. This is just temporary, I expect. But it highlights how quickly we, humans, adapt. How rapidly our expectation and understanding of what is normal changes. This, of course, works both ways. I expect that, after a few weeks of resumed activity, normality will be restored to my perception in line to its restoration to society...

The second lockdown is over. Vaccines are arriving, to rescue peace of mind and way of life. The future, for the first time in months, looks bright, as illustrated by the furious, exuberant, wide eyed growth in stock values. Where the first lockdown provided opportunity for reflection, reassessment and self-discovery, the second gave us only boredom, frustration and a clear will to regain normality, whatever that may mean. Some things have changed forever and some processes, already underway, have accelerated. Our way of life, post pandemic, will not be quite the same as before, but the nature and magnitude of the changes is yet to be seen. Like all catharses, this one brought pain and opportunity. It showed us the power of international cooperation, data sharing, global consortia, of (most) citizen responsibility and our quasi unlimited capacity to adapt. These may all be abandoned, now the challenge may be receding, to return to old ways. But maybe, just maybe, we’ve learnt something...

Extraordinary circumstances, and I am sure readers will agree that the coronavirus pandemic qualifies as such, require extraordinary measures. If these are to be taken, public support is necessary. Our political class, however, has become used to a time of such peace and prosperity (in our First World cocoons) that allowed them to get away with confrontational, tactical politics, focused on short term political gain in detriment not only of political opponents but, if necessary, of large swathes of the population. Political thinking has become accustomed to short term electioneering, regardless of consequences, invariably mild and forgiving. But this time is over. The coronavirus pandemic heralds a new age of global challenges, with climate change, extreme inequality and people displacement hot at its heels. The arrogance of Teflon leaders and their advisers will not do in this new playing field. Current times need society building, statesman like politics back, if we are to survive...