People Really, Really Do Have the Power...

Some good news...

People really do have the Power. Hong Kong is a success story (so far), in beating Coronavirus. A lesson for us all.

"The secret sauce of Hong Kong’s response was its people and, crucially, the movement that engulfed the city in 2019. Seared with the memory of SARS, and already mobilized for the past year against their unpopular government, the city’s citizens acted swiftly, collectively, and efficiently, in effect saving themselves. The organizational capacity and the civic infrastructure built by the protest movement played a central role in Hong Kong’s grassroots response."

People. Organized. Mobilized. Eyes and heads open to reality, facts, science, experience. They tuned out the noise, they were always ahead of the politicians and their government. They took responsibility for their own lives. They put their health and their safety first. They worked with others to do the same. They shared real, honest to goodness info, they communicated it to each other. 

"There’s a lesson here, as the United States deals with staggering levels of incompetence at the federal level. Stories have been written by doctors in major hospitals in the U.S. about how they tried to source masks in the black market and disguised PPE shipments in food trucks to avoid their seizure by the federal government. As Taiwan and South Korea show, timely response by a competent government can make the difference between surrendering to a major outbreak and returning to a well-functioning, open society without lockdowns or deaths. But Hong Kong also teaches that people aren’t helpless, even when their government isn’t helpful."

The a.m soundtrack - Eleventh Dream Day's "Ursa Major" (1994). A great, rare find. A joyful noise. A fabulous band, a tremendously satisfying record. This is the only record of their's I own. It's a  beautiful blast of perfectly, balanced r&r dissonance. Great electric guitars. Tight, but loose, band. This is a pure joy and pleasure. I found it in the used CD bin at my local record store. So good. Life-affirming. Good news.