Everyone just Wee-lax! Co'oper-kate!


I have been listening intently to my Chinese friends both during and after this time of COVID crisis.  From early on, instructions began to be given both from the National and the Provincial levels.  People seemed eager to heed both instructions and suggestions which were distributed via loudspeakers attached to all manner of transportation (police cruisers to civilian cars to electric bicycles).

And the minority of people who, because of either ignorance or stubbornness, chose not to heed the instructions were policed not by the police - but by their neighbors!  The majority of society were convinced that collective obedience was the only pathway to ensuring their safety.  And as things are gradually returning to normal, a new sense of both patriotism and confidence in the Communist Party are surging amongst many of my friends.

As I sit in my home country which I love, the sentiment is very different.  In Trump’s America, the economy (Pre-COVID) boomed while the battle lines were being drawn.  And the polarizing coverage from all available media outlets seemed to either stoke or reveal that we are deeply divided as a nation.  Maybe it is a bit of both.

As COVID has unfolded, the voices seemed to only grow louder and more harsh.  Now in the midst of race riots, they are at a fever pitch.  And people like me aren’t sure how to help.  Should we march.  Should we be patient.  Should we add our voices to the cacophony of chaos.  

For my friends in China, the Serenity Prayer seems intriguingly appropriate.  They are able to ACCEPT what they can’t change and are diligent to work to CHANGE what they can.  And it’s pretty easy to know the difference there.  Maybe so much of our discontent comes from our conviction and expectation that we are in charge of our own destiny as individuals and as a nation.

Sometimes I just want to echo the words of my young son in the car when my wife and I were having a bit of conflict.  “Everyone wee-lax!  Just co’oper-kate!”

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