[Critique Group 2] second try

[tuchyner5 at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: tuchyner5 at aol.com
To: group2?bluegrasspals.com at aol.com <group2?bluegrasspals.com at aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2021 2:50 pm
Subject: Leonard's belated comments on Brad's Feb piece


This is a thought provoking essay. 
 
The concepts are difficult to put into simplewords. 
 
I think you have done a credible job of it.  
 
In the end it is clear what you are trying tocommunicate.  
 
You ask and answer a lot of questions. 
 
A lot of them are left unanswered. 
 
Altogether, I think you achieved a good balance.
 
  
 
  
 
Brad  subfor 25 21
 
  
 

The New Normal? -An Essay:
 
  
 
The above phrase is frequently seen in popularmedia. But what does it
 
really mean?
 
In the final analysis,
 
What is normal or normality anyway? Some say,normal is like beauty.
 
That is: in the eye of the beholder. BruceCockburn tells us that: "the
 
trouble with normal is it always getsworse!" Also we must be careful about
 
not confusing normal with typical. Becausesomething is typical i.e. seen in
 
a majority of situations doesn't necessarilymake it normal.
 
  
 
Why is the concept of normal so difficult to pindown. One obvious answer is
 
the wide cultural and personality differencesamong individual human beings.
 
So what is normal for one, isn't necessarilynormal for another.
 
  
 
We must also be careful not to confuse normalitywith conformity.
 
Until some point in the 1960s, conformity wasalmost automatic in the
 
majority of citizens of the United States. Infact, it was rarely questioned
 
as to its desirability. As long as people wereworking and spending all was
 
well. From the point of view of the prime moversof society such made it
 
easier to preserve their own places in thematrix.
 
  
 
The concept of "keeping up with theJones's" was thought to be healthy and
 
normal.
 
  
 
But social change is ultimately inevitable.First a few and then many began
 
to question why they should care about"keeping up with the Jones's." Who
 
ever said that we were competing with each otherto have more and better
 
possessions? Actually 
 
  
 
this wasn't generally explicitly stated 
 
  
 
What does “this” mean? Does it refer to what isnormal, or to what is not normal.
 
  
 
but rather
 
implied by advertising and television. Alsoglossy magazines illustrated
 
what the fully successful person's world shouldlook like.
 
  
 
As a person with a disability growing up in sucha social setting, normality
 
was very unclear to me. In order to get thingsdone, I often had to do them
 
in ways which weren't at all typical; though forme these techniques were
 
totally normal. Consequently I have always seennormality as being a
 
flexible concept.
 
  
 
By "the new normal" I believe theymean that masks and social distancing
 
will be with us for a long while. Additionallyone pandemic means that other
 
pandemics are now possible.
 
  
 
Yes, I think they certainly are possible.Likely, in fact.
 
 
 
As more and more people on the planet arevaccinated against Covid 19, the
 
need for masks and social distancing will slowlydecrease. Will things ever
 
revert to our pre-Covid life style? Perhaps,though there will be a
 
difference. That is that we ourselves have beenchanged by living through
 
the pandemic experience. Many things haveoccurred in concert with the
 
pandemic. Issues such as America's disunity, theproblem of systemic racism,
 
more effective and appropriate techniques ofpolicing, the nature of
 
political leadership and many more have alsoconfronted us. Certainly the
 
mental health situation in the country, and forthat matter the world has
 
not been improved by the above.
 
  
 
Perhaps, these were all there, but we didn’tnotice them. The pandemic is both a result of these things and are in concertwith them.
 
 
 
We are living in a very precarious time. Therhetoric from everywhere needs
 
to sound a more positive tone. If we learnnothing else from the pandemic,
 
at least it should become abundantly clear,perhaps for the first time, that
 
people in all countries around the world areimpacted by issues on a global
 
scale. All different kinds of people must putaside their preconceived
 
beliefs about one another and realize before itis too late that, we are all
 
we have! 
 
  

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