20,000 and counting
The Covid 19 death toll in the UK mounts every single day
The weekend (or was it a weekday?) has been forlorn. We woke up to the news that Britain has now surpassed 20,000 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 17 March when we started on this twisted path, Sir Patrick Vallance the government’s chief scientific adviser, said keeping the number of UK deaths below 20,000 would be a “good result” from the pandemic.
Much has been said about our strategy in fighting this invisible enemy. When I shared a Medium piece* about the UK’s inept fight against COVID-19 with Uncle, he was philosophical in his reaction, as always.
“Baba Raihan,
The piece you have chosen to send me is an interesting read.
Lives of poor people are always expendable. They are important as long as they serve the fugitive exigencies of circumstances.
To perpetuate the reign of the ruling class, to serve as cannon fodder of the ruling class they are important.
We have established a world order where these will be looked upon as minor aberrations not as egregious blunders. Whereas sleepwalking or somnambulism is a kind of disease or a disorder, in this case it is a calculated and well-thought-out strategy.
I am amused by the names they have given to these elite group of office holders. Unwittingly (or deliberately?) they have christened themselves as SAGE and Cobra respectively.
While cobra is known for its poison and venom, SAGE should stand for State-of-the-Art Goonda** Empire.
The irony is employed as a tool to convey the opposite meaning. In order to comprehend their malfeasance, you have to restart studying your secondary school English Literature textbooks. You must have studied Macbeth and found that Lady Macbeth falls prey to sleepwalking under the heavy sense of guilt for the murder of King Duncan.
But our ruling class without any remorse, without any qualms of conscience chose to sleepwalk to ward off “disturbance” created by the Coronavirus.
The only exclamation that occur to me is Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!”
27-April-2020
While we have sold our souls to Satan we cannot be accused of possessing an iota of morality. Whilst hedonism is our God how can we have any shred of altruism.
Uncle, as always you are right!
*Goonda is the desi term for hired thug or bully
