UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Brick Walls

To see that change within ourselves reflected on a greater scale, we must use technology again. Hopefully in lockdown you’ve learned a few new tricks, just a few new things to talk to people you’ve never spoken to before.

We learned how to write and sign petitions. We learned scripts to call our elected representatives. We learned how to get engaged in spheres beyond our schools and workplaces. We reached out to connect in lockdown in a way we had never done before. We must continue to do so as we leave lockdown.

Remember those new skills you learned in lockdown? Remember the power of the world at your fingertips?

Write. Call. Post. Share. Defeat algorithms of censorship that would bury the Palestinian struggle. Share the open letters that journalists signed so that they may be able to write freely. Bringing attention to an issue matters. Spreading the word matters.

In lockdown, what else was there to do but be on our phones? We couldn’t be in the physical company of another. With a phone, though, we could still talk face to face, voice to voice, and have instant communication. Technology kept us in touch. Technology made it possible to watch around the world what lockdown protocols worked, which countries had better results than others. Technology let us see that some countries denied that COVID-19 would hurt them and suffered for it.

We got to see some countries continue wars despite the world coming to a halt. It was a halt that, for us as individuals, taught us to centre ourselves, ground ourselves, and reprioritize our goals. But it was a halt that, for our governments, didn’t change too much.

It’s frustrating to see personal growth not reflected in our political leadership. It is infuriating to see political leadership fall into the same negative behaviours that they would practice before the pandemic.

“ WHILE THE MOTIVATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS MAY HAVE CHANGED, THE WHEELS THAT PUSH POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR HAVE NOT CHANGED TO REFLECT THAT ”

We learned so much during lockdown and, now that we’re coming out, we can see that not everyone changed in the same ways. While the motivations of individuals may have changed, the wheels that push political behaviour have not changed to reflect that.

To be fair, systems don’t work as fast as individuals do. Change on a national level won’t happen as fast — or at all — as change within yourself will.

It can be immensely frustrating to see our personal evolutions be confronted with the same old systems. We may feel like we’ve come against brick walls in our progress. Metaphorical and intangible brick walls. Be engaged citizens. All the things you learned in lockdown, don’t let them disappear because you don’t see them reflected in the new world around you. Let your idea be heard in new ways, stronger ways, more developed ways. In this new but old and familiar place, your voice matters more than ever. Your voice can be the one brick among many that build a path to the world you want to see reflected. The world that you saw was needed.