Orryelle Defenestrate on sharing Covid opinions
Visual & sonic artist, sorceror, tattooist, tantric, tarotic. Director Metamorphic Ritual Theatre Co. (Orryelle’s self-description)
Alan Dearling writes: My old friend Orryelle, is based in Australia, but is a true world-traveller. He’s a stunning and sometimes frightening performer. But perhaps one of the World’s Wise Men! We first met when I was putting the ‘Alternative Australia’ book together. Then, a few years later I spent an evening with him in Glastonbury, before and after a Metamporphic Theatre event on and around the famous Glastonbury Tor. Here, Orryelle offers his thoughts on people sharing their Covid views via social media. It seems like an important message about ‘listening’, ‘diversity’ and ‘community’:
“When did intelligent people just start screening out or blocking people with different views, opinions or even just info than themselves? How is anyone supposed to grow and learn like that? Lots of people seem to be saying lately, ‘I can’t be bothered arguing with someone like that because they are set in their opinions and won’t listen’ and then also behaving in exactly the same manner, just blocking other views and info. Why the massive polarization of everything, and immediate assumptions that a particular view means a particular political stance, with no shades or nuances?
I feel this is especially dangerous with CV19 (regardless of your ‘stance’) as we’re all collectively working out gradually and progressively what to do about this problem, the information is constantly shifting as the virus changes and humanity finds out more and adapts to it, and nobody much (in power or not) seems to know for sure the best way to deal with it so we all need to stay a bit open-minded (though not so much our brains fall out) and not just block other views or info.
It is also all very different in different places, both the level of pandemic (according to population density and other conditions), and the reactions by governments, media, populace etc… and especially the sickening way in which it has been politicised. Set and calcified opinions are not helpful at this time, constant enquiry and consideration is vital…
Addition to post in response to some of the comments: I’m not saying people should NEVER block or ignore others, just that other opinions if expressed coherently should be at least read and genuinely considered. Obviously we all have limited time and energy to engage in endless online debates, but we don’t have to be closed to other views or new information that challenges what we have already decided. (I don’t tolerate ongoing racism, sexism or bigotry either).”
In on-line conversation with Alan, Orryelle made his own personal suggestion regarding Covid strategies, saying:
“Many are using Sweden as THE example of a country that hasn’t done lockdowns, but why is nobody looking at Iceland? They’ve done no lockdowns at all (instead focusing on contact tracing etc.), and have a total of ten CV19 deaths (they’ve had plenty of cases (around 2.6k) as their borders are open, and yet one of the best mortality-rates-per-case in the world).
The facts that they have also done more research on the virus than any other country, and that they are a nation renowned for keeping corporate/media control at bay (they sacked all their rip-off banking tycoons a few years back), it makes the over-control of some other governments look quite suspicious to me (and no I am not a conspiracy nutjob, new-ager or right-winger, just looking at information and thinking critically)…”
Much more musing on ‘Covid and the Earth’s immune system’ from Orryelle in this link to his ‘defenestrations’. Orryelle told Alan, “I did this illustrated blog about Covid back in April. Some of my perceptions have shifted a bit, but the basic gist remains resonant.”: https://defenestrations150492840.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/covid19-as-the-earths-immune-system/