the lie of survival of the fittest - a new intertwining

That old lady living in a care home, the one who's at the greatest risk from Covid-19? We need her. We need her memories of how how they lived before plastic was everywhere. How did they store food before cling wrap? How did they carry groceries before plastic bags?
She knows.

The lady in the room next to her, she was born during the great depression. Her parents taught her how to make do, how to appreciate little, how to take nothing for granted. She remembers how to mend cardigans and darn socks. She knows how to substitute this for that. We need her.
She knows.

That woman down the street, living with a pain based disability, the whose immune system is compromised, we need her. She knows how to survive on a tiny budget. She's made lemon balm tincture for anxiety because she  didn't want to add one more batch of meds to the cocktail she already takes. She knows how to make do on very little.
She knows.

That indigenous elder, he's at risk from Covid-19. He's probably the most at risk. He knows. He knows where to find food when there is none, he knows how to face adversity again and again. He knows how to hunt, how to teach young people and how to connect to landscapes. We need him.

That cancer survivor, who's at risk from Covid-19? We need them. They've stared death and fear in the face. They're more experienced with the fear of mortality than we are. They have experience with navigating the shadows of their fears and the unknowability of a future that isn't a given.
They know.

That refugee family? We need them. They have lived through chaos, made do with what's left, survived uncertainty and built community in the face of it. They know.

These people do not just need us. We need them too. That is the beauty of community. We do not only need physically strong workers or financially abundant people, we need people with knowledge of older ways. We need people who have experience with difficult situations. We need wisdom.

There is a lie in our society.
The lie that survival of the fittest means the one who is physically the strongest or who accumulates and hoards the most (money, things).
The lie that life is a competition.
The lie that old age is embarrassing, that poor health is a sign of weakness.
It's bullshit.



Let me tell you something about the people I know who are immunocompromised they are the strongest, most resilient, most kind and generous people I know.
They don't have the energy to mince words, so they appear as they really are, without a mask or smoke and mirrors.

Let me tell you about the cost of relegating old people to the side lines while the young and "strong" take centre-stage... we lose our stories. We lose wisdom, we lose experience of other times that we believe are irrelevant.
We lose.

In this time of chaos, of the unknowability of the future, as many of us prepare to become more insular, it is the marginalised who have so much to offer. Now, more than ever, it's time for us to turn to elders for lessons in frugality and mending.

These are not dispensable members of our society. When Covid-19 comes knocking, it is not a simple equation of survival of the fittest. The fittest at what? We have lost touch with how to grow food, nourish ourselves outside of industrialised food systems, refrain from plastic usage, entertain ourselves without smart phones, make things from scratch... and out there ferreted away in old age homes and in self isolation... are the fittest at these things.

It is our community "fitness" that will see us through, not our individual strength or hoarding.
So don't buy into this "it's only a few people, and they're the weakest" crap. Don't buy into the idea that these members of our society are dispensible. These people have knowledge and experience that we desperately need in a crisis.

Apart from this, of course, something doesn't have to be recognised as "needed" to be valuable. All I'm asking is that we maybe reconsider how we view marginal groups. For too long we have chased an idea of physical or financial dominance being better.
It's time to tell new stories.
Let's make them good, connected, informed. Let's tell forward moving stories born from the knowledge form look back and looking to the peripheries.

We need them and right now, and perhaps at other times too, they need us too. Which just goes to show, there never really was a them and an us. Just a wonderful whole thing waiting to be noticed. What a beautiful interwoven tapestry of reciprocity and symbiosis we can weave together, if we choose it.
Be kind to each other, kindness is the "fittest" of them all.

P.S Check this out