Keep Going
Do you know what? It seems cruel after all we have been through that we find ourselves again fighting that virus again. It isn’t even the fear of getting it, especially for those who aren’t old enough to be in the real danger zone.
It’s an intangible thing. Somehow there is a sense that everything has changed and will never be the same again. In New Zealand, we have felt a bit different, a bit special and this has been especially true since the virus first appeared.
We did “the right thing” and kept the worst of it out. Better than anyone else. We had a team of 5m and we were all rowing the waka in the same direction.
But the virus is back. We have another virus in the conspiracy mongers talking hold. We have major political parties taking lessons from unsavoury characters overseas. We have disharmony brewing, stoked by people for whom a stable society just isn’t what they want.
More alarmingly, we seem to have an increasing number of good, solid citizens who are just sick of it being not quite right and are becoming disgruntled and prone to silly ideas.
The truth is that we do have a lot to fear. Economically, medically, environmentally, socially - everything is in a precarious state. Uncomfortably, we aren’t going to be able to return to the comfortable “normal”. Some may be lucky in that they will seemingly remain largely untouched by the epic changes that are occurring.
However, on a global, national, cultural and societal level, we are rapidly being forced into the need for transformation. Economies are being dismantled in front of our very eyes. We don’t know what the devastation to NZ will be yet, but we have two ways of thinking about it. Either we try and put Humpty together again or we look to transform.
The biggest obstacle to transformation is that there is great uncertainty about what it will bring. That’s why now is such a golden opportunity. We don’t get to choose. We just get to rebuild and we get to choose how we do that.
What if we chose to rebuild New Zealand as a clean, green economy that delivered what we have dubiously advertised for many years? What if we did what we did with women’s voting rights and nuclear weapons and once again led the world in something other than rugby?
We are going to have to invest a great deal of money to rebuild this country. Why don’t we do it in a way that our young people can connect with and carry on when we are finished and instead of looking at what they’re left with and hating us for what we did, they are inspired to take our start and improve on it?
What if we looked at COVID-19 as just one of the many signals of our own fragility and tenuous hold on our planet and adopted a lighter touch everywhere. Looked at the resources we have as traditional Maori would. We are guardians, not rapists and pillagers.
Let’s stop ignoring the plummeting populations of wildlife hurtling towards extinction and let’s properly mourn those that we’ve already consigned to history.
Believe it or not, this is not a political post for the Green Party. Far from it. I am thinking as a small business owner. My business is supporting the survival and thriving of existing businesses in incredibly difficult times. I’m thinking about how to help businesses transform where they need to to keep going and where they are still doing ok, how to help future proof them.
This is the time to be thinking outside the box to secure the future. I’m excited by the prospect and would love to hear from anyone who is thinking about their own business and wondering what to do next.
It is a winding road with many corners we can’t see around, but with courage and a willingness to step out and be different, we can make a better future than our frightening present.
Whatever you do, keep going.