IGAF: Keeping in Touch

This IGAF (Is Goodness a Fashion) series explores, from a non-expert point of view the social, economic and narrative ramifications I see developing from the COVID-19 crisis, worries, but also hopes for a future that the current shock to the system may result in.

Hello. It's been a while.

It's been a lot of living, some work, but mostly just getting things back to a place I feel comfortable from. There's been some shit, there's been mostly good, there have been many encounters with unexpected people and some adventure was had along the way.

And now, after this long while, I find myself sat at home, wondering what to do with myself. The streets are becoming quieter by the day, people locking themselves away at home, every headline in the past weeks has been about exactly one thing: a Coronavirus and its effects on the world.

The last time I remember we as humans dealt with a possible pandemic was the Bird flu- H1N1, I believe- and even though those were worrying times, the level of general alarm in the population I was interacting with was not as pronounced as it currently is. I did not follow various news outlets, graphs, updates and bulletins as closely as I currently am.

One of the changes has been that, far from whatever person last wrote here, I am much closer to who I was in 2008 professionally- I am working in a small print shop in Kreuzberg, meaning that I don't have the luxury of working from home. This is a mixed blessing- I chose this job to be exposed to unexpected, occasionally random encounters and to be able to watch, as closely as possible, the changing nature of a quarter I have been happy to call home for a decade or so. So, for the past two years, I've been part of the "local" economy, a happy conduit for other peoples ideas, while developing my own.

In that time and place, I have had many interesting conversations, glimpses of plans for the future of the city, robbed by a gang of youth, and managed many communication crises. And now… and now.

Now, as a race, we find ourselves caught in a situation that seems unprecedented- a truly global pandemic that is both a reminder of the frailty of human bodies and psyches and a stark look at the amount of "saving" the systems we rely on to underpin our daily lives require.

First- I do believe we all need to be careful. This type of pandemic has the potential to end the lives of many, many people if we are not collectively careful. I am worried about friends, family and acquaintances- I'm worried about everyone I've ever met, and all the people I've never met. I don't believe that this is a threat we can simply shift to the edges of our perception for the time being, or something that anyone can face entirely alone, even if we're isolated from each other. I am also thinking of myself, of course- a recluse to the core, I suddenly find myself missing people and reaching out.

If I've learnt anything in the past years, that no matter how misanthropic your pessimistic view of society in general is, people are mostly nicer than you expect. That I've learnt this in a place that is the very embodiment of the market- a shop, with all expectations of transaction- is remarkable: it shows how aclimatised people are to the ontology of Shop, and that, no matter how transactional the nature of communication is in such a location- social niceties and information are included in the asking price- basic human generosity often shines through.

By this, I mean little exchanges, asides, shared laughs and the occasional flower, deep shock when the shop was robbed (I've seen grown men weep at the news), the solidarity and local kinship that is usually only found in places that are deeply rooted in the communities they have usually served for years, if not decades. The point being that kindness and understanding do exist, and happen with frequency, though you have to work for them sometimes. Humanity is, as a whole, not too bad.

I have equally learned that an asshole is an asshole, no matter what you do, or how polite you try to remain, or who they are- but also that most people, who are not assholes, have a low tolerance for assholery.

However, faced with this Corona Crisis, tempers are growing short. Tribes and loyalties are being formed- keeping in touch is taking on a whole new meaning. Generally, people are trying to keep on keeping on. It is as visible in our little tribe of shopkeepers as it is in the customers who still come to print. Aside the dilemma whether to keep this little bit of normality running, or not, we are faced with an illustration of the incredible adaptability of markets and shops in that we are suddenly selling masks.



Second- i still believe we need to be careful. Like everything, a moment of crisis- not to mention several ongoing crises- offer avenues of solution, some more dystopian than others. It is, on the one hand, an opportunity to flush out the rot that has been afflicting economic and social systems for decades. It is a good time to, on the one hand, remember the power of the individual and the small collective, on the other, to remember both the regulatory power of government and its compact with the populations whom they serve, including the many who must lobby on the street, rather than in suits.

There is nothing wrong with slowing down, catching your breath- another lesson learnt. Breakneck speed is called that for a reason, and it is a good time to evaluate, once again, where many decisions and careful plans have led. The brakes have been slapped on, the vehicle is grinding to a halt, the passengers are wondering where the hell they are going to end up, exactly. Will it be in a back alley with surveillance cameras, in violation of a curfew, or will the be laughed at for the old-fashioned and inefficient fossil fuel car they are driving in a futuristic eco-city? Will they still have work, or lives when they arrive? Will they be infected? Will everyone they know be infected?

It is a good time to remember how many people have not partaken in the massive profits that have been accumulating, to remember parts of society that are disenfranchised by an unreflected growth, to remember that there is an us that is greater than the sum of me and me and me. If we take this time, regroup, quite literally, reconsider priorities- at a moment of commen survival, we cannot aim for infinite and ever-increasing profit, for instance, nor can we need as much as we do. We have the time to look at our consumption- shelves empty of everything people like- and our habits as individuals. We can look at how we deal with our small communities- of interest and of emotion. There is nothing except worry standing in the way of such reflection, and in crisis, caution beats worry every time.

There is rife opportunity and necessity for, while predictable, an examination of consumption patterns, the way markets, commodification and corporation have affected almost every aspect of our lives, to rethink our interactions and yes, maybe even currency itself. None of this is new, but it suddenly seems, from the confines of this room, possible on a scale far beyond it. At the same time, from the confines of this room, seeing a voluntary erosion of public, cultural and political participation, a much less hopeful path delineates.

For the time being, in precedence of such grand and systemic thoughts, the challenge for the lonely- and the less so- will be to retain what was before the outbreak, to remember what it's like to be on the road and not have to keep your distance, to not fear contamination. To hope that this remains temporary and that, rather than an opportunity for selfish gain, this proves to be a moment of growth for all, no matter how distant everyone else seems at the moment. To not forget to keep in touch, to  eventually touch again.

Images: Book of Faragh 2 // 02032020

Part V of the current IGAF: Money, Politics and People- Distributing Profit a bit more fairly
Part IV of the current IGAF: Dystopia
Part III of the current IGAF: Keeping a shop open
Part II of the current IGAF: How are we going to pay for THAT?

Part I of the current IGAF: Keeping in Touch