The Sick Twenties
By: Smillew Rahcuef
Tags: Life Lessons, Predictions, Existentialism, Covid 19 Crisis, Future

Credit: Walery, Polish-British, 1863–1929, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One hundred years ago, our great-(great?)-grandparents lived through the Roaring Twenties. In the meantime, the population of lions has decreased by close to 90%[1], and the remaining ones are coughing.

Our forebears listened to jazz and danced with Josephine Baker. And in the end, they were doomed by the bell. Wall Street rang and brought it all to an end in October 1929, with incredible sales on the stocks over three days: Black Thursday (10/24/1929), Black Monday (10/28/1929), and Black Tuesday (10/29/1929)[2]. In our Twenties, we have black Fridays lasting at least a week, and more often than not, a month. Not to mention April dragging on to November.

Our Twenties will be the sick ones.

Three groups will coexist; the Masked, the Circlers, and the Expanders.

The Masked

They take their motto from Jean-Paul Sartre:

“If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.”

Wearing a mask is less and less of an issue for them, as they stay more and more at home. Without a mask or a screen between them and the outside world, they don’t feel comfortable anymore. Even going to the bakery downstairs takes a toll on them.

Their social circle contracts. They quickly restrict it to the family members (still) living with them, slowly withdrawing into themselves. They don’t take any risk, aren’t open to new experiences, and safely stay in the middle of their comfort zone. The sad (and worse) part is that their comfort zone is continuously redefining, shrinking into itself, until reaching a singularity.

In the worst cases, they expel their family from their safety nucleus. All ends in a big crunch of despair.

The Circlers

They borrow their motto from Simone de Beauvoir:

“One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others.”

Their ‘joie de vivre’ is sufficient to prevent themselves from shrinking like the Masked ones. Fueled by their energy, they achieve a balance between the forces of social distancing and social contacts. Their network of contacts reduces. Relationships characterized by fragile and weaker bonds slowly disappear over the horizon. The remaining ones, on the contrary, gain depth and strength.

The Circlers focus on small communities of trusted people, staying wary of any outsider. They do accept some new members from time to time. Only if someone from the trusted circle vouch for the newcomer.

And any person joining first needs to strictly respect the rules of the community before they can argue about them.

The Expanders

They answer Camus’ question and decide to live and fight:

“The only serious question in life is whether to kill yourself or not.”

They went deep inside themselves and saw the darkness there. They faced it and managed to transcend it. Now, they can tap this dark matter, process it, and fuel their engine with the end-result. As true survivors; they know death is part of life. Not only do they accept this fact, but they cherish it as an unforgettable reminder to live their lives to the fullest.

Contrary to the Circlers, they consistently try to expand their and other networks. They are the links between communities, relentlessly bringing them together, helping the sharing culture to expand all over.

They fought and won against their darkness; that’s why they’re ready to stand firm for their beliefs.

Wishing you good health!

Charles Bukowski was born in 1920; maybe that’s why his words are so inspiring for our Sick Twenties:

“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”

Let us find the strength to fight our darkness and love each other during these sick years to come.