The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted two crises in parallel: a health crisis and an economic crisis. Please note that I am not saying that the pandemic caused these crises. Health was already in crisis, as was the economy. The pandemic was only used to uncover the shit that already existed. As they say, you never know who will swim naked until the tide goes out.
Now let’s start with the health crisis. The virus has shown its fatal effects mainly in people who are already sick. And what are these people fed up with? It turns out that most of the victims of COVID-19 are people with various cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, which are already among the leading causes of death in the world. It is important that modern medicine has summed up cardiovascular disease and diabetes as the metabolic syndrome, which in short is caused by excessive consumption of junk food. Yes, it’s true! Metabolic syndrome (i.e. high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, excess abdominal fat, high triglycerides and low values of “good” cholesterol) is mainly caused by junk food. and can only be reversed by lifestyle changes (in 99 cases no medication required)% of cases). Therefore, the rule of consuming less is imperative when it comes to improving health and preventing not only disease but also death (especially death and especially death from COVID-19). If you don’t eat junk food, you actually kill a lot of birds with a stone: first, you reverse the metabolic syndrome and thereby improve your cardiovascular markers and your sugar metabolism (among many other health markers such than mental clarity, energy, sleep, mood etc.). Second, you will of course start consuming less food in general. How it works: Junk food is designed to make you addicted and want more (of everything). So, if you don’t consume junk food, you can regulate your appetite, drop your addictive habits, increase your satiety, and eat fewer calories. (Incidentally, reducing calorie intake is a major factor in longevity). Last but not least, you save money by ditching your grocery bill (not to mention toilet paper savings!), Which brings me to the next point – the economic crisis.
Let’s say you made a commitment not to eat junk food and now have a surplus of money. (Remember, if you don’t eat junk, you aren’t constantly hungry and / or addicted to food, which means you need a lot less real food to feel full.) So , what do you do with this excess money? Do you use it to buy more things, eat out more, or travel more? Not at all! You apply the same rule for your finances as for your eating habits: consume less! And save more! Imagine we applied this rule diligently and consistently before the pandemic! Imagine spending one to two years on a rainy day. Imagine companies in this position. Imagine that governments are in this position. Would we be facing an economic crisis today? Of course not! And how can we make sure we don’t experience it again in the future? Very simple – uses less. We must learn to live within our means and to save more. If we don’t learn that, we haven’t learned anything from COVID-19. If we don’t learn to consume less (of everything), another crisis is fast approaching, waiting to teach us the same thing.
By the way, do you think it’s a coincidence that the United States is hit hardest by the pandemic? Unlikely! As “luck” puts it, most of the big debt holders are at home in the United States. Talk about overconsumption and pay the price.
In conclusion, I would like to raise a notorious argument that the planet cannot accommodate so many of us and force the eradication of the population through the pandemic. I firmly believe that the planet can accommodate us all. If only we changed our consumption habits …