Professor Juha Siltala’s recent book considers the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, which has lasted for more than two years, on people, everyday life and society.
Coronavirus pandemic is not over, but it has moved the media and people’s minds to the sidelines of the war in Ukraine and the NATO debate. People’s worst fears have waned as the new and horrific epidemic has become an everyday nuisance over time, which, fortunately, is often overcome.
However, the hope that the disease could be completely overcome with vaccinations or medications has moved on all the time. The most recent reminder was received last week when President Sauli Niinistö was hospitalized for pneumonia caused by a coronavirus.
The epidemic that has lasted for more than two years has affected people and societies in many ways. The disease and the restrictive measures it causes have affected almost all areas of life, such as working life, housing, travel and interpersonal relationships. In an instant, the work or study of many moved home, moving outdoors became dangerous or forbidden, and people close to them became talking heads on the screen.
Such rapid and large changes inevitably had major implications, with researchers having enough to figure out for years to come. The fact that the same things happened at about the same time all over the world adds to the interest of the research subject. It provides a huge amount of interesting data for comparing different societies.
Quickly Juha Siltala, Professor of History at the University of Helsinki, has just started, and the book has just been published Pandemic – from sudden braking to a new normal. In the book, Siltala examines the effects of the epidemic on the economy and politics, but also on people’s daily lives and well-being. Siltala’s psychohistorical approach provides a good starting point for this.
Siltala’s interpretation is set in motion by an “acceleration drive,” that is, a global economy that the professor believes has escaped bad overturns. According to Siltala, today’s spending threatens the sustainability of both nature and people. From this point of view, the sudden slowdown caused by a pandemic was not necessarily a bad thing, at least at first. The ideas and ways of working were instantly renewed:
“The pandemic forced us to think about the totality of interdependencies from global production chains to species relationships. The interest in surviving drove me to seek cooperation and coordinate action. It made me realize that ‘black swans’, unpredictable breaks, could continue to come. ”
Epidemic treated people differently depending on their profession, life situation and perhaps a little bit of human nature. If it was possible to move work to a home with enough space and a harmonious atmosphere, a corona stop might seem like a nice change, at least at first.
In the 2018 working conditions survey, more than half of the employees considered teleworking impossible in their own place. Now teleworking became possible for many. In Finland, the epidemic moved half a million people to telework. According to Telia’s travel and telework statistics, the number of Finns traveling from one place to another collapsed in one day in March 2020.
According to Siltala, during his epidemic, his own home became a safe nest for many, where he could soak safely like in the womb:
“The inner circle of the fortress became its own home. Frightened by the dangers of the world, the children rushed from their expeditions to the safety of the home. Instead of trying again, we had to make sure the old one existed – and existed at all. When corona reality took effect, not everyone mourned the closure of nightclubs and the omission of site meetings. Introvert home enthusiasts and meeting disgusts were ashamed of the satisfaction of not having to go anywhere or participate in anything. ”
At home, people read, devour TV series, enjoyed handicrafts, baked pizza, watched birdwatching events, slept better, or got a dog. In the corona year 2020, 49,000 puppies were registered in Finland – more children were born in the same year. Now coron dogs are traded forward or abandoned when they can no longer fit back into a busy life.
Epidemic as it prolonged, however, the problems began to increase. Teleworking was not as great as it first seemed. Successive Teams meetings got a heavy burden on the brain. Information moved, tacit information did not. The checkered face did not replace a coworker. People’s mental health was severely strained.
Institute of Occupational Health How can Finland The follow-up study showed that the transition to telework improved well-being at work in the spring of 2020, but well-being had already started to decline in the autumn of 2020. Similar results were obtained in other countries. The boundaries between work and leisure were difficult to draw when the home became a job. At first, work had felt like free time, now free time began to feel like work. In her book, Siltala describes the mental state overwhelmed by monotony:
“In coronary unrest, anxiety and fearful shivering were mixed with timeless boredom, a general lack of inspiration. When the situation was not structured to fight or flee, but the goal posts moved in the fog, the routines and rhythm disappeared. At that time, lethargy easily drifted: getting dressed, necessary exercise, brushing your teeth could get out of the way, and you couldn’t even pretend to be enthusiastic about the online meeting. Cognitive functioning deteriorated: things did not stay in mind, attention waned more easily, and even bright memories could not be formed when one could not plan for the future. ”
And the home was not a safe place for everyone. If there were tensions in the home, they couldn’t get anywhere. Domestic violence and mental health problems increased. The anxiety of girls in particular increased markedly.
Part anxiety channeled outward. The aggressions were randomly directed at anything at any time: to the makers, the Newcomers, the foreigners, the cottagers, the users of the mask, the geese who did not use the mask, who caught unbearably. Police report that more and more young Finns are carrying knives for safety.
According to Siltala, some of the world’s leaders also adopted belligerent rhetoric to look strong in the face of the epidemic. Also in international politics, according to the professor, there is a widespread politics of displaying power, in which the “longest-toothed wolves” aspire to lead herds.
And we already know their achievements.
The editorials are HS’s statements on a topical issue. The writings are prepared by HS’s editorial staff and reflect the magazine principle.
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