The secret killer

Humanity just wasn't prepared for it. We thought we knew it all and were prepared for anything. But we were wrong. We noticed it early on, but we didn't understand the consequences. We thought it was just a transient thing. Even when it had infected most of the adult population, we just bullied on through in the hope that it was just a seasonal virus. Hydrate well, rest a bit and we'll be fine. But we weren't.

I think it's success was mainly down to it not fitting into any of the boxes that humanity had created with alarm bells on them. It wasn't a virus or an infection, so we couldn't create a pill or an injection to protect against it. It's transmission mechanism was beautifully elegant. We catch it from others easily and willingly and pass it on to our children as early as we possibly can. That beats all other forms of transmission and makes it more pervasive than anything we have ever seen.

Apart from it's astounding ability to spread, it's other brilliant ability is that it hides in plain sight. Most people don't know they have it or consider it an illness. They just think it's part of being human in the 21st century, so they suck it up and carry on regardless. Plus they see it as their duty to infect everyone around them so that they can survive in the 21st century as well.

You have to admire the beautiful elegance of it. It's a masterpiece of human engineering that didn't need brilliant scientists in secret laboratories to create it. I say human engineering, but I don't think we consciously created it. I don't think we are intelligent enough to have thought it up. I think it came about as an unlucky consequence of our economic evolution.

You could probably trace its emergence back to the first use of money, if you could be bothered, but it wouldn't help you much. It didn't show itself for a long time and has only really shown its true colours in the last 50 years or so. But now most people suffer from it and it's a killer. A killer of happiness, joy, empathy, family, and relationships. It sucks on the marrow of our humanity whilst pretending to be the only way to live in the 21st century.

Painting over the rust

It doesn't have a formal name, which has helped it stay hidden. So it's time to give it one. Naming it makes it tangible. Naming it makes it relatable. Most importantly, naming it makes it treatable.

#THEBUSYNESS