The new world.
Not really new, back when Europeans invaded the Western Hemisphere, but it certainly was never the same again. Flourishing civilizations of stunning diversity disappeared - in historical terms - overnight. So - it was new to the Europeans, but also old: cultured, fertile, prosperous and beautiful. And violent and terrifying as well.
Right now, I feel like the third mate on the Santa Maria, halfway across the Atlantic. Heading for that new world or - a non-trivial chance, depending on how superstitious I was - for a sudden, lurching leap off the edge of the world.
As it turned out, things ended up working in the "new" world pretty much the same as they had worked in the old world. Rich white men controlled all the choices, and the choices were usually bad news for anyone not rich, white and male.
Today, when the world is very much the same in many ways, we have taken almost everything apart and have no idea how, or whether, it will be put back together.
So - a new world? No one knows. But we must assume that there are a lot of rich white males planning for the post-virus world right now. What will we see when we see the rising sun reflected on the coast of San Salvador? How will we know how to see it, or even to know that the dawn is breaking and there is something to see?
I like to read, listen, think and write. So here we go.
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