I actually didn't want to write anymore about the virus whose name must no longer be spoken and the resulting actions and restrictions by the government and politicians. But since I now have time, as all events have been cancelled until the end of 2020 due to the "lockdown light," I'd like to get a few things off my chest...

Lockdown light or the "new injustice"

The virus is back across Europe and worldwide, and infection rates have been rising relentlessly for several weeks now. To quote Yazz, " The only way is up." Since the beginning of 2020, we've known about this virus, and even though the mortality rate (in Germany) isn't significantly different from years without it, the media and politicians have been in a state of mild to severe panic since March 2020. We read and hear from various sources that there are no more intensive care beds available, and elsewhere that nurses and caregivers are being put on furlough ( this is because regular surgeries weren't allowed for a certain period – just a side note, and you can't simply put a pediatric nurse in an intensive care unit ). So, in a single day, you get just as many factually correct and relevant news stories as there are corresponding denials or fake news trolls who try to refute everything in one way or another with ( absurd ) arguments...

If you want to form your own realistic picture, it's become increasingly difficult for me to find the middle ground of what I consider " truth lies somewhere in between " during this pandemic. It feels like we currently have 83 million virologists, and everyone has a different opinion. And what also needs to be mentioned here is that the credibility of science suffers when the calculation methods ( summer R-value vs. 7-day incidence ) are suddenly changed. Sure, it's a completely new situation, and everyone is tirelessly collecting data, but somehow I get the feeling that science is slowly but surely running out of ideas about what to do with this vast amount of data. And, just out there, is there anyone still alive who has actually experienced a global pandemic...?

Therefore, one gets the feeling that governments, politicians, and scientists currently have little idea what will actually help and how best to behave ( masks yes/no - lockdown yes/no ). This, in turn, gives new fodder to the fake news crowd, because they try to grasp the situation with their information and knowledge, which then degenerates into the wildest speculations. Sometimes when I read, see, or hear such things, I think to myself, " Not even a cockroach is that stupid, " or " OMG, we're all doomed." It varies, because what the pandemic has shown me is that even people you always thought were " down-to-earth, still mostly sane " turned out to be little conspiracy theorists. It's also interesting how many people like to portray themselves as community members, selflessly trying to help everywhere, making a difference, but then, during a pandemic, still go to a high-risk area for vacation. These are the people who don't really care about society when it wants to restrict their own freedom and egomania.

Well, nevertheless, starting today we have a partial lockdown, and can someone explain to me why nail salons have to close but hairdressers stay open...? ( asks the glaze-wearing DJ with manicured nails )

When the pandemic becomes an indirect election campaign issue

I also find some of the political and governmental decisions more than questionable ( after all, for some people, going to the hairdresser is a leisure activity ), but I don't think the current situation with the virus should be used as an election campaign tool or a platform for some politicians to gain political points. In America, elections are being held in a few days, and here the parties are accusing each other of everything that's gone wrong in the current handling of the pandemic. The non-governing parties are accusing the incumbent government of what was neglected, which measures were wrong, what was done too late, and so on. And the governing parties aren't much better, as they accuse the opposition of sabotaging everything and not working together. Elections will be held in Germany in 2021, and I'm sure that in the final phase of the pandemic ( if it comes to that ), the topic of Corona will also be used as an election campaign tool here in Germany to secure votes.

As already mentioned, it's all just a lot of empty talk again. Many promises are made, especially regarding economic compensation for people and businesses whose existence is threatened by the pandemic. Yet, new aid programs are once again, or rather still, designed in such a way that only the big players benefit. I don't think I need to start on the lobbying efforts of the travel and automotive industries and the financial aid they've received. What gets left behind again is a segment of the middle class: the restaurant industry, the events sector, arts and culture, and the self-employed. This might be because these sectors do almost no lobbying, but it's also because even within these groups, not everyone is pulling in the same direction, and everyone is pursuing their own agenda, trying to draw attention to themselves with small actions...

Together we would be strong - oh well, I'm going on holiday first.

During the summer months, it seemed as if everything was almost over again; there were celebrations, travel, and as if one were living a life as a mayfly, no thought was given to autumn and winter. Not only have the various groups within the arts, culture, and music scene finally joined forces ( to put it simply and bluntly: jazz musicians only spoke to classical musicians to a limited extent, who in turn only engaged to a limited extent with pop musicians; DJs have always been a divided bunch anyway, otherwise the outcry about the clubs closed since March 2020 would be much, much greater; rappers don't talk to metalheads, and so on and so forth – these differences between us have never helped us, and never will, to be heard in politics and by governments in our existentially threatening situation – so talk to each other more ). Why bother, though? Things were still running relatively smoothly in the summer, and of course, a year without a vacation is simply unthinkable, so people prefer to travel to high-risk areas to avoid tourist-packed sights, rather than sitting down together over the summer months and developing a plan for how to continue playing games with the virus during the colder months and how to gain more traction with politicians. to give voice to the issue and to explore how science and politics could collaborate to prevent social life from completely going downhill...

A striking example is the demonstrations by artists, cultural workers, and the events industry during the summer months. There were quite a few events in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, etc., but not in Munich. One got the feeling that artists and freelancers in Munich already had enough money, or that they preferred to go on vacation as a way of escaping the pandemic. In August, I asked the organizers of the " Alarmstufe Rot " (Red Alert) campaign why nothing ever happened in Munich. The answer was sobering: I was told that no one in Munich had been found to organize anything. Ironically, around September, the regional " Aufstehen für Kultur" (Stand Up for Culture ) group emerged, which then held a large demonstration at Königsplatz on October 24th to draw attention to the precarious situation of the arts and culture sector. ( Seriously, the situation only became precarious in October 2020...? Oh damn, yes, I'm running out of money for vacation... ) In the same week, the " Bavarian Cultural Rescue Package " had already held talks with Markus Söder and the relevant ministers and received assurances ( okay, not much has happened since then apart from the partial lockdown ) that the emergency financial aid programs for self-employed artists and musicians would be improved and increased...

To be quite honest, " pulling together " looks different to me, and the success that the " Bavarian cultural rescue package " achieved BEFORE the demonstration is commendable. But if everyone here would actually join forces, as they always say, and get all the trades on board, then we could emerge from the pandemic relatively unscathed, and all sectors ( popular and classical music of all genres and all the freelancers still involved in this system ) would benefit, instead of just individual groups trying to make a name for themselves and thereby slowing down and sabotaging the processes that are necessary for everyone because they don't deem it beneficial for their own sector.

We need to get everyone, absolutely everyone, on board and find a consensus that allows us all to get through this without favoring or disadvantaging anyone. But I'm slowly losing faith that this will be possible, because it would require everyone to overcome their own personal limitations. And as long as we, as a society, debate whether it's right to rescue people fleeing war zones and stranded at sea, as long as we continue to live by the principle of "me first," the precarious situation of musicians, artists, and freelancers during the Corona crisis will remain unrecognized by politicians.

Good lobbying is characterized by everyone involved pulling together, even if they are otherwise competitors or have nothing to do with each other... Think about it.