When will those masks disappear ? – free content
If a European or North American traveled to the more densely populated centers of Asia they were sure to receive one free souvenir: The image connected with the lasting memory of people wearing masks on public transport and in public places. An expression of appearance we in the Western world were and possibly are not yet accustomed to.
One can argue that the inhabitants of those bustling Asian centers wear masks to protect them from contaminated air or air transmitted diseases. Superficially, that argument makes possibly sense. But the actual cause of the phenomena is much more profound than the very trivial environmental or health argument. It goes way deeper into the process that is at the base of that development; an ever-increasing penetration of mechanization forms a different appearance of the people that maintain the process.
At this point I like to quote Georg Friedrich Juenger: “… No physiognomist can fail to notice such things. As there are mechanical motions, so there are mechanical faces. A man inasmuch as his expressions and movements reveal functionalism of the type which can be observed in machines. The mask like quality in the face of such a man reveals that here life is merely being imitated – that its movements are imitations of a nonexistent vitality. Many masks and larval beings are moving about among the living, and there is no lack of those vampire-like beings, endowed with a semblance of life, who may justly be termed human automations. Their influence increases at the same pace as functionalism gains power.”
Meaning the appearance of masks is an “indicator” of how deep functionalism and automation has already transformed society and its appearance. The Western traveller exploring Asia, just 12 month ago, was not travelling back in time or to a land of germophobes – no, they were exposed to something new that had already succumbed, or should we say advanced, to the next step of a technical “progress”. (In parts, the Asian economic success can be attributed to it). Losing and surrendering your facial expressions, anonymising and standardizing – a mask is a clear indication that one is in the process of giving up individuality, in this case for the sake of a technological process.
So, what does the growing appearance of masks in our Western public life indicate? Clearly, right now the same trivial environmental argument comes up again, but that is not at the heart of the drastic change we have seen over the last 8 months. The Western World is now wearing masks to the same degree as could only be previously witnessed in Asia. This could mean that we have now caught up to a techno-societal transformation that was before only known to part of the East.
The Western societies just experienced a big leap in functionalism and with that even the face of Westerners had to change. And the cause is not like many might think: the virus. The undercurrent which is causing the present phenomena lays deeper, the virus is only the facilitator for the changed appearance.
Right now, with the change of environment, close to 42% of the US labor force is suddenly working from home. That is only possible with a technological leap towards an increase in computerization/digitalization. Over the last months the traditional tarred highway has been replaced by the data highway. And that change is real – since the beginning of the year, Americans travelled about 300 billion Vehicle Miles less. Person to person business meetings are cancelled (over 90% of ground and air business travel has been cancelled) and replaced by “screen communication” (up 47%).
On the outside the change looks Covid related; but the mask wearing, almost faceless soldiers around us are likely heralding new, quite different times. It seems the new step-up in technological advancement – a new form of functionalism – is in the process of taking out another chunk of our very own individuality – parts of our face.
Away from older technologies right into a Pentium processor propelled world. The process is not new, it already started with the “advancements” in the field of communication and computer technology more than two decades ago. But now, the visual impact of the techno-culture shock has arrived and created its fitting counterpart on multiple levels. Faces are neutralized – barely recognizable nor distinguishable anymore. As outlined in an earlier article on this website, the conformity and almost standardized way of how these days, the masses think and problem solve, using the same kind of “programs”, creates a new breed of less accentuated, less vital, less individual faces. Synchronicity in thinking and the fact that daily lifestyles around the world are becoming increasingly interchangeable will have an unavoidable outcome.
Time already showcased to us that this new breed/face is so alike to each other that they have already given up most of their distinct individual facial properties, the mask is just the facilitator and accelerator of that seemingly unstoppable process. It needs to be understood that the phenomena unfolding in front of us comes from a development that has its origins in the machine and the technological “progress”. Technology takes its tribute and our very own vitality and environment that surrounds us are the token that we will have to pay for, if we want to see further advancements in the technological field. Like Juenger wrote – “… increases at the same pace as functionalism gains power.”
The process was set in motion hundreds of years ago and it is gaining speed, especially in the last two to three decades. Even if there might soon be no necessity to wear a mask anymore, a more uniform face / appearance is coming at the same speed we adopt and absorb newer technologies. Mask or no mask – no matter if you are a conforming mask wearer or from the “resistance” and negate wearing one, in the end it will make no difference.
Even without masks, a more uniform face will come, particularly for Western societies. There will also be a challenge on the political front, as the “one face” only needs a reduced spectrum of personal rights.
The present state of reduced rights of freedom and movement, with home confinement and a recent, unprecedented censorship, at least in North America, is just giving us a glimpse into where we are headed. Governments and the international industrial oligarchies around the world will have no problem adapting since they will be the ones that derive even more energy and power from that process (see my money article). For that very reason the rich have become even richer since the beginning of the pandemic. And in the end it does not matter how many demonstrations people will organize and attend, attempting to fight for their personal rights, freedom, and against poverty, they will not stand a chance of winning, since they are on one side enjoying and believing in the perceived benefits from the process, but on the other hand do not understand that they themselves are the ones – as consumers or active participants – enabling and facilitating the process. Freeing ourselves from that spell like state seems to be, right now, almost impossible. The way out would be to foster and grow conscience about the root of the cause.
In this case, masks are as such an “appearance of time” and who does not want to see the connection is behaving like a rep of the pharma industry that believes eradicating symptoms equals healing.
Copyright 2021 Dirk Heinicke all rights reserved
At that point I like to mention that my prediction from April 10, 2020 of the return of the Covid phenomena has been correct. Subscribers did already know in April when the virus would make a return, when I wrote “... we will have a recurrence of the constellation – meaning the “mask constellation”- in the later part of 2020. The involved planets will have another close encounter, this appears to be starting around mid-October 2020, until it phases out around …. “ – as predicted Covid numbers around the world for October are up – so the stated conclusion and given dates prove to be correct.