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DO NOT WASTE THIS PANDEMIC

Writer's picture: Dudley Tal StokesDudley Tal Stokes

Crises have long been a surefire way for the disadvantaged and oppressed to change their circumstances for the better. Two World Wars changed the fortunes of women far more rapidly and comprehensively than the pace and direction at the time would have suggested. After Japanese aggression in Asia was defeated, the aura of the Europeans was forever diminished in the eyes of the Vietnamese, Koreans and Chinese, leading to indiginous independence movements and global consequences.


If you are a woman, a person of colour, or economically disadvantaged because of where you live and/or your family history, this is aimed at you (as you can see women have a particularly hard time as they can fit every category). Anyone battling on the margins of society faces the same issue. The odds are against you and there are barriers to your participation in Society and the economy.


Whether you are BAME, ADOS, another kind of American of colour, or a poor white person, you face the same issue. The construction of modern society excludes you; it discriminates. The mechanics of the discrimination may appear different on the surface, but at its core it is about the elite maintaining and expanding their status.


Many movements, some of them worldwide, are acting to address this discrimination. Where this will go I do not know, but what I can say with some certainty is that this is an opportunity for the disadvantaged to advance themselves.


If you consider yourself as disadvantaged, no matter your gender, colour, or location, COVID-19 represents an opportunity for you to change your circumstances. There are a few things you must do and in my suggestions below are links to further explanations for some of the actions. Some links are to my free blog, others are to my Patreon page, most of the Patreon posts are behind a paywall. While I would appreciate your support and am of the opinion that the information I provide is more targeted to you, there is information freely available on the internet which can serve as a substitute. A google search will give you a lot of information, but I prefer Youtube; look for Patrick Holford posts. The AI will doubtlessly throw up many similar videos.


So, except for #1, the list is not in order of importance.


  1. Protect your health. You can gain a major advantage by being in optimum health. Very few people are, yet it is not that difficult. Some simple steps:

    1. Stop eating refined sugar.

    2. Start a basic vitamin regimen as described here and in other blog posts.

    3. If you cannot afford the entire regimen, focus on Vitamins C and D3.

    4. Aggressive vitamin C supplementation to fight infectious diseases using our method.

    5. Lengthen the period of the day in which you eat nothing; try to get to 12 hours of eating and 12 hours not.

    6. Sleep a minimum of 7 hours per night.

    7. Drink 8 glasses of water (filtered) each and every day.

    8. There’s no such thing as a healthy mind in an unhealthy body. Once your body is right, use Mental Relaxation and visualisation techniques to help with your Mental Health.

    9. Walk whenever you can, climb and descend stairs, get off the bus one stop away from the closest one.

    10. Maintain regular human contact, use Social Media to talk with people. Avoid loneliness, this reduces your immune system.


  1. Do not focus on saving what you may have; use your time and energy to think about what you can get.

    1. Things are changing in the way you live, the job you may have, and the things you planned to do. It is easy to become caught up in the changes. Do not do this. You do not have to abandon your job or your apartment, but you do need to understand that they may go. Set time aside daily to think about what else you may be doing, finding opportunities, and acting on them.


  1. Hustle. Now that you are in good health and focused on opportunity, hustle. There is no easy way to change your circumstances; you are going to need multiple jobs or side hustles.

    1. Think there won’t be any jobs because of mass layoffs? There will be jobs in areas where the skills are not widespread (social care).

    2. Get new skills. Set out what you need to know, then do an internet search. Make your own course of videos and articles and study.

    3. An important side hustle is your own business. Do you have a skill you can sell? Is there a need in your community you can meet? Think.

    4. Use the internet for crowd working. Sites such as airtasker allow you to find work that suits your skills and situation. There are also regional sites with opportunities close to where you live, as well as Global sites like (upwork) which allow you to sell your skills worldwide.


  1. Run towards the sound of gunfire. Look for the jobs that everyone is afraid of. Usually this is because they are perceived as high risk. Be confident that you have prepared and that these risks are substantially lower for you.


  1. Assess your risk, write down the bad things that can happen over the next few months, then take each and write down what you would do. Who can you live with if evicted, would I need a shelter, how do I eat if fired. Where is the free internet?


  1. Use the internet to help your hustle. In particular use the free versions of apps to manage and automate your efforts so you can look much bigger than you are and do more with the time available.


  1. Get the resources. Governments, charities, local, national and international institutions will have programs of support that you can access. Do not be afraid to find some money, then create the situation to qualify for the support.


  1. Suit up. Show up, and shake hands (okay, elbow bump). COVID-19, BlackLivesMatter and growing female inclusivity have combined to create an opportunity for you, but you will have to take it. This means being a little aggressive; put yourself forward at every chance, and risk it. Failure is never fatal, courage is the only thing.


  1. There will continue to be marches, speeches, and protests. Spaces will be occupied and statues pulled down. If you feel you must, then engage, but you face a more fundamental and a more difficult choice. The choice to embrace a personal struggle. With it will come suffering. Despite that, you will have to find a way to try.

    1. How to struggle? Do what you can with what you have, where you are.


  1. Build your community. Start close to home with family friends, move out to neighbours and colleagues. Build their support by first offering yours. Then, see where you can add value to them. Mike Ashley is wealthy because he has built a community. This is one of the few things successful people have in common.


  1. You are a human being, the same as Einstein, Hawkings, Pele, Jordan, Rapinoe, Tendulkar, Gretzky, Messi, Gates, Bezos, Musk, or Cummins. You possess capabilities that are common to all humans and still exceed any AI to date. Imagine things, feel sympathy, laugh, and cry. Desire more and better. Believe in the hero in the mirror.


Do not waste this opportunity, it will not be around forever. The forces that govern us will not delay in returning things to as close to normality as possible. Normality means that the obstacles you faced before the pandemic will return. They are part and parcel of ‘normal’. The crisis has created weaknesses, and gaps that you need to act now to go through.


I wish you luck.



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