Red Light/Green Light
I watched Boris’ speech to the nation on Sunday, probably hoping against hope I guess that we were going to get some good news. Not too sure why I thought that but we all have to hope. But there was a hidden, much more subtle meaning to his words I think.
First note the change in the strap line – the slogan that accompanies all official briefings about the virus. It used to be - Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives - and is now - Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives. The chart for the start of Boris’ speech backs up the notion of a hidden meaning. It has Scorpio rising with Mars (Scorpio’s ruler) down at the bottom of the chart hiding in the 4th house of home and family and waiting to change signs in to Pisces. Scorpio never willing reveals everything about himself – he keeps things hidden, he manipulates but ultimately he is a survivor. So, as with the last Scorpio Full Moon, there was a lot hidden in plain sight.
Boris talks about the R word – the infection rate – but I wonder really if he wasn’t talking about R for responsibility and the shifting of responsibility from the government to You. That has also been the message all along of the big Capricorn line up that we have been experiencing for some while, along with other Capricorn traits such as hard work, effort, responsibility and common sense. There was another much more subtle change to the slogan too, which you may or may not have noticed. The original slogan was edged in red whilst the new one is edged in green. Red is a warning to stop for danger; giving a green light means go forward. There was much criticism of this speech – maybe it was because we are used to an amber light first or maybe the fear factor lends itself to becoming dependent on others for our safety.
This was classic ‘nudge’ theory in action – a concept in behavioural science which brings positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions in order to influence behavior. It is designed to make the individual think that they themselves have chosen a particular course of action. It’s a bit like supermarkets putting fruit and healthy snacks next to the checkout whilst moving the sweets and crisps to a less obvious area so that you are more likely to choose the healthy option. Really it’s just another PSY-OP (physchological operation) often employed to influence behaviour – from governments down to individuals. By giving an indirect or vague order there is a denial of blame or come-back towards the chief of command should events not pan out in the future as hoped.
Additionally, Chris Whitty the Chief Medical Officer has given the same speech twice to my knowledge now, where he speaks about how unlikely it is for an individual to die of the virus during this epidemic (note how he refers to it as an epidemic and not a pandemic). This further adds to the green light effect.
Boris began his speech with the feel-good, ego stroking tactic of telling everyone how well they had done in protecting the NHS thereby saving lives, whilst bringing everyone together as a group with a common goal of beating the virus –making them feel that they have the power to do so. He used words like strength, fortitude, bravery, patience and common sense. Bit like the Uncle Sam posters in the War. He talked about how he has consulted across all four nations of the UK, although it seems that he may have consulted with them but that’s as far as it went because we now seem to have a very dis-United Kingdom.
He briefly outlined his plan, which now depends on us, and it is clear that if this plan fails the onus is on us and not on government planning. We will have a new Covid Alert System run by a new Joint Biosecurity Centre determined primarily by ‘R’ and the number of coronavirus cases. This Covid Alert level will have 5 levels with 5 being the strictest – we are moving hopefully from 4 down to 3. But what is this Joint Biosecurity Centre? It seems that it is to be headed by Tom Hurd - he is a senior counter-terror official who is in the running to become the next chief of MI6. This biosecurity hub will assess the changing threat posed by the virus and will run along the same lines as Britain’s joint terrorism analysis centre (JTAC), which determines the terror risk across Britain.
In another example of nudge theory Vodaphone has put together something called DreamLab, ostensibly to speed up vital COVID19 and cancer research. It seems that if you download the app then DreamLab taps into your phone’s unused processing power whilst it is recharging overnight thereby increasing overall processing power. Allegedly there is no invasion of your privacy – hard to believe when I only have to think about something and it pops up on my feed, but hey I can always give them the benefit of the doubt. By doing so though you become a very valued member of your society, reinforced by the hashtag - SleepLikeAHero!!!!!
I’m always afraid when Tony Blair pontificates about our future and in a recent report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (who knew there was one?) he says that a dramatic increase in technological surveillance is a ‘price worth paying’ to fight this virus. Really?! Even Boris used his 24th September, 2019 address to the UN to warn against a dystopian future. Rather than use the address as expected to pledge to advance and defend our values and to persevere to achieve peace in the Middle East, he instead spoke of the dangers of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Warning of a new digital authoritarianism, he said “You may keep secrets from your friends, from your parents, your children, your doctor – even your personal trainer – but it takes real effort to conceal your thoughts from Google. And if that is true today, in future there may be nowhere to hide”.
As we come up to a New Moon next week my message hasn’t changed really. We know this is a pivotal year, we know we are heading for difficult economic times and for a change in society. How will you manage to thrive within this? Give yourself the best chance. Use your astrological roadmap to identify your talents, strengths and weaknesses so that you can adapt to and make the best use of these changing times. Take your own personal responsibility for how you manage this threat to our society. If you are vulnerable personally then of course keep yourself safe. Otherwise be alert – be vigilant to danger (all dangers including those hiding in plain sight) and be alert to how you are going to personally take your life forward so that you actually feel as though you are living. Be Alert but also be kind and respectful – we are all in this together but we aren’t all the same.