Beauteous Maximus

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that began late in 2019, the author worked as a solo hairstylist in the front parlor of an old Victorian house in the Pacific Northwest. This work includes a collection of intimate fictionalized stories that were inspired by hundreds of conversations the author had with his customers about what it was like to live through the unprecedented disaster that conquered every nation on Earth. Written in vignettes that are woven through the backdrop of politics and popular culture of the time, this compilation is an honest depiction of the impacts of pandemic life as told through the experiences of a gay man. In Volume Two, the multi-layered prose of Beauteous Maximus shifts to The Economy of Truth. Unquestionably, the COVID pandemic destabilized global, national, regional, and individual economies. Supply chains were interrupted. International trade was upended and conflict ensued. The workplace was changed forever. Priorities shifted suddenly in ways that required everyone to reevaluate what was essential. It was as if the whole world was put into a giant salad spinner to be rinsed and drained of outdated ideas. History shows that humanity's greatest wars and revolutions were caused by economic pressures, primarily wealth inequality among the classes. History also describes how the conflicts of the past repeat in predictable cycles of time until humanity embraces positive change. Truth is the strongest protection of the people's wealth and allows for the most ethical use of natural resources needed to sustain life, culture and trade. Truth is the path to healing - this is an important idea given that propaganda, deceit and paranoia were prominent obstacles that took center stage in pandemic life. Therefore, embracing real Truth was a reliable way to survive the scourge of a lethal virus at a time when those who doubted Truth could not.