COVID-19 Exposes Frail Humanity
2020-03-20
Since World War 2, COVID-19, aka Coronavirus is the one thing that has successfully caught the world unawares, forced itself onto the Breaking News section of every media outlet, challenged leadership across the globe, threatened health systems, slapped the world economy in the face and sent the man on the street as well as the most powerful persons on earth panicking. COVID-19 has rubbished the race for military supremacy that has been the focus of countries at the global stage. It has shown that, nuclear weapons alone do not keep a country above others and in safe havens. The world is now facing the bitter truth that, in spite of all the development in infrastructure and technological breakthrough, humans are essentially still a very weak species, vulnerable not only to bombs and natural disasters but also to viruses like COVID-19. Human nature in itself is still very weak and fragile.
What makes a person point a finger at another person when it comes to the spread of a virus? It is that weak, insecure and primitive side of us humans even though we boast of how civilized we are, all the time. Thanks to COVID-19 we have seen the virus-carrier stigma move from one person to another, from one nationality to another and from one race to another. When an infant breaks a glass and blames it on another, that's basically who we humans are. That's why even in our 70s we can still do it even as the leader of a country. That's why a disease affecting pigs, with no health effects on humans can be branded XXXX Swine Fever, to jeopardize the dignity of an entire continent and its 1.2billion inhabitants. Since what goes around comes around, today's Coronavirus is a new brand floating and soon to be pinned on some other continent, country or region.
Whether there is discriminatory disease branding or not, prejudice is already an inseparable evil from human nature. For every epidemic and pandemic that the world has lived through, names of certain countries come to mind either because it broke out there or because the area suffered the most from the disease. As revealed by COVID-19, humans fall terribly short when it comes to respecting the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" As humans we seem to care only when it hurts us and not when it hurts others. That's why today some people can put up a hashtag #iamnotavirus , make it go viral then turn around and start avoiding people they think carry the virus. We human beings are victims of our own self-centered personalities. That's why with a prejudiced mindset, we avoid sitting next to someone on the bus or train because of what we think about the person but cry foul when it happens to us. Thank you COVID-19 for showing this ugly side of so-called civilized humans.
Greed is at its peak with the spread of COVID-19. I want it all, is the feeling as people fight over supplies in supermarkets across the world. Panic buying is the norm and it gives us a microscopic view of what capitalism is really about. It's a kind of fear that inhibits human beings. The fear of not having enough. Our scarcity mindset is a weakness and the root cause of some of the deadliest conflicts in the world today. Hoarding is one of the primitive instincts of Man that has transformed into various forms but still essentially forms the bottom line of individual plans, family goals, foreign policies of governments and even regional organizations. What we see buyers doing as they scramble for supplies in stores is no different from what countries are doing with natural resources around the world. I have ten rolls of toilet tissue at home but I must get ten more rolls even if that means my neighbor won't have any. My country has a huge forest reserve but I must use that other country's forest for timber exploitation even if that means that country loses its forest entirely. That's where the human race is, yet, it's civilization!
What is great media? That which manipulates public opinion or that which tells nothing but the truth? May be it is that which exposes the wrongs of one person or country while covering up those of another. Perhaps COVID-19 has clearly understood that the modern world is ruled by media warfare. Therefore the virus is moving from one country to another making sure the media of each country has the opportunity to show what kind of media it is. So I can show graphic images of dead bodies in your country and beautiful flowers in mine even though I have dead bodies too. That also is how civilized humans are!
"No nation has friends, only interests." You have probably heard of this saying but sometimes been tempted to say it is not true. Well, COVID-19 is here to help you understand that better. We can party together, sit at round tables together, hug and shake hands on TV, sign documents, call each other allies, members of a union and so on. At the end of the day what really matters is what I want to get from you and what you want to get from me. Everything else is just a show. So some countries during the pandemic woke up to the news that neighbors and "friends" had shut down their borders to them. Well that was reality check and a true test of the friendship. When next time a country's leader gets on TV brandishing some friendship agreement with another country, give him a boo and change the channel to some other entertainment. My worry is that this hypocrisy does not hold only in the case of nations. It is becoming more and more apparent that "No human has friends, only interests."
Criticizing is one of the easiest things to do and human beings are excellent at it. We humans love pointing out mistakes others make but become very aggressive when criticized. COVI-19 has managed this aspect so well, moving from one country to another gradually giving everyone the opportunity to criticize the others and be at the receiving end just weeks later. It is a good lesson and a hard one too, to all countries to respect other countries, their cultural values and systems of government. The pandemic is a true test of the capabilities of each country to save and protect lives. Because of our shortsightedness we often rank the strength and weakness of a country only from the military perspective and GDP numbers. COVID-19 has shown that having military strength and high GDP numbers don't automatically guarantee the safety of a people. There is something else, the love and will to serve, share and help when a situation is dire. That's what has made some countries stand tall against the deadly virus while others sink so low.
A better world will not be one ruled by a small number of countries because of their military might and GDPs at the detriment of a larger majority of countries. A better world will be one ruled by better human nature and the responsibility is shared. We don't need deadly viruses in order to learn these lessons the hard way.
Written by Dee
Shanghai, March 20th 2020.
Some countries have long been delighting in patronizing others, thinking their head start in economic development justifies their arrogance and they do better in every respect of governing and social affair management, which in actuality is utterly a delusion on their part. When stark truths are shoved into their face, rather than learning from their slip-ups and missteps, they panick, and resort to finger-pointing to muddy the waters and cover up their ineptitude...the funny thing is a lot of their citizens even still believe in what the politicos say, pathetic...
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