A feeling of dread has come to pervade daily life. The thoughts of death and disease cycle in one’s mind, not only of one’s own but also of sons, daughters and in my case grandchildren. Everybody is vulnerable, though the old are both more susceptible to the infection and at high risk of dying. At my age , l am coming to settle with the idea of death, but l do not want to be alone and thus the virus makes me worry more about my dear ones, family as well as close friends.
Death is of course inseparable from living. Most of us who talk of approaching death fear not the end but the suffering one may endure in the process. It is almost everybody’s wish to die silently in sleep, but only a few have such luck. Here in Canada (and other western countries) , the idea of assisted dying has come to be socially acceptable and legal under prescribed ethical and medical restrictions.
When it first began to be discussed, l reacted with horror, considering it to be a fancy word for suicide. How could it be allowed when the day of death is divinely ordained? Isn’t it a sin? On further contemplation l am beginning to accept it and even like it as a way out of the end of life sufferings. Isn’t the hypertension pill or insulin injection an intervention in the destined span of life? If we are relying on medicines to prolong life, then why not the same logic for easing death? Isn’t medical knowledge itself a part of the divine design?
Turning from the landscape of the mind to the cityscape and public life here in Canada, the virus has squeezed joy and excitement out of everyday living. The streets are deserted, and silence is the sound of the city. The stores are ordered closed as are restaurants and bars, drastically reducing the opera of the street and the rustle of shopping.
It seems suddenly we have unfriended neighbours and fellow citizens. Being disciplined Canadians, people on sidewalks skirt away from each other to maintain the 6 feet distance. No shaking of hands or touching each other. Romance and courting are in suspension.
Both the pandemic and economic recession require a competent state and a society of high trust and beliefs that do not lag behind the lived life
Many professionals and office workers work from home through the internet. Going out is limited to the absolute necessity of buying groceries, medicines or other household goods. What has been almost a science fiction, namely telemedicine, has overnight come to be the primary means of consulting doctors. Schools are closed and classes are beginning to be held on Zoom and e-commerce is displacing shopping malls. The electronic revolution has taken a leap and it will transform social life, jobs and reduce personal dealings.
Yet as in any social change, the primary burden of the virus is falling on the wage labourer, waiters, house cleaners, taxi drivers, small businesses and the jobless. The middle class has not entirely escaped. The much-touted gig economy of millennials is collapsing rendering jobless App designers, uber drivers, artists, albeit the self-employed. The unemployment rate in Canada has shot up to 13.5% from 5.9% in a month. The US’ weekly unemployment allowance claims increased 20 times in the last month.
In the midst of this gloom and doom, it is the public services that are keeping the city and country near normal, except for social isolation. Garbage is being picked up, police, ambulance, water, electricity, internet, street maintenance services, mail delivery and virtual schools and colleges are functioning ; only the hospitals are overwhelmed by the emergencies. The sense of duty is palpable, particularly among medical personnel working in dangerous conditions facing shortages of protection gears, medicines and equipment.
Both Canadian and the US governments have quickly overcome their ideological reservations and drenched their countries with trillions of borrowed dollars to shore up businesses and help those losing income. The limitations of the privatising, globalization, free trade, immigration and the global supply-chain have been laid bare. There may be a return to national self-sufficiency in the essentials of life. The world will be changed in unpredictable ways after the virus.
The Corona pandemic is now twinning with the global recession. Dealing with both will still leave the world with increased poverty, joblessness and hunger in poor countries. Rich and well-organized countries will manage at some cost , but Pakistan, for example, already surviving on international loans and a broken health system will be teetering near a breakdown. Both the pandemic and economic recession require a competent state and a society of high trust and beliefs that do not lag behind the lived life. Both conditions perennially lacking in Pakistan.
The writer is the author of the book, ‘Multicultural cities. Toronto, New York and Los Angeles’ and gets published in Pakistani ,Canadian and the US newspapers