Pandemics have afflicted civilisations for centuries, and they leave lasting impacts on human lives from killing a sizable population to making people ponder over more profound questions in life! It may be a little too soon to say what effect the Coronavirus pandemic will have on the global demographics, but it is undoubtedly a tragedy with the potential of bringing about a more significant social change and ethical awakening as it highlights the vulnerability of our civilisation: what is broken and what needs to be fixed.
COVID-19 has hit us at a time when society’s self-destructive addiction to fast-paced living has reached its ultimate climax. We work harder than ever; we travel further than ever; we consume more than we can ever sustain. And we can’t stop, pause or reflect; or else we would fall behind in the frenzied race of life. We run after instant gratification and turn a blind eye to the bigger questions looming over our heads. We love watching Apocalyptic films, but suddenly one day we wake up and find ourselves living the reality of a Hollywood movie! We find ourselves locked up at home for months on end in an unprecedented global shutdown. We have to battle with isolation, physical distancing, uncertainty, insecurity, fear, anxiety and above all the ‘infodemic’: a pandemic of fake news. In today’s world, fake news and conspiracy theories transmit faster than the virus itself and are just as lethal.
We can either choose to go in denial and carry on as before or let our minds process the painful realities we have ignored for so long. We have to use this caveat to make fundamental changes to make this planet habitable
Frank M. Snowden, Professor of History at Yale, argues that diseases are not random incidents that afflict societies arbitrarily and chaotically. In essence, they’re ordered events as microbes selectively expand and disperse themselves to explore ecological niches that human beings have created. For example, Cholera and Tuberculosis in today’s world move along the fault lines created by poverty and inequality. There are times when nature resets its course with the cruelty that seems as erratic as it is ruthless. The coronavirus pandemic is spreading its octopus tentacles into every crevice of society, pitting the vanity of human assumptions against nature’s almost casual ability to destroy them.
An appreciation of the history of pandemics would help guide us better into the future. Across millenniums – plague, cholera, smallpox, typhoid, leprosy, measles, swine flu, ebola and other diseases have changed history’s course and reinforced perceptions of human frailty. Black Death – the deadly plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century and estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of the European population – created several religious, cultural and economic upheavals. There was also an increased surge in bigotry and scapegoating. Many historians believe the outbreak of the Black Death saw the birth of antisemitism in Europe. It resulted in the massacres of countless Jews who were accused for bringing the disease into Europe from the Far East along the silk routes through Northern Italy. It is not difficult to find parallels of the blame game in our present world. President Trump irresponsibly calling coronavirus a ‘chinese virus’ and using ‘war metaphors’ can only create more divisions in an already deeply divided world.
It is quite interesting to note how epidemics have played an important role in shaping American history. Europeans carried several new diseases when they first arrived in the Americas, including smallpox a contagious illness that claimed the lives of approximately 20 million people, close to 90% of the population in the Americas. The epidemic enabled Europeans to colonise and develop the newly vacated areas, forever altering the histories of the Americas and the global economy. Today we see American President using this outbreak to turn the tide in his political favour. Trump’s use of war rhetoric is to ensure his selection in the upcoming elections – when America is at war; the voters prefer not to change presidents in the middle of battle. After an initial fumbling response to the devastating spread of COVID-19, and dismissing the threat for months, Trump has suddenly employed the rhetoric of war: encouraging sacrifice, promising better days ahead and promoting patriotism.
But on the flip side, along with the fear and anxiety, comes the planetary ethical awakening – how vulnerable we all are! The disease does not discriminate; it can strike anyone anywhere, royalty or head of state; no one is immune. We are all an inevitable part of a species, and we need to think beyond race, ethnicity and borders. We need to slow down, strengthen our relationships with our fellow human beings, care about our planet and stop doing things that adversely affect our environment. It is indeed a wake-up call for our complacent modern civilisation. Coronavirus pandemic is holding up a mirror to human beings as to who we really are. It makes us question our relationship to our mortality, to our lives and to our environment. We can either choose to go in denial and carry on as before or let our minds process the painful realities we have ignored for so long. We have to use this caveat to make fundamental changes to make this planet habitable. As human beings, we’re all in this together and that what affects one person anywhere affects everyone everywhere. We are all one species.
Qurat ul aine Bokhari is a female Ecommerce Entrepreneur based in London. She studied Diplomacy & International Relations at the University of Oxford. She writes about current affairs, politics and international relations