ly distributed
The first and only time in history, everyone was on the same boat. For a long time, we were divided by castes, accidents of birth, and organized hierarchies.
There have been times when we all felt the same impact of an event. We all gasped simultaneously when we landed on the Moon. This time, it was different. The situation was in our faces, regardless of age, class, or nationality. It didn’t disappear in a few weeks of news.
The responses were different.
Others hoarded and profited by cutting corners and seeking profits, no matter the cost. Others tried to encourage panic, while others embraced it. Some people came to ask for help, while others waited around to see if anyone needed it.
This is the first lesson we can learn from our pandemic. Even though events may be equally distributed, reactions and responses are rarely. We can choose to see possibilities. We can lead. We can see the future beyond just a day or week.
Not just a few. All us.
This choice was not influenced by race, class, or even station. Each day, people made a different decision. Volunteer firefighters who responded to the next alarm. Parents who sat down with their child instead of leaving them in front of an electronic device. Doctors who calmed down their fears to save other people.
The second lesson is that we all have a choice to make. The pandemic gave us the chance to be leaders and make a difference. Now, the future knocks on our door asking us to take a different decision.
Since millennia we have used our resources to protect ourselves from the elements. Some people are more fortunate than others when it comes to finding a safe place.
We discovered the hard way that we are not as resilient as hoped in our fragile industrial eco-system. We learned that we’re not as protected from nature as we thought. We also learned that preparation is relatively cheap compared to other options.
If history is any guide, there will be more flu pandemics and we will get better at combating them each time. Fighting a virus differs from fighting the weather. It will be harder and harder to ignore the weather, or the rising sea. Although the effects are unequally distributed, they often expose those who are most vulnerable. But, as we have seen with a pandemic outbreak, we will not be able buy ourselves any peace of mind.
It is easy to see the fork in road. Who will be the leader? Who will seize the opportunity to act now and when we can to make tomorrow better? Who will push for business as usual to resume?
Our industrial might, just as air travel or cruise ships spread the disease, has planted the seeds for our destruction. The modern world has also created a system that is powerful enough to save itself.
The system, while it has leverage, is not resilient.
Start now. Start from where you are. Do not wait for an manual or authority.
As always, we will bring about change.
We are all responsible for each other. We can lead if we are willing.
Care is equally distributed.
