#coronavirus: uncomfortable reflections

#coronavirus interrupted our lives, destroyed business, killed people (still does), and fills our days with uncertainty and fear. And yet, somehow, we are the lucky ones, the ones that are surviving a global pandemic. A global pandemic, so tragic that we have to look back to the past, a hundred years ago to create a parallel to understand our current situation. The Spanish flu (whose origins are in Kansas, USA. If you don’t believe me, you are free to google it) killed about 50 million people worldwide.

Did the world learn something from that tragedy? Did we become a better society? Well, no, because a while after recovering from such a disaster, we had another war, the famous and disgraceful WWII.

People fascinate me. And one of the reasons people fascinate me is because I find our behavior self-destructive. We need to stick together to survive, We know we need each other, and yet we seem determined to finish the other.

We start by creating division.

Our excuses are lame. Our reasons are something like these:

• The people from the country next to us are not as sophisticated as we are.
• We don’t like them because they are different from us.
• We don’t like them because they are black.
• We don’t like them because they are brown.
• We don’t like them because they are not from here.
• We don’t like them because their language is different from ours.
• We don’t like them because their religion is different from ours.
• We don’t like them because they are transgender.
• We don’t like them because they are not like us.

“And one of the reasons people fascinate me is because I find our behavior self-destructive……”

Our time on this earth is limited, why do we keep strengthening the divisions?

• What do you win by insulting the immigrants next door?
• What do you win by hurting transgenders?
• What do you win by supportive conservative governments?
• What do you win by putting racist misogynist people in power?

Do you think hurting the vulnerable is going to put you in a better position in society? Attacking immigrant children is going to make you great?

We didn’t learn anything from 1918 flu, but let’s be sure to take a lesson from this #coronavirus 2020. And we certainly didn’t hold the USA Government accountable for the outbreak of AIDS, and swine flu. Why are attacking China so badly? Why do we look down on them? I, personally, won’t allow any hatred toward China to spread either. Do not believe the people who divide us, do not pay attention to them. Think, read, and research for information on your own.

We need change. But if after this ordeal, you choose to be the same, that’s on you and that’s your prerogative (I guess), but please do not stand in our way. Do not stand on the way of those who want change. Change is happening whether you like it or not. Change is happening, no matter how hard it is for you to understand it. Change is happening because we want a better society, where people are respected.

If we have survived the #coronavirus then it is our duty to make it worth it, it is our duty to live a life that inspires and triggers change. This is our duty as the survivors of this era.

Originally published at http://consult-culture.com on June 24, 2020.