The Pandemic Is Only a Test
The world is full of shit; we know that. There’s war, there’s racism, there’s poverty, there’s famine, there’s hatred. There’s also nuclear weapons, pollution and mass extinction. I could mention all the good things in the world, too. But this text is made not to remind you how beautiful this world can be, but that there are things in society marginalizing the possibility for beautiful things to even exist.
The Coronavirus is not an anomaly. War, poverty, and famine together kill more people in rates far higher than that of the coronavirus. Considering what has been done to prevent the virus from spreading, you begin imagining what could have been done, but for all these years has not, to lift people above the poverty line and feed all those people that starved to death. However, this is not saying the Coronavirus is not horrible as is. It is, though, the first crisis to affect everyone, however poor or rich you might be, in a very long time. Numerous other crises have always existed and still does, but this time we have become fully alert and used forceful measures trying to stop it. It begs the question “Why now?”.
The answer is obvious, unfortunately. There are a lot of discussions going on about how society will be after the pandemic, and if it will ever be as it were before. People want it to be. People want to live comfortable lives, when being ignorant of issues such as climate change is acceptable, and when poverty is an absolute non-concern. The answer is the same as why some people emanate selfishness and greed, grow a lack of empathy, and cannot stand the premises of a society in lockdown: money (and the freedom that comes with it).
When those who are wealthy are among the affected, change is prone to happen. Poverty is to the rich people’s advantage because it equals cheap labour, fewer expenses, and more acquired wealth. It would also be much heavier a task to help poor countries’ and neighbourhoods’ economy grow than to financially exploit them. The problem is thus not going to stop.
The pandemic is only a test, and it is a good thing it came. Despite all the negatives the pandemic has brought it gave us some important lessons. The fact that this crisis was a virus, and not something only apparent to the poor and working class, made even the rich aware of the cruelties of daily life. The pandemic also showed us the broad scale action in terms of societal lockdown and enormous economic packages humans are capable of. It was an eye-opener for many. If change happened now, it could happen tomorrow. It is just a matter of devotion. Additionally, the pandemic taught us the importance of preparation. Of acting in time. Of not waiting until the most severe of crises have become visualized even before the most bigoted eye. Had we acted in time, performed routine checks, and took preventive measures, we would not have been forced into lockdown. Had we not allowed an absurd unequal distribution of wealth, exploiting of foreigners, and exploiting of their sacred land, we would not have been forced into causing economic and cultural mayhem all around the world. Had we not polluted our seas and our skies and utilized every centimetre of land to produce economic goods, we would not have been forced into …
Some crises will be more difficult to solve than others. Climate change will probably be the most demanding one and the most important one to solve. Merely combating it in the sense of only tackling the prevalent and visible issues will be utterly useless. What is the point with building walls along the shore of a city due to risen sea levels, and installing more AC units because of warmer temperatures? Since the problems present in this world are the results of a faulty societal system, and thus are inherent to it, the system must not only be fought against but replaced.
Structural change is neither a new nor irrational idea. Just as political movements like the Black Lives Matter movement demand structural change within the American police core and a changed view on racism, structural change is being fought for in so many aspects of society. Climate and environmental activists, political activists, and feminist activists all fight for structural change, not accepting any empty words or meaningless action.
If the pandemic only taught us one thing it is this: The Coronavirus is not an anomaly. The world is full of problems already, only this time the rich noticed. To survive incoming crises and tackle those already existing in our world, we cannot regress to our comfortable past. We must stand up and fight, fight for what is right and replace what is broken. Survive. We cannot let the rich set the agenda and pave our paths, however comfortable it might seem. We cannot let them. We must set the agenda. We must pave Our paths.
Jakob Wilmer for Cardiflow. July 2020
