Easy empathy from the comfort of home

There really is no greater an emotive topic than death and the pain and suffering one's passing inflicts on those left behind. (OK, romance heartbreak might come close at the actual moment of hurt but this generally diminishes with time.)

We never really come to terms with the loss of a loved one, we just learn to adapt to the "new normal" it creates. As with most things, the passing years make it more bearable.

Downwardly mobile: Are people really willing to downscale for the good of humankind?

Of course, some deaths are more acceptable than others. The death of a person who's lived a long life and feels ready to "move on" is a little easier to deal with and understand than that of someone in his/her prime or, worse still, a youth who is only really starting out in life.

From a personal perspective, my paternal grandmother breathing her last when she was well into her 90s is a case of the former. My eldest sister's passing at the age of 47, leaving behind three young sons, is very much in the latter category.

Your number's up

Right now, as always, millions of people across the world are dealing with death. For some, as we are all well aware, this has been brought about by the novel coronavirus and the infection it causes, covid-19, an illness that we're still learning about and still unsure as to how deadly it is for society as a whole.

A more positive view of the figures and profiles of the majority of those who have succumbed to it thus far leads one to assume that it's not particularly lethal for large swathes of the population.

This, I stress, is not to belittle the suffering of those who are dealing with it.

'Will the comfortable classes opt for more modest lives, start some serious downscaling to reduce their overall consumption?'

Informing somebody who has just lost a family member or friend to complications arising from covid-19 that, all things considered, it's not too deadly for humankind as a whole is scant consolation. It's like telling people burying plane-crash victims that air travel is statistically the safest way to commute. 'Great, thanks.'

Nonetheless, in these highly emotive and uncertain times where many people are genuinely filled with fear, keeping a little bit of perspective on things is, I believe, a worthwhile exercise.

Just because one talks about numbers and stats it doesn't naturally follow that one is heartless, that one doesn't care about the people who have been tragically affected by covid-19.

Deadly decisions

This coronavirus is, in any case, and understandably so because of its novelty, dominating the public discourse.

Within that, there has been some discussion, which I touched on previously, about the unintended consequences of the measures countries around the world have introduced in a bid to control the spread of the virus.

There's the issue of the elderly and vulnerable locked up in their houses and frightened to step outside in the current environment. How many are shunning seeking regular check-ups, potentially allowing other deadly diseases and illnesses to develop that otherwise might have been nipped in the bud?

There's also the risk that outwardly healthy folk, who in normal times might have sought medical attention for something they think is minor yet is actually malignant, are not being seen to.

On the somewhat positive side, lives are being saved from the non-occurrence of fatal accidents that would have happened in "ordinary" times. Considering the more indiscriminate nature of such deaths compared to coronavirus-related ones, an upshot of this, we can assume, will be the human population maintaining a greater number of those of child-bearing age than would normally have been the case.

That, of course, might end up being more of a hindrance than a help to our collective future in the mid-to-long term.

Linked to this, as we're emitting less carbon into the atmosphere during this crisis, the resultant better air quality should, quite literally, give more breathing space to live for those with respiratory morbidity.

A long way down

With all the talk of the new modus operandi to come, brought about by the way we've been forced to change our lives due to coronavirus, it will be interesting to see how those currently taking the moral high ground in the comfortable classes will operate in the months and years to come.

Will they take serious steps to reduce their carbon footprint rather than just paying this lip service as they have generally tended to do? Will they opt for more modest lives, start some serious downscaling to reduce their overall consumption?

It's rather easy, working from home in one's plush surroundings, to follow the herd (although not herd immunity) and join in the outpouring of emotion during this coronavirus crisis, castigating those who "coldly" point to overall deaths and a world population that continues to grow steadily.

It's much harder to take steps that actually reduce one's living standards, steps that could help save the lives of our planet's most vulnerable. The big tests are yet to come.
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A world in disunion

Those idealistic at heart may have thought that in a world connected as never before, the arrival of a common enemy of humankind would unite us as never before.

You know, like in the Independence Day movie when the aliens attack, we rally together, led, of course, by the USA, to smash those pesky extraterrestrials.

The new normal: Maintaining our distance, on a micro and macro level.

The real-life "enemy" we currently face, covid-19, isn't actually a living thing by most definitions but it attacks indiscriminately, albeit it's far more lethal on certain members of society than others.

Nonetheless, the collateral damage it is causing us, pretty much all of which is self-inflicted in a bid to check the virus' spread, is resulting in widespread harm across the globe. So if ever we should work together as a species, it would appear now is the time.

Self-isolating Uncle Sam

What is actually happening, though, is more of a retreat into our tribe.

OK, some of this is down to what are seen as necessary "wartime" measures. The free movement of people will only spread the virus and as the majority of our decision-makers are unwilling to contemplate herd immunity — there are experts who believe it to be the quickest way to defeat our fiend — it was inevitable that old borders would be re-erected, both between countries and inside national territories.

The question is, will we smoothly return to the kind of free movement we had before? If we do, it's sure to take some time. 

'The immediate fallout from this pandemic will be a facemask-wearing population in a more divided world.'

Other current manifestations of this inward retreat were obvious before coronavirus reared its crowned head.

The United States of America, for example, the country that Hollywood has been telling us for decades will lead us to salvation in the event of an existential threat, has been anything but united of late. Its internal divisions appear to have only deepened during this crisis.

What's more, and unsurprisingly considering what President Donald J. Trump has been telling us ever since he announced his attention to run for the White House, it's very much America first. Global leadership isn't a priority.

It is, to state the obvious, the USA's prerogative to pursue this course of action. I, for one, have no qualms in this regard. The problem is, its leaders don't always stick to it.

Chitaly

Then there's the European "Union". The Italians, not for the first time, have decried the lack of solidarity from EU member states. It would seem they have fair grounds for complaint. Of course, in recent years they've been getting quite cosy with the Chinese (we're terming this courting Chitaly), much to the chagrin of Europe's powerhouses France and Germany.

Speaking of the Chinese, from the outside (trying) to look in, it's a case of following the accepted script. Are they deliberately pursuing a divide-and-conquer strategy? Or are we overestimating them?

Regardless, considering this coronavirus emerged from within its territory together with the general mistrust of the information emanating from there, the suspicion with which China and many of its citizens are viewed by some in the West is only going to deepen.

Thus, the immediate fallout from this pandemic looks set to be a facemask-wearing population in a more divided world coupled with greater state control and curtailment of previous "freedoms" we once enjoyed.

Government-controlled utilitarianism one could call it. We'll be told what the greatest good for the greatest number is. Exciting times lie in store.
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Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".