By
now, the human species has been altering the natural order for some
11000 years. It started with the advent of agriculture and went
through urbanization and industrialization which transformed the
surface of the earth and began changing a host of natural systems
including the climate, animal life, forests and oceans. We humans
have known about this for a while. But most of us – especially
those of us in the advanced economies and not living too close to the
rising waters – could see the impact of our disruption of natural
systems as something that would affect other people – future
generations, the poor, those living in low-lying island nations –
and not so much us in the here and now. COVID-19 has altered that by
bringing to all of us the results of our changes to the earth. It
has equalized the impact of the destruction of natural environments
(which stresses what lives in them thereby making them more prone to
diseases that can jump to us), the way we use animals (including how
close we live with them and the antibiotics we use to fatten them)
and the close quarters (in large numbers) in which we live. Add to
this the way we use hydrocarbons to travel and transport, the
interconnectedness of our ways of life and economies and the varying
shortcomings of our political systems. We should not have been
surprised by the current bio-crisis. It’s not that any one of
these caused the virus but that the total impact of what we have
wrought was largely hidden until now though very much operative.
So
COVID-19 shows us that the bill won’t wait to be delivered and that
everyone must pay. The rich may be able to retreat to their enclaves
and private transport. But their world will change as ours does.
The species as a whole will survive. But this is the wake up call.
The future disrupted world is upon us now. Returning to “normal”
– whenever and whatever that turns out to be – may well be just
a breather before the next episode. We need to take the next step in
our evolution – remake our economies and politics, restoring nature
even if gradually and treating each other more equally – and start
now or the humanity that makes it to the 22nd Century may
be unrecognizable.
3 comments:
While we terraform the planet, we are newcomers to bioforming through selective breeding and GMOs. Whether birds drop from the skies because of the West Nile virus, or we die like flies from COVID-19, simple viruses use proteins to stamp out more of them and stamp out their hosts. As you point out, we can expect this to happen repeatedly. Counter to your last sentence in para 1, I suggest that there is no connection between the the total hidden impact of what we have wrought and an awakening awareness of it or to act upon it.
To date, we have often been willing to endure seasonal viral deaths as part of the cost of doing business. While you say that the rich and powerful cannot escape this great equalizer, enough of them - and many others - say that we should bear the cost of COVID-19 just the same. I do not see this as a wake-up call for them. The powerful who pecuniaform our economies have the will and the means to stay the course.
Is there a logical/argumental bridge to take us from the last sentence in para 1 to the last sentence and conclusion in para 2? Can we get from our behavior as the problem - through COVID-19 as the wake-up call - to remaking our economy as the solution? I would suggest a stronger argument/connection from economic polarization (the problem) - through the need to treat each other more equally (the outcome we want) - to remaking our economy as the solution.
In this vein, I also suggest that the only means to that end are for us (as in we, the people) to organize and orchestrate that solution, because powerful vested interests will see it as a threat and fight it. In any revolution, or evolution, only the power of the many can overcome the power of the few. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, we should learn that you can't beat the numbers.
This is no logical or necessary connection between the need to act and any actual collective effort to remake our politics and economies. But in the US, there may be a significant political moment in light of the failure of the Trump regime at all levels to handle the outbreak. That plus the shift in the "progressive" direction in the Democratic Party that Biden is now recognizing may open up an historic opportunity to take at least evolutionary steps in the right directions. It'll take lots of individual decisions and actions between now and November to throw out the Republicans (including in the Senate) and begin the repairs. Repairing -- as Governor Cuomo has noted -- should not be simply restoring what was before but building it better.
I see no evidence that Dr. Trump and his backup group The News Spinners have retreated from the field or that a significant percentage of the Trump-etts have lost their fervor for him despite his recent failures. I see too many right wing postings pouring across FB that promote conspiracy theories, rewrite history and promote all things Trump. The Trump-etts eat that stuff up like cotton candy; all Trump sugar and air.
Biden is old school right of center with no vision and no expressed interest in building it better. It looks to me like he is taking Hillary's route of believing that he can beat Trump simply by not looking as bad as the Democrats think Trump looks. Meanwhile, Trump makes himself the news and the issue with The News Spinners doing great backup vocals.
I sure as Hell hope he gets Obama and picks a running mate that can pull him over the finish line. He ain't gettin' there on his own.
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