Humans are tragic and funny, and the world they live in is one big comic strip. This comment might as well be coming from any greater sentient being out there who is interested in observing us at the moment.
We love to heap praises on our supposed-flashes of greatness, i.e., advances in all the sciences, but in truth, all these are mere sporadic sprinkles over a landscape that we ourselves have formed and malformed for our own selfish interest. Mention any major development in human history and then weigh it against the “common good” that we so proudly proclaim and adhere to, and the final result will always show that in the end, only a few are actually benefited, and the rest are left at the sidelines.
Consider the knee-jerk reaction of various peoples on the novel Corona virus. While this may not be an original idea, the sad truth is that the Corona virus is not only making people sick worldwide, it is making people stupid. It is quite ironic that this statement has to come from a comedy show instead of coming from a serious commentary. Indeed, the growing misinformation going around online has proven to be more viral than the disease itself and it had become extremely difficult to sift through all the fake information flooding the net to find out the true story. As a result, many people have gone “Dark Age” mode, short of calling out for witch hunts and resorting to irrational acts against their fellow citizens.
If there is something to be had from all of these, the Corona phenomenon has only brought to the fore what we truly are under the skin. We are by nature divisive and self-serving. This clearly explains the fact as to why we have walls, both real and imaginary, to preserve our own kind and keep out the rest.
In a treatise by Frank Jacobs,”The West’ is, in fact, the world’s biggest gated community: A review of the global wall that divides rich from poor”, our world, particularly the west, has truly become one gated community, and the Mexico-US wall according to Trump, is but one of the many barriers existing today, with the dire and sole purpose of limiting the inflow of people from lesser developed nations.
Jacobs writes, “But in the end, they all do the same thing: keep the poor, huddled masses from the shantytowns off the manicured lawns of the First World.”
With the break of the virus that started in Wuhan, China, the present walls have received a fresh mandate, and worse, discrimination against Asians have become more evident, even in countries like Sweden, were there used to none. Alarmingly, violent actions on people of Asian origins have likewise been on the rise worldwide. The reported closing down of borders and the quarantine of some towns, smaller communities, and even cruise ships have become standard procedures; used to combat and prevent the further spread of the virus. However, these methods have also been the prime source of bringing to the surface that hidden racist attitude by some people, and one can gasp, read and see reportage of these on daily media, in stark contrast to fewer reports on the actual status of countries and people affected by Corona.
What say you of this present state of human affairs? Those with positive outlook believe that we can weather through this viral storm, while many resort to seek refuge under a merciful God. There are realists who look at it as a mirror through which we can truly see our real selves, without the narcissistic illusion that we are God’s image, while a few factions look at it in the same way as Mr. Smith of the Matrix does: We are the virus that will eat away at anything.
