Since the negative side of the corona pandemic has shown me its face, I am looking at the other side of it and hello, I am very pleased for what I see. First of all, nature has got a bit of relief and, secondly, not even the most ignorant can deny the evidence now of how much nature suffers through human activity. The denier of human's negative impact on the environment can no longer suppress the truth, which is apparent as clear as the water in the canals of Venice, being for years murky as can be. Now you can even watch fish swimming. And that is not all on good news. The emission rates of the green house gases have significantly dropped, the air is clean and China's cities have a blue sky, which they usually don't have. Breathing is easier for all people in all the places where there is less air pollution due to less traffic. Even big industries are obliging with reduced productivity as they follow new work place regulations, impacting on how they can conduct their business. Mind you, they are at best hibernating, knowing their business will flourish better than ever, when the governments lift the restrictions. It's a sure thing, because any government spending money now, wisely or not, will have to fill the tax money coffers and many will do it along the trodden path. .
It is also such a relief to see that some countries, though the minority, have kept common sense and restrained from hysteric scare mongering, understanding that caring for people under the threat of a pandemic means focussing on increasing the capacity of health care facilities, apart from giving directives to the public of how best to prevent the spread of that particular disease. It also highlights where the public has the ability to self govern and act responsibly as every grown-up has the capacity to do. No adult raised in the right environment needs policing to enforce laws of self care and care for the community at large. But then again, countries which have no "Bill of Rights" for its citizens, like Australia, the government has all the power and keeping its citizens under its thumb means also, they are kept like children, for better or worse, under "parenting" rules.
The pandemic also shows the irrational fear of death people have. Death is part of our live or let me put it that way, life carries the risk of dying. If you want to avoid that risk, you actually cannot live. No one of sound mind takes unreasonable risks to shorten their life but the risk of dying is there always, no matter how much you try to minimise it. Insisting on euthanasia as a choice of ending one's life on the one hand but letting a government tell you how to live on the other, is in the face of the current pandemic paradoxical, at least as far as I can see. Particularly since the oldies, who are actually the ones most at risk, would have to stand aside for treatment in favour of a young person. That raises another question as to who's life is of value and who's is not and what value are we even talking about.
I always doubt, that humans are in fact as intelligent as they claim. And now it shows so well, they aren't. Of course, the style a country is governed by is a reflection of the society it consists of. But it depends on the mass of people which government actually can rule. Kings have been hanged, dictators have been toppled, democracies have been suspended and demolished by its people. When they no longer agree to keep the leaders, voted for or not, the ruling party or person needs military support to stay in power and you may have civil war. Some places are riddled with it. Unfortunately not always will the reasonable side win. But unrest will continue until overturning the unwanted power can be achieved. Not a desirable situation, as we know and see it happening, but never the less, it is true to the core.
The events around the pandemic also shed a clear light on our western societies and what their democracies actually are or stand for. With a few exceptions, they are half-baked and corrupt and plain arrogant and self indulgent, and this is applicable to the politicians as good as to the people on the ground. Choosing a government that has no brains but lots of empty words to soothe their flock when things go wrong (if they bother), always trying to win votes and trying to please the ones most suitable to their needs, no surprise it is then, that nature raises its head because it has not been taken into account for so long and to the detriment of all. But then all are shocked and lament of why, oh why such misfortune befalls them. But, "we are in it together", right? Advertisement lives from slogans and jingles. Some capture the mood brilliantly. But whom do I tell what good advertisement is all about and who gets the benefit of it, once again?
Well! No point of moaning, isn't it! Following the simple rules of common sense and caring, things would be on a different trajectory. And after all, intelligence has two sides too: One is serving you, the other leads you into ruin. If you let it manipulate and you happily let yourself fall into its trap, too bad, it is your bill to pay.
This is the other side of the coin of the corona pandemic, the good side as it lets you see clearly. And it makes it so much easier to step back and say, I do not have to save the world. Nature will do what needs to be done to cleanse the planet from a pest. And as always, the best way to learn is experience. No advice, no helping hand, no good intentions will make any difference, no matter who gives it, be it the priest, the teacher, the concerned scientist or whoever. It is learning the hard way. Pity, the insights gained usually come too late. BUT! This corona pandemic has definitely a positive side. As I said, two sides of a coin, applicable to everything.