The Pandemic of 2020
It began as a life changing disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Within weeks, it expanded globally. As virulent as the bubonic plague in fourteenth century Europe. It spread with mounting fury; like a nuclear Armageddon. Challenging the survival and future of human life. Established systems and practices of humanity are shattered by a highly infectious new coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). Age-old practices of relationships, connections, and cooperative endeavors collapsing.
Ancient priorities of sharing among humans were flipped from positive to negative. The grounding of communication has switched from personal to electronic. Human evolutionary has changed the physical world. Only science can provide some relief from this scourge.
One could blame the pandemic quarantines restricting our opportunities for connection and mutual support. But that would be ignorant and short-sighted.
When we look deeper, we must acknowledge the role of human induced global geological and climate change in the Anthropocene era. The power of human Intelligence, science and population growth have changed our planetary home. From an economy of abundance we are now confronted by scarcity of critical resources: energy, water, clean air, etc. We have disrupted the ecological balance of earth’s complex natural systems. These deeper changes are incidental contributors to the current pandemic.
Let us hope that from this collective grief we may be inspired to accept our complicity with these mounting threats to our livelihood on our planet home.
Suggested readings
David Quammen – Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, 2011
Barbara Tuchman – A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, 2011
Albert Camus – The Plague, 1941
Yuval Noah Harari – Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 2015
–Robert S. Runyon, Library Dean Emeritus, University of Nebraska at Omaha, “I believe we need to understand our role in the Anthropocine. People are too busy to think about geologic time.”