What the recent coronavirus crisis has taught us is, whether we like it or not, we are all deeply connected. We are in this thing together. Perhaps like other creatures are connected in nature, we are finally as connected as we have ever been. Throughout most of my life (I was born in 1981 so it’s been a while), the society I know has been relatively stable and predictable. You can expect certain things at certain times and in certain places. There is a social order in place.
I know there has also been many other major events that took place in different parts of the world, but nothing has come close to what we are seeing now. The sheer scale of the crisis is enormous. This is what a pandemic actually looks like. Now I know. But it’s also a time when we are all deeply connected, probably for the first time in our lives. Never before have I been so focused on one particular news event, I think everyone probably feels the same. Whether you look at the health side or the economic side, either one can have a life changing effect on us and the society as a whole.
It’s a humbling experience. No matter what your social status is or what job you have, we could all get it. Of course, certain age groups and socioeconomic groups will be more adversely affected by it. But overall I don’t think there’s anyone who is totally unaffected by it. The crisis has connected us in an unimaginable way.
The bottom line is this, whether we like it or not, we are all connected and are all in this together. The first thing we should do is to acknowledge this rather than thinking we are different and better than others. Once we acknowledge the fact that we are all connected maybe we can then move forward as human beings.