6-April-2020
Often and actually quite frequently, we suffer the consequences of other people’s actions (and inactions). Like the time your boss/management made some stupid decisions and as a consequence you had to clean up the(ir) mess or worst still, you got fired/laid off because of their stupidity. To add insult to injury, you even warned them not to, yet they didn’t listen and carried on like they know it all, after all, they are in charge, the so called ‘leaders’ and who are you to lecture them. Yes, it was not your fault but now you are responsible for the consequence that has befallen you.
Similarly, the current Covid-19 crisis is of the same vein, it probably wasn’t you, you didn’t even travel or got onboard a cruise ship. (Or did so in good faith and subsequently self-isolated.) Perhaps you were responsible and didn’t carry on like a pork chop hugging and kissing the next available boy or girl on the beach, whom thought it’s no big deal, as they didn’t mind getting the virus and passing it onto others. Nonetheless, because of the actions of others, you now suffer, from the loss of employment to the loss of liberty, from feeling happy to feeling angry. Your future was robbed from you at an instant by someone else, by things out of your control.
To be fair, no one wished upon a pandemic. Arguably, at the first signs of outbreak, select (some provincial) Chinese officials could have done better. Then again, the same can be said across a host of (other officials from) other countries and jurisdictions too, whether it be the US or UK. It is not a problem unique to any one country as pretty much no one was ready or prepared. Let us also not forget the Chinese doctors did have the moral courage to do the right thing. The Swiss cheese model – when holes lined up – is probably a good way to explain why we are where we are today. There could have been more defences (cheese slides) added to stop the catastrophe and yet we didn’t. We were warned from previous pandemics and yet we carried on not believing it could happen again – at least not to us, as it’s always someone else’s problem. When it did happen, we act all surprised and annoyed as if we are somehow above the laws of nature.
Most people will feel some emotions, it’s ok, we are humans after all and our primitive part of the brain is still firing. The immediate instinct is to blame others, as it is the easiest option. It means we don’t have to take any responsibility and get to do nothing in response. People has been doing it for millennia and still doing it today. On the other side of the spectrum, there are those to take responsibility and actions. One famous author – Grant Cardone’s key motto is take responsibility and ownership for everything. It obviously has worked for him as he’s a multi-millionaire and drives a Rolls-Royce. So, if the choice is between blaming others, doing nothing and simply await fate OR take responsibility, doing something and have a say in your future, Yours Truly knows which option he would pick.
Even with the moral high ground and a sense of higher intellect, you still feel a certain rage and demanded justice against those who transgressed against you and the rest of humanity. After all, if the idiots, criminals and other guilty parties are left unchecked, they will continue and do even more damage. That is, it is no longer an option to just sit on the sidelines and hope they will go away.
The more benevolent among us, like Dr Phil, will try to educate and hope people change their ways for the greater good. Try as he did, as exemplified by a young notoriety seeker who started the Coronavirus challenge of licking a toilet seat, who clearly demonstrated a blatant disregard for the sanctity of human lives, is clearly a fail – See [1].
So how does one reconcile with such outrage and injustice? After all, there are two sides of the coin, as both parties both felt they are in the right and therefore entitled. On one hand, the right of an individual to party and any detriment of others is their problem. On the other, the right to a peaceful existence, not to be inflicted by those who are callous. Most laws on this matter is clear, it is designed to minimise harm, to protect the weak and vulnerable and to stop those with power from abusing their power.
It is very clear, through a combination of ignorance, compliancy and lack of respect for others and nature that has gotten us into this mess. Yes the world is playing a catch up game to return societies to normal but in the meantime, we could all do with a break from those who are malignant and continue to add to our ever growing list of problems.
To paraphrase Justice Jackson’s opening statement at the Nuremberg trials, we really need to seek, to condemn and punish those wrongs, for society can no longer tolerate them being ignored. Wilful disregard of others wellbeing, leading to suffering – both health & economic, and even death, is not in the same league as genocide but there still needs to be a judgement against these menaces of society. Society can afford to be tolerant and forgiving but only once for those who really didn’t know better. However, for those who clearly should and have been warned and instructed as such, then there should be no leniency for those who continue to treat human lives as a joke, those who continues to perpetuate their own selfish agenda to the detriment of others.
The crisis has brought out the best in people and the ugly side too. Our finest hour will be upon us when all of us unite in our purpose to defeat the virus. Until this goal is reached, we must take a strong stance, to protect the innocent and to reconcile against the guilty – it is that simple. For too long we have turned a blind eye and being apologists for the various ills of society. As a result, we have created a class of entitled people who think their lives are above others. This has to stop.
Whether it is the GFC, Covid-19 or something else, accountability is what’s missing and our current status quo is a reflection of that. The people need to rise up and demand accountability for ourselves and in others. The hope is, this will be the turning point where the good people of the world will finally triumph over the idiots. That day will come.
Struggle Perpetual 