One can turn left or right and will notice many changes: social, economic, political, educational, business, to mention a few. The flood of changes brought out the best and the worst in people. The opportunists, the power-grabbing, but also those who have demonstrated immense generosity.
Who has not yet noticed the chaos or the circus that is happening in all parts of the globe as consequence of the coronavirus? It is now one year since nations were shocked by the initial lockdowns. Anniversaries are to be remembered, tributes must be paid, and lessons learned.
Not just a public-health disaster we are witnessing, but a defining period with far-reaching values. In this one year since we had activities shutdown, masks have fallen — another type of mask has been introduced — with variations. Throughout this time, many people lost their sense of sensibility, became cynical — perhaps they were already. Others had their sensibility heightened.
The pandemic is still evolving. Waves of Covid-19 continue to bring social life and economy to a standstill. The up and down of the waves of the pandemic can rock nerves with anxieties. From barring events to remote working, the closure of schools, shutting down the business, restricting travel, and asking people to stay at home are methods at hand, but it is hard to say how well individuals respond to the new order. Let’s wait for the post-pandemic to measure the effects.
Timing has become blurred due to political interests, hidden business and trade disguises, conflicts, killings, kidnapping, and an increase of authoritarian manoeuvres — making reconstructions harder to understand.
There are different, exciting and morbid issues to reflect upon but the levels of fatigue and uncertainties are driving people nuts. Paying the bills, jobs, healthcare, mental issues, elderly issues are at the top of our concerns. These are down-to-earth worries, however, manipulations on civil liberties are going beyond comprehension.
In the meantime, as if with head-in-the-sand, there is contempt to what the weather and climate are trying to say to humanity. Perhaps, there is serious displeasure with the way the planet earth has been littered and exploited. So, let’s us now litter the space — which is already reaching alarming levels.
The year 2021 seems to be an exciting period for space exploration. At least ten expeditions have been lately hovering around planets light-years away. Yet, we cannot look after ourselves, solve our bread and butter problems but we can spend millions on missions. People suffering from hunger in Yemen, the refugees from Syria, the situation of Palestinians, the unsettling situation in Myanmar, the persecution in Hong Kong, arrests in Russia, the source of the pandemic in China, the denial of Covid-19 existence in Tanzania, the politicisation of vaccine, and the approach to the health situation in Brazil. Surely, some can make the best of the chaos and the circus; there are those who suffer because of the circus and the chaos.
Diseases that were once eradicated are making a comeback, new diseases appear, the gap in social inequality is becoming wider, the increase of poverty is distressing. Making money, fiscal policies, or spending what one doesn’t have are the tenet these days. Then, there is a bomb shelling against one of the oldest monarchy systems in the world. Racism has always existed but coronavirus has amplified it. Mapping it all together can be either frightening or encouraging.
The misery the Covid-19 pandemic caused to the world has been overwhelming. It seized the focus of public attention on all levels; but under the cover of distraction, changes are being finely woven.
It is said that every crisis has a silver lining. We have walked a tough road; hope is what keeps us going.
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