What are the gains and losses of “Covid 19?”
Life and Death battle against Covid 19 – Humane Unity alone Secret of Victory?
james kottoor
Today the whole world is in a life and death battle against an unknown common enemy which we have chosen to call COVID 19 or CORONA VIRUS!
To defeat an enemy hollow we should know the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy. So far, we know practically little only, about these details about Corona. An army of pedestrians with bricks and stones can never hope to defeat an equestrienne battalion equipped with machine guns spraying bullets from soldiers with guns.
What would be the Result in such an encounter? Humans every where would be falling like flies all over the world! That is precisely, what seems to be happening today. The latest death toll in the world has already crossed 82,000 or so!
Global Community?
We call ourselves the global community. Are we? We are not! The principle for victory is UNITY in any community! United we stand, divided we fall. Two options for us fighting forces today seems to be to “Hang together or hang separately!”
The name “Global Community” is a misnomer. We on the world level, are a divided people on various counts like religion and politics, independent nation states trying to lord over others through accumulated wealth and destructive military power. In each country there are other dividing factors like, class, caste, social, economic status and other inequalities galore!
There can be no community on the global, or on national and local levels without caring communication and communion of hearts and minds! What does caring communion mean? It is the readiness of each one in one’s own community to come to the aid and support of the poorest, the weakest, the wounded, the suffering, the lonely, abandoned and those on the periphery.
Selfishness & Greed Divide!
Why are there such kind of divisions among us? It is solely due to selfishness and greed that rule each one of us. We all know the eternal truth that “There is enough and more than enough in this world for everyone’s needs, but not for one’s GREED!” Yet none of us are ready to CARE and SHARE! Without caring and sharing there can never be a united happy community. Why? “There can never be an island of affluence in a sea of misery!” All the rest in various other islands will scramble to get in to feed off the affluence and make the affluent poor! Think of the Mexican border wall Trumb is building to keep immigrants out without much success but impoverishing himself! Is that not, again another self evident TRUTH?
It is Marshal Macluhan, a Canadian, who coined the phrase “Global Village” which ought have become a reality after the arrival of the internet, binding and bringing peoples together and nations at calling or shouting distances. Technically it has come true but not in reality. Members of a house is the most physically close-knit community on this earth. But can a house divided against itself stand or survive? For how long?
Community without caring & sharing!
That precisely is the situation with today’s global community, with the richest nation in the world shouting: “America First!”. Other nations like China, Russia and countries in Europe may not be shouting but are they not, each striving silently at least to reach the top slot economically, socially, culturally and militarily?
All preach equality and democracy. As we said in our earlier post: “When democracy becomes corrupt the best gravitates to the bottom and the worst floats to the top and the vile is replaced by more vile!” So we asked: Is there any difference between the oldest democracy US and the largest democracy India?
Americam dream or Illusion?
So we asked, why? Because, “the American dream is rapidly becoming an American illusion, due to its vain struggle to equate property and profit with production, prosperity and progress!” to reach the top post, ‘America First.’
Now who is making progress? China or Covid 19 which originated in China? Our wish for both US and India is they both shine as ideal democracies but humanely human first, not divisively Christian, Muslim or Hindu! Here the model to follow is the Jew called Jesus whose flag of unity was being the SON OF MAN, becoming the ideal human person to unite all — believers, unbelievers, agnostics and atheists, all born of man and woman.
Lessons from Corona Virus!
So what are the lessons “Covid 19” has to teach us? The good ones are the need and necessity for unity and cooperation between nations, not independence but interdependence, the necessary condition for becoming a community of nations with love and care to uplift the weakest among us to come up to our own level; to grow together, not one at the cost of another which can lead only to strife, war and mutual destruction.
Another happy out come is the realization that we humans are our own saviors, not invisible gods living in Mosques, Cathedrals, Churches or manmade temples who remain invisible always in spite of the frantic search of millions of die-hard blind believers to find them! They have all fled from their sacred abodes which now are shut, deserted and forbidden to visit in crowds now.
Nor are prayers, faith-based lip-services, rituals, processions and ablutions with Ganjes or Lourd water are of any use. What will help save Corona infected humans is scientific medicines only and injections capable of blunting the sharp edge of Corona virus which our doctors are striving hard to develop and have succeeded at least partially!
Stop Blame Game!
Our doctors and researchers are toiling hard non-stop and working to find the right medicine. Similarly our political, social or religious community leaders also are busy prescribing what they honestly think is in the public interest to prevent or cut down the speed of skyrocketing deaths in various countries.
All, the rest of us who are less informed have to first stop our blame game hindering their well-intentioned efforts, some times right, some times wrong, whether it is of the the Indian Prime minister now or the State Chief minsters and try to cooperate with their well intentioned efforts of all social workers because all are on the search and none has clear and ready answers!
Stay happy and relaxed!
We are all in doubt as to what is the right medicine or action to take. When in doubt we have to resist from jumping to conclusions but go slow following what our enlightened reason and logic suggests or dictates. CCV wishes all enlightenment and speedy joint work which are sure to arrest Covid 19’s dance of death at the earliest. james kottoor, editor CCV
