Corona virus - The demand for face
masks unmasks many short comings of human race.
It unmasks the reality of lack of
global preparedness and lack of international institutions geared towards shared
responsibility to handle crisis or natural calamity.
But then, are there real solutions
available out there?
The greatest outcomes of great
problems are that they make us look at alternatives, multiple options, throw up
lot of suggestions, criticisms, ideas [
even if they are utopian or too idealistic or naïve ] and generate
opportunities to look at implementation of new schemes to be better equipped
for such future eventualities.
Are there lessons beyond, besides,
much broader than scientific explanations and conspiracy theories?
Every natural calamity, disaster or
epidemic is very sad and hard to console the affected and repair the damages
even with all the modern technologically advanced methods and concerted efforts
of many compassionate human beings, organizations etc.
The rippling
effect of some of these calamities impact many parts of the world on various
parameters at different scales, a very harsh way to make human beings realize
that at last we are all interrelated, inter connected and interdependent amidst
all our various ways of living from foods to faiths to frames and fences of
identities around our political, economic , cultural, national characteristics.
Debates on
environmental concerns, respect for other species, eating habits and so on are
aplenty.
Awareness of many
environmental issues and the obvious deterioration of our environment and
depletion of many natural resources are all addressed by many in multiple ways,
some scientists blame it on many human
activities [ perhaps rightly so] while some scientists brush aside all as natural phenomena
which will eventually rectify [ perhaps they too may be right].
Many of us
do not venture into study in detail scientific facts but react to versions
which are aligned with our predisposition, visible impacts that affect our life
and start believing what we deem to be true and sometimes think our beliefs to be the only truth.
When we talk of
geopolitical economy, we call the world as a global village [ as if the
atlas has shrunk] a wonderfully coined and calibrated expression carrying
within it the masked macro motives and magnified micro optics.
When we talk of
environment [in fact parade our environmental concerns more at
international forums] we fail to really acquire knowledge to refrain from
damaging it around us in whatever way we can.
When we talk of
harmony, unity, peace and so on, we try to bring to the focus various and
divergent religious, political and regional ideologies through mutual respect
and tolerance; try to accept and forget many historical mistakes; minimize
various regional disparities and so on.
When we talk of
social engineering we have used most of the above factors namely, religion,
politics, history, environment and used all the advantages that science and
technology have provided to effectively and strategically implement policies [
sometimes euphemism for scheming and manipulating] in the interest of global
community as a whole cutting across various barriers.
But through all these
approaches based on various identities and economic status we have failed to monitor,
regulate and maintain certain aspects in the interest of whole of humanity at
present and we have also not created useful templates for posterity.
What are those aspects? What is the
mindset that is required to even start looking at it? Let is chose this timing [Corona
virus crisis] because at least now it would appeal to the caring
hearts and calculative minds.
The mindset that is required is a
sharing disposition, not as a sermonizing statement or a high sounding
socio-political ideological concept but as a working and workable new model in
the interest of all,
It is just a very loud thinking,
utopian and idealistic in nature and therefore, too farfetched in terms of implementation.
However, with advanced modern
technologies, huge number of educated people and overall larger number of
matured concerned human beings there is a ray of hope that if the multiple
outfits of UN, top world leaders and big business enterprises come together,
then we may think of looking at the following options because they require
macro level planning and implementation and the concomitant benefit is these
activities may create lot of new
businesses, create more employment and push human mindset towards realization
of oneness and interrelatedness of all.
The options are: -
Most vital items for survival of
human beings must be easily available always at all places, more so in times of
natural calamities and epidemics.
Certain international organizations must
ensure to have stock of such items for emergency supply.
They may be broadly classified as food
items, common medicines, natural resources, products, technologies, tools, transportation,
wealth, manufacturing of certain high utility items etc.
We must ensure that the availability
of these items is not geographically confined to certain areas alone.
However, if a product or item is
available aplenty only in certain geographical location, then organizations
like UN and its various outfits must ensure minimum storage or easy and quick accessibility.
Hypothetically, if majority of high
value secret wealth of many nationals are held in one country’s bank, imagine
what if a major earthquake or some calamity destroys all of it.
If metals like gold, lithium, copper,
steel are available only in certain mines in some countries [ we need not
deprive those nations of the economic advantage but then they must be made available
everywhere at least in minimum quantity.
There is no harm in thinking on
these lines.
We must stop verbalizing and assign
the whole lot of activities under the term ‘disaster management’ what we need
is preparedness in place.
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