Coronavirus disease is spreading rapidly around the world, More
than 731,735 people have been infected and the death toll is over 34,663 people.
The numbers are increasing daily, and the disease has impacted at least 199
countries.
The rapid spread of novel coronavirus has prompted
government, business, and civil society to take dramatic action—canceling
events large and small, restricting travel, and shutting down major segments of
the economy on which nearly all of us depend. It is a demonstration of our
ability, when the imperative is clear, for deep and rapid global cooperation
and change at a previously unimaginable speed and scale.
There is an obvious desire to protect ourselves and our
loved ones. But we are also seeing something more as communities mobilize to
address the crisis—a sense of mutual responsibility, born of a recognition that
we are ultimately bound to a common fate. The speed of the resulting global
shift is beyond any prior human experience.
At the same time, the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic
focuses attention in our global disastrous deficiencies of a profiteering
health care system. Corporations are competing only to increase their take from
health expenditures while minimizing the amount of money they spend on
providing care. This system is reasonably proficient in providing boutique care
for the very rich at exorbitant prices, but it is disastrously deficient in
addressing the health care needs of ordinary people affordably. It is similarly
deficient in anticipating, preparing for, and responding to public health
emergencies such as the one we are in now.
I sense that as our eyes open to this reality, we are seeing a
simultaneous awakening to the imperative to deal with a host of other system
failures that imperil our common future. For example:
• An economic system that values nature only for its market
price, ignores Earth’s limits, and wantonly destroys the stability of its
climate and the health and purity of its air, water, and soil. This directly
imperils our survival and well-being.
• Military expenditures that consume more than half of all
federal discretionary funding to prepare for conventional wars of the past and
engage us in unwinnable conflicts born of environmental and social collapse.
This represents wasted resources that would be better applied to addressing the
underlying sources of current security threats.
• A financial system devoted to generating speculative
profits for the richest without the burden of contributing to meaningful
livelihoods and security for those who do useful work. Money must serve us, not
enslave us.
•An education system that promotes maximizing personal financial
returns as the highest moral obligation to society. Education should prepare us
to transform a self-destructive system into one that will support our long-term
future.
We need leaders committed to
effective government of, by, and for the people.
For far too long, we have ignored the failures of a system
that reduces ever more people to homelessness, incarceration, refugee camps,
permanent indebtedness, and servitude to institutions devoted to conflict and
the generation of unearned financial returns. The challenges are monumental and
are likely to be addressed only as we begin to understand that business as
usual is simply not an option.
This is humanity’s wake-up call. As we awaken to the truth
of the profound failure of our existing institutions, we also awaken to the
truth of our possibilities and interconnections with one another and with
Earth. With that awakening comes a recognition that we must now learn to live
lightly on the Earth, to war no more, and to dedicate ourselves to the well-being
of all in an interdependent world.
The developed countries also face a special challenge. they
have much that the world admires. But far from being a model for others to
emulate, they represent an extreme example of what the world must now leave
behind.
As a global nation, we have for too long battled over
simplistic political ideologies that limit our choices to granting ultimate
power either to government or corporations, both of which are controlled by the
richest among us. The coronavirus pandemic is a powerful reminder that
effective government committed to the common good is essential to our
well-being, and that there is no place in our common future for politicians
committed to proving that government cannot work.
We need leaders committed to effective government of, by,
and for the people. These leaders must simultaneously recognize that the
collective well-being of all depends on institutions in all three
sectors—government, business, and civil society—that are effective at,
committed to, and accountable for serving the well-being of the communities
that create them.
These are challenging and frightening times. As we respond
to the coronavirus emergency and the immediate needs of the people and
communities impacted by it, let us also keep in view the systemic needs and
possibilities that crisis exposes. Despite the trauma all around us, let us
embrace this moment as an opportunity to move forward to create a better world
for all. #StopCoronavirus #HealthyLiving #humanityandinclusivity #humanityfirst
#spreadlove #humanspirit #humankind #spreadpositivity #hope #courageous #bebold
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