Strategy

 

Still on Lockdown. I don't know how long covid-19 will be with us. (A climate activist claims - for as long as Climate Change crisis will last).

However, I do know that a country needs the right strategy to handle it.  I'm not referring to a country  that belongs to the club of the big and rich  (USA, Germany, UK..) but to a country  of small to modest size and resources, like Israel where I live.

By 'right strategy' I mean one that would not be based on waiting for a vaccine (which may or may not be available ,  may or may not be effective), and, would not be based on borrowing heavy money to give its people the (false) feeling that life goes on as usual, and covid-19 is just a temporary inconvenience.

Perhaps, new drugs development (antivirals, steroids) will move faster than vaccine development, and help make real progress in the fight against the virus.

Perhaps, before  borrowing money to release 'loan programs' and 'rescue funds', the government could advise people to return to basics;  the decadent world of the pre-covid era,  might never come back.

The new world might be one of isolation, including touristic isolation. North Korea, a small, isolated country, has just made it known to the world that there has  been not even one single case of coronavirus infection there.

We don't know things for sure yet, but we have to be mentally prepared for the possible reality of no physical schools, restaurants, culture halls etc.. and reorganize our life the best  we can under the circumstances.

Sadly, it seems that politicians and vaccine developers will nevertheless be dragging us into the abyss, creating chaos on the way.

Coronialism

I've recently come across this new term - coronialism - which refers to the danger of a new order, a new society being established -  based on the restrictions and urgencies caused by the fear of the corona virus, covid-19. 

Personally, I'm not afraid of 'new' and of restrictions. The situation now seems to be close to anarchy in many parts of the world, so, there's great need for regulating factors, imposing law and order on people to get us out of the pandemic. 

It's too soon to pass judgement, draw conclusions, as we're still amid the pandemic. The word  'coronialism',  however, gives us food to thought, especially as it sounds like another -ism  word -colonialism - an historical - geographical process notorious for its oppressive forces.

Most people regard covid-19 as a temporary nuissance that will vanish with the appearance of the right vaccine. Perhaps, (an expert has just offered his belief that by March it'll be over), but its consequences on our economic, social, environmental, and political life will be far- reaching. The world won't be the same. We should better get used to the idea.

In what way will the world change? I don't  know for sure. I only hope it's for the better as we've been living till now in bubbles, in lies, in pretense, in corruption,  beyond our means. So, perhaps coronavirus will bring with it, besides the unfortunate disease and death, also a blessed transformation. We have to believe that.