I encourage you to take a look at the YouTube video linked at the bottom of this article. The discussion in this video offers us a chance to re-think. Whilst we should not undervalue the impact of the pandemic itself and the losses it has caused, we can also look to the future. Do we really want to return to the world as it was before the pandemic, or could we use this period as a gateway from one world to the next?
We can interpret this video in our own ways and use this perspective to make changes we think are important.
For me, I see it as this:
“The coronavirus has made the mighty kneel.”
The pandemic has turned superior power structures upside down and left the once almighty on its knees. We could use this as an opportunity to make the world more equal. Developing countries that are beating the virus have shown that Western prejudices of their backwardness were ill-founded. In fact, they have succeeded where the West has not. But the West still seems blinded by its superiority and naïve to its failings, ironically still denying its downfalls.
Even within our own countries, the curtain has been ripped away and has exposed the inequalities in many rich nations.
The pandemic can make us realise that the West is actually not exceptional in any way. We can begin to highlight these inequalities and work towards a future where inequality does not persist. This is a big ask, but if there is any time to do it, it is now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALN3UkxXA8g&t=1s