Coronavirus: Unfolding of a Crisis
The other day, thousands of seagulls died, apparently ocean temperature has changed. We were able to scale the proportion of change that is required to alter facts of this nature, if we choose to avoid occurrences of this kind. Fact is seabirds died in mass and very few felt helpless and humans did almost nothing to intervene and save them. A virus attack on sea stars or starfish around north America's coasts left millions dead in 2014. Dead fish has been washing ashore in Indonesia, America, Spain and elsewhere regularly in recent months and mussels are dying in mass.
Intervention and its scale in other life-forms is not confined to inaction always. When fire in Australia raged, thousands of camels were killed. Camels are associated in commonsense with their frugal use of water, however, in this case they were culled, as they were consuming too much water! One million bees died in South Africa, due to poisoning related to human harvesting of bees. Apart from the usual fires in the Amazon forests, they were deliberately raged in Brazil and Bolivia to clear areas for human uses.
Intervention and its scale in other life-forms is not confined to inaction always. When fire in Australia raged, thousands of camels were killed. Camels are associated in commonsense with their frugal use of water, however, in this case they were culled, as they were consuming too much water! One million bees died in South Africa, due to poisoning related to human harvesting of bees. Apart from the usual fires in the Amazon forests, they were deliberately raged in Brazil and Bolivia to clear areas for human uses.
The anthropocentric nature of human civilisational achievements was clear to those who factor other lives and beings, earlier as well. The coronavirus going by the information available is targeting human beings, so the priorities of human progress and civilisational attainments had been brought to a sharp relief. The images of lock-down, the bounds and limitations of medical and technical know-how, quarantined towns and cities, effect on industrial production and markets, the role of the state is presenting their arrangement with each other in never seen before ways and patterns as coronavirus unfolds. The systematic arrangements and individual personal responsibility is pulling each others strings, the tension is palpable and reverberating. The link between human roles and the forces that enforce global arrangements are to put it mildly having a difficult relationship. Adjustments and modifications galore. Complicity and responsibility are at crossroads.
The pressing need for masks and medical equipment and knowledge sharing is highlighting the inter-dependencies of human arrangements, while we are also busy closing borders and movements within and across nations. If one vaccine eventually emerges, or an anti-dote found, would it be reserved for few or distributed across affected parties? Would it be made available as licensed, patented, paid or free?
The fear of contamination coronavirus invokes leaves us with a gnawing sense of unease and disquiet, while we continuously experience an overwhelming feeling of being clueless, helpless. What can one do, we do, if you prefer?
While we are at the receiving end of the coronavirus as victims, suspect cases or located in emergent and expanding contaminated areas and regions or around contaminated bodies, would we glorify the mysterious nature of god's design, vilify the devils work, or marvel at how nature works? Or we would just sit back and highlight the limitations of our knowledge systems? Or the need to overcome this 'collective' crisis would take hold of us? To do something about this would propel us and to where?
How would we process these fears, anxieties, needs and challenges that coronavirus has thrown toward human beings? Would we process these fears of contamination through already existing forms of the social, economic and cultural arrangements. A regression towards this or that is lurking to gobble us and feed the fears that this invisible and hitherto unknown coronavirus harbours. Becoming a host or turning into a medium for transmission of coronavirus in one way or the other is unavoidable? When we are not infected by the coronavirus, aren't we already communicating and transmitting other social, cultural and political grids of fears and dangers we have settled with or preferred not to risk.
How would we process these fears, anxieties, needs and challenges that coronavirus has thrown toward human beings? Would we process these fears of contamination through already existing forms of the social, economic and cultural arrangements. A regression towards this or that is lurking to gobble us and feed the fears that this invisible and hitherto unknown coronavirus harbours. Becoming a host or turning into a medium for transmission of coronavirus in one way or the other is unavoidable? When we are not infected by the coronavirus, aren't we already communicating and transmitting other social, cultural and political grids of fears and dangers we have settled with or preferred not to risk.
Confinement, isolation and quarantine seems to be the right boxes to tick, while we are at it, or stare at it as a possibility awaiting us, would we also think about other people who in the 'business as usual' mode are routinely confined, isolated and kept away from the thick of things? For example women, unemployed, informal and skilled workers who are laid off when business demands it, people who languish in jails or over those the casts of the social and political leaves its shadows. In any given social and political arrangements jails are formal, they are however, sustained and supplemented by many informal ones.
Going by the the available suggestions being a Lady Macbeth is the recipe and required mannerism to meet the coronavirus.
Spreading awareness is important but about what? More masks are out in the streets compared to the time when air quality deteriorates in India. Are people with masks more protected by these measures or possessed by fears? Domination of/by masks and repeated and ceremonial washing of hands do not augur well, that's for sure.
Till the tide is over, keep safe distance!
Comments
Post a Comment