When you ask ordinary citizens, nobody really knows – but the number is omnipresent: 50 followed by 100 000 and 7 days. And the number determines the colour red, present on every map beamed into the background of the newsroom of every TV sender. And there are clearly panic signs visible in the presentations of all the premiers and politicians – dancing around a bushfire triggered by a second wave of a small little virus conquering the world again.
Hectic decision-making, a forward and backward: the accommodation ban for people coming from so-called “red” areas declared, withdrawn, insisted on and declared invalid by courts is only one example of triggering confusion among ordinary people who had prepared to go on local holidays; local holidays which they have been asked for by the very same politicians: don’t travel abroad, stay home.
Germany is a federal state – and the effort of the German chancellor to give citizens a uniform set of rules has been without success in the last weeks – every state has still its own rules written down in lengthy paragraphs – and travellers like me have to study hard to understand how many, how often, how far, how allowed or forbidden certain activities are….
I don’t hear other parameters which would give me more insight into reality: How many people are really sick, how many people are really in their infectious phase – news anchor do highlight the fact of many more testing compared with the first wave, but it remains unclear this is only to comfort the masses or what it really translates to in meaning.
Conspiracy theories continue to raise their ugly heads and obviously the forward and backward has eroded the public trust into those in power; a situation sounding familiar looking into South Africa, from where I travelled to Germany a couple of days ago. It becomes clear, that our systems and our politicians were not prepared for a scenario, every one should have known it will come as history shows and scientists predicted.
The general crisis of humanity triggered by the digital revolution and the advent of social media has found a sparring partner in the pandemic to kick the confidence of human mankind of having all under control out of the window: We are all part of an evolutionary fight for survival and our systems have developed huge gaps which we can’t hide anymore.
It is a wake-up call to return to humility, to simplicity in a certain sense, to a realistic view where human mankind really is standing and a clear indication, that we have to reflect on our place within creation. The way of communication and governance, environmental questions and generally how our systems work and whom we entrust what kind of power are topics to be discussed in time to come. The virus also has taught us that we are indeed a global village and that any attempt to proclaim “our country first” is outright stupid and not constructive, but destructive on all levels.
Where from here?
Uncertainty all over the place – honest awareness of where we stand as human mankind in this pandemic and the realisation of the mere fact, that only a fair balance between state power and individual responsibility can move us out of this mixture of distrust, helplessness and incapacity to find the perfect solution everybody will be satisfied with.
And there is again nagging another question: If the virus would only have shown up in Africa, or only would have taken possession of a certain population – how would it have played out?
Like this:
Like Loading...
Filed under: Africa, General, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, 50 - 100 000 - 7 days, Corona, Covid-19, Germany, infections, new infections, Second wave
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 