These tumultuous times tend to surface how fragile the foundations of our societies can be. How seemingly entrenched norms, practices and priorities can be suspended in a matter of hours. How fast the treadmill of our economies can lose power and grind to a halt. Yet the collapse of 'normality' offers an invaluable pause. For entangled in this story about a virus, are our moral defeciencies and profound imbalances of power. Manifested in social and economic systems that extract, marginalise and abandon. Unjust systems that most of us have viewed as an inevitable and unalterable arc. Yet in the midst of human catastrophe, acrid skies and waters are clearing. Other species and entire ecosystems, spared from our rapacity, are breathing a collective sigh of relief. The spread of a virus is also exposing the brutal social and economic realities of our populations, and how they are inextricably linked to our collective wellbeing. This is set to escalate in the ensuing months.
As our political and financial elites look to shore up the status quo, let us not hasten to return to familiar ground. We have long means to their ends. In the midst of disruption, anguish and loss, the weeks and months ahead can be of great significance for present and future generations. We must not conflate physical distance with social distance. This is an opportunity for us to exercise solidarity. For us to shape systems that have long been broken. Let us be bold, a better world is possible.
