2020

2020 was a year as never before for our generation. We had read about the Spanish flu in the pages of history books. 2020 happened and we realized that this was a year that would also go into the history books for future generations to read. Only question that remains to be answered is what did we do with it? All spheres of life got affected by Covid 19. Many claim Covid played a part even in the outcome of the US elections. Every day, every moment, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever you watch on the TV, even if it is a football match, you are reminded of Covid. Today I stand here not to speak about the negative impact of Covid. I am here not to speak about the falling economy or the many deaths. For these are all there for everyone to see. And as the poet Nicanor Parra said, “The present doesn't exist, Except as it edges past, And is consumed...,like youth. In the end, We are only left with tomorrow.” So I am here to speak about the future. I am here to speak about what this pandemic has taught us. I am here to speak about how we are going to use this crisis into an opportunity for self – realization to make the world a better place. From the season of darkness, I want humanity to emerge into the season of light, from the winter of despair into the spring of hope!

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The great German philosopher Hegel has described humanity’s collective journey through history as a movement towards greater freedom and self-realization through many twists and turns. Perhaps 2020 has been a historical moment for humanity to stop, introspect and recalibrate their coordinates in this journey. To understand that the richest man and the poorest man’s fate are inseparably tied together in this journey. And not only that, to realize man’s conflict with nature has also to be resolved into a higher synthesis. Man’s fate is inextricably linked to the fate of all creatures great and small of this planet. That as Chief Seattle said, he is a part of the web of life and not a creator of it. “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

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On the economic front it has also made us realize that a paradigm shift is required towards greater equity between all human beings. The slums of developing countries like India and labor camps of the rich Middle East countries were people share the same room and limited space have become hotbeds of the Coronavirus. This has opened our eyes to the fact that the right to an independent house and living space should also be enshrined in the Constitution of every Nation.

Philosophers like Bruno Latour have argued that the present health crisis is not an independent crisis, but rather is part of a continuing and irreversible process of ecological change. The irony of our times is that we know the major problems and what needs to be done to solve them. But we lack the collective will to solve them. Maybe 2020 is the alarm bell moment when humanity realizes that the status quo cannot continue indefinitely, and humanity needs to collectively step up to resolve the conflict between man vs man and man vs nature to a higher synthesis.

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Humanity is at the crossroads. We have been moving from crisis to crisis all through the years. But Covid 19 is a crisis with a capital C. Its message is clear. The world needs to stand united to face the global challenges facing humanity. There cannot be piecemeal localized response to a global crises. It needs a globally coordinated response. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek has highlighted the following as the four horsemen of the apocalypse:  the worldwide ecological crisis; imbalances within the economic system; the biogenetic revolution; and exploding social divisions and ruptures. Every crisis comes with an opportunity for humanity to seize the moment and create a better world. After the Spanish flu, the world got its public health system. After the Second World War we had built great international institutions like the United Nations, Bretton Woods and WHO. But seventy years down the line, maybe we had let things drift instead of building on the promising start. Instead of moving towards greater unity we are fostering greater divisions. As Michael Jackson sang,

“What have we done to the world

Look what we've done

What about all the peace

That you pledged your only son...

What about flowering fields

Is there a time

What about all the dreams

That you said was yours and mine...

Did you ever stop to notice

All the children dead from war

Did you ever stop to notice

The crying Earth the weeping shores

I used to dream

I used to glance beyond the stars

Now I don't know where we are

Although I know we've drifted far”

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The French revolution gave to the world the values of “liberty, equality and fraternity”. I think, 2020’s message is that we need to move forward to bring down all the walls of separation that divide humanity and unite the world under one great Constitution for the World, with the underlying theme of internationalism and humanism!