COVID-19 marks the beginning of a paradigm shift. Until the end of the previous decade, we lived with a mindset of the survival of the fittest. We couldn’t imagine anything else. The coronavirus revoked it categorically. And the minute we stopped spreading enmity throughout the world, the world began to thrive. The virus has shown us just how poisonous we had been toward our world. We would never have realized this, certainly not so deeply, had it not been for the lockdown imposed on us by the virus.
If we want to cure ourselves from the virus, it is not enough to look for vaccines or drugs. We must adjust to the new paradigm that the virus has imposed on us. Otherwise, the coronavirus, or some other menace, will haunt us until we change.
The coronavirus paradigm is a paradigm of giving. While it tells us to stay apart physically, it will give us no choice but to see to everyone’s sustenance regardless of their status of employment. It will force us to reshape our lives according to a more caring social model, one that regards humanity as a single entity whose members are all entitled to have food, healthcare, clothing, housing, and education. Gradually, people will come to enjoy contributing to the society, and society will come to appreciate its benefactors. Our values will change, our heroes will change, our priorities will change, and we ourselves will change. That new paradigm, a paradigm of giving, will be the legacy of the coronavirus.
[City of Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez loads up food and vegetables during a drive-through food distribution at Goodlet Park in Hialeah, FL, USA as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues on Thursday, April 23, 2020. The City of Hialeah, in partnership with Feeding South Florida, organized the drive-through food distribution. Food is distributed first-come, first-served while supplies last. Photo by David Santiago/Miami Herald/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM]
Posted on Facebook