Why this essay? And why now?
Ordinarily, essays are not preceded by disclaimers and rationales. But, these are extraordinary times. And extraordinary times call for extraordinary messages and explanations. More so in the age when 140-character tweets and short attention spans are the norm, and time always appears to be in short supply.
COVID-19, however, has changed all that in one fell swoop. And how!
The aim of this essay is to provoke thought, stimulate courage and stir conscience in the majority middle-class people (or the so-called middle-income group) of this world, now that they are finally in the mood to reflect and ponder, and actually have the time to do that, thanks to worldwide lockdowns, curfews or emergencies.
In practical terms, you could say this is an appeal to all ordinary people – the majority who are not part of the elites (the privileged, or the so-called 'high and mighty').
For, it is the majority who can actually play a decisive role in the decision-making process of any society. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly established that we, the human race, are now truly a global society, or a global village, if you will. The time has come for us all, the majority middle class, to decide in which direction we, as one global society, should henceforth head or evolve.
Admittedly, we have never really played such a decisive role in practice, although in theory the majority were always seen as powerful. But, throughout mankind's history, the real power lay elsewhere – with the elite . And today, we, the majority, have been brought to the brink, a cliff edge of sorts – the net result of both the masses shirking their larger responsibility toward community and the elites’ organized disempowerment of the masses.
Thankfully, today, we, the ordinary people, have the means and the right reasons to correct those twin wrongs. Avoiding a course-correction is not an option anymore. Any such shirking of responsibility toward the larger community will entail severe, untold consequences for the majority non-elites from now on.
So far, big-picture decisions were always determined by a select few and either imposed on the majority or slipped in slyly, using con-games, sophisticated tricks, mandate earned by fraudulent rhetoric and false poll promises, or outright power grab using illegitimate or ill-gotten authority.
The majority, too, accepted far-reaching moves made by the elite – how societies and cultures evolve; what we pursue or value in life – unquestioningly, as if they had no choice.
Again, this idea of being voiceless, powerless and helpless was a perception implanted in the ordinary people’s psyche through various subliminal messages, reinforced constantly by society's cultural ecosystems.
That mode of passive living – it is characterized in the main by fear, insecurity, greed, selfishness, indifference, laziness and ignorance – has put the human race in harm’s way now.
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about our very future. It has also called into question the continuing hands-off approach of the majority toward the larger community or society.
At a time when it is possible to broaden ken, become enlightened, discuss and deliberate, cooperate and collaborate globally for common goals, it is incumbent upon the majority middle class to ponder the long-neglected big questions.
To reiterate, not pondering and addressing such big questions even when we are fast approaching the tipping point, or the edge of the precipice, and instead preferring to continue to adopt the same hands-off approach is NOT an option anymore.
For, that will only likely lead to things that the majority middle class may not have bargained for – things that may be impossible to resist and change at a later stage, if they are not foreseen and pre-empted now.
The “things” here refers to dystopian societies, utter disempowerment of the masses, deepening of zombification of the millennial generation, and eventually, perhaps, even 'class' genocide or cleansing, (mis)using extreme sci-tech, biotech and life sciences.
Theoretically, when/if it is possible to ‘design’, ‘manufacture’ or ‘grow’ a killer virus that can target with great precision a certain demographic (like, say, older people with underlying health conditions), then it'll be just a matter of time before such extreme sci-tech evolves to practice, and then quickly morphs into real-life means that can wipe out any group or class of people deemed redundant, unnecessary or dispensable.
So, when the technologies available already make it possible for the majority middle class to become knowledgeable by digesting knowledge in the public domain, review the direction taken and ‘progress’ made so far by the human race, get an overview of our place in this universe, comprehend the contrast between our ‘contract’ with Nature and how various other species relate to the environment, and unite as one global community, then we should do just that.
That is, we must become…, review…, get…, comprehend…, and unite….
Not doing so would be tantamount to being irresponsible toward our own future as well as that of the current and coming younger generations; not doing so would forfeit our moral right to protest any evil-minded acts of the elites in the future; not doing so would further disempower and zombify us; not doing so would mean squandering a golden opportunity to proactively co-create a world of our choice and dreams through cooperation, collaboration, and collective, concerted, and coordinated effort.
While different sections of people may be quick to perceive in this essay this slant toward a certain ideology or that bias for a select philosophy, geography or polity, the essay – believe it or not – is shaped by the lofty ideal of secular objectivity and better sense.
It is time for all of us, the majority non-elites, the ordinary citizens, the Common Men (and Women), to urgently ponder the questions we have been afraid to ask of ourselves all these decades, perhaps even centuries. Questions like:
1) Based on our experience so far on this planet (which has brought us the climate crisis in just over 150+ years of capitalism, after having evolved for thousands of years), and given all the knowledge we have gained so far, and our astronomy-based insights into our place in this vast cosmos, how should we organize ourselves to live our lives?
2) Is this current mode or pattern of modern living really essential? Is it the only option available to us? Is it the best possible option? The massive scale of what we do, how we organize ourselves into humongous societies, what we pursue, value, desire and aspire for, what we invent and produce, what we learn and don’t learn, the economic system … are these the best possible choices for us even today? What if they are not? What if they are, in fact, self-destructive?
3) Do we really need things like, say, the current educational system with stress on industry-determined skills, or smartphones, computers, internet, automation, robotics, internet of things, augmented reality, driverless vehicles, gene sequencing, etc? Do we really need the gigantic cities, urbanization, global supply chains, mega corporations and massive nation-states where individuals (be it consumers, employees, workers or citizens) don’t matter anymore? Why is it necessary for us, the majority non-elites, to timidly allow the minority elites to continue to shape our future even in this day and age? Why are we accepting a few people’s vision of (extreme high-tech) future as our destiny, our natural course of evolution, even when signs all around us clearly indicate that continuing on the current course is fraught, perilous, disempowering and ill-fated in many ways?
4) If the current economic system is essential and flawless, then how come even after centuries, societies are still reeling from abysmal healthcare systems and inadequate and lopsided educational infrastructure, not to mention abject poverity. Come to think of it, out of the 4,000 diseases identified among human beings, only 250 are treatable (not curable). There are no cures for diseases, healthcare is unaffordable, quality education is expensive, and even basic education remains inaccessible to billions, and billions still live in extreme poverty, disease or amid strife.
5) If we as a human race (and as nations, races, civilizations and societies) still can’t find common ground and unite as one people with a shared goal, common agenda, uniform civil code and universal law, what then is the purpose of globalization? Why can’t globalization’s goal be one people all over the planet with equal rights and opportunities, with no borders, restrictions, or discriminative identities?
6) If, at the end of the day, it’s all still a zero-sum game, in spite of centuries of civilization and ‘progress’; if we still are confronted or riddled with age-old problems like disease, war, exploitation in one form or another, domination, and age-old ‘sins’ like greed, fear, laziness, selfishness, ignorance, hatred, envy, jealousy, lust/desire, and intolerance persist at an individual or personal level even to this day, then why is it necessary to continue the current economic, political, religious and other institutions and their systems?
7) Why are we, the majority non-elites, continuing to be in denial about the repeated failures of the current system? Why do we expect that the minority elites, the perpetrators, will again work hard for us to save us, rescue us, deliver us, by coming up with a better alternative?
8) Even after aeons, and in spite of clear injunctions in our Ancient Wise Words as well as our own real-life experiences, we human beings seem incapable of achieving consensus on the right way to live, in contrast to other species that seem to have mastered the art of living in harmony with Nature. Now that we find ourselves at the cliff edge, can we resolve this paradox once and for all?
9) As non-elites, can we live together in harmony with simple necessities, without the trappings of materialism, without the need for elites and their inventions, discoveries, breakthroughs and systems, now that we have seen we have not really evolved nor progressed at the core level with the help of the elites’ sci-tech-business, religions and ideologies? In fact, such things have disempowered, zombified and marginalized us, besides bringing us to the brink, the cliff edge as it were. And they have proven to be optional, not essential nor the natural course of evolution. Whither ‘modern’ civilization?
The novel coronavirus should be our wake-up call – now you know why this website is called Virus WakeUp. The COVID-19 pandemic is perhaps a cosmic message to get our act right before it’s too late. This is a time to reflect, introspect, and learn some important lessons. This is not a time to just hope to ride out a pandemic somehow so we could all return quickly, ASAP, to our “rat race”, our comfort zone.
The end of this pandemic should become our starting point for a more conscious, responsible, meaningful and purpose-driven life. Resumption of rat race in an unthinking, zombie-like manner could mean we are obstinately refusing to heed certain messages or feedback from Nature. That sort of attitude is fraught, potentially disastrous and self-destructive.
It’s a do-or-die kind of situation from now on. Shape up or ship out. Perform or perish, as it were.
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