LETTER | Covid-19 – heralding global changes and challenges as never before

LETTER | The Covid-19 pandemic has paralysed the whole world as never before and nations are looking at a long-haul economic recession if not a depression similar to the one that happened a century ago. Unless a cure or a vaccine is discovered quickly the crisis will persist and the future of mankind will be continuously threatened. Much hardship and deprivation await the people and nations as there is no end in sight for this scourge. The spillover and domino effects on the economies of the world are spiralling out of control.

Man is a social being and not being allowed to gather together and being ordered to practice social distancing strikes at the heart of human nature. Humans have to congregate in schools, universities, hospitals, places of employment, markets, supermarkets, airports, stadiums, houses of worship and others but this cannot be done now due to the lockdown to prevent the infection from spreading. Due to the lack of economic activity the world over prices of a wide range of commodities, agricultural produce and manufactured products- apart from medical and pharmaceutical items have plummeted making it harder for economies to recover quickly. Many countries have come up with huge monetary stimulus packages which may be effective in the short term.

Covid-19 has given man a rare insight to observe his present and future directions. The saying that "None are so blind as those who will not see" is apt in the circumstances. For decades many leaders and NGOs in various fields had warned of the wrongful and wasteful course man was following blindly, and expecting no repercussions. Covid-19 did not appear in a vacuum but many conditions were ripe for its emergence as a deadly killer. The environmental degradation of the past few decades had caused massive pollution of the land, water and air making it easier for harmful organisms to thrive and threaten the survival of mankind.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), like many other UN agencies, was caught napping during the initial phase of the crisis that allowed the disease, whose epicentre was reportedly in Wuhan, China to transcend borders and spread unhindered across the world. It was almost two months later that the WHO named it as Covid-19 and declared it a pandemic. Covid -19 has triggered a crisis in healthcare as many countries find themselves cash-strapped, economically at a standstill and not having the resources- material or manpower- to deal with it.

It is shocking that China, which practices the communist system of government that places a premium on logic, science and rationalism, has allowed a parallel medical practice based on superstition, quackery, and dubiety to flourish and create a terrible danger to its own people through the consumption of exotic, poisonous and extinction-facing wildlife sourced from abroad. Many animals are reportedly killed by using cruel methods to ensure the efficacy of the cure and medicinal properties. The Wuhan game meat market was reputed to have been the source of the Covid -19 virus. 

It is true that China, like, India, despite its 1.3 billion population has embarked on a successful programme to rehabilitate endangered animals like the Siberian tiger, the giant panda, Tibetan antelope and many others. However, China’s huge demand and consumption of many endangered species tells a different story. In fact, China’s increasing prosperity and demand for wildlife products have become the single most dangerous threat to various endangered species, more than the loss of wildlife habitat.

China has now reportedly banned the sale and consumption of game meat in the country. WHO has to be critical of countries that permit native and indigenous medical practices which allow the killing of endangered wildlife for their supposedly healthful and curative effects. These practices must be banned worldwide to prevent another Covid-19 like emergence. WHO also has to spearhead futuristic medical research now that novel deadly diseases are occurring frequently as the last few decades have ominously shown.

The Covid-19 crisis has shown the need to address the problems confronting the world – global warming and climate change, nuclear and bio-chemical weapons, environmental degradation and pollution, loss of wildlife habitats, emergence of new diseases and under-funded healthcare, over-reliance on medication for health, over-exploitation of resources catering to man’s greed, the urban sprawl and mega-cities, over-population of humans, globalisation that leads to more dependence on other countries, the industrial-scale raising of livestock for insatiable human consumption, poverty, social strife and regression of human values - in a holistic and collective manner.

It is regrettable that the US, which should have led the way to resolve some of the above issues, has not shown the much-needed transformative leadership. US leaders and politicians, hopelessly divided between the liberal and Bible belts, continue to treat serious issues such as global warming as a joke. Their ostrich-like mentality has enabled Covid-19 infections to surge faster when they had all the time in the world to halt the scourge in its tracks. The US could pay a heavy price for its indifference and ignorance – the infection rate has gone beyond the 300,000 mark with more than 8,000 deaths and large numbers of its citizens are at risk of death. 

The Americans are disputing China’s infection, recovery and death data as if that is the issue that concerns those most now! President Donald Trump, who appeared to be unassailable a few months ago, now stares at a humiliating defeat at the hands of either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden on account of his negligent handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Covid-19 induced recession could also lead to a readjustment of the world economic order as a fast recovering China stands to gain much from the global economic vacuum created by the recession. East Asia could become the centre for the revival of the world economies as the US and Europe are being badly hit by the pandemic. China’s speedy recovery together with its strong central government directives and initiatives could take advantage of the disruptions in the economies of many countries and further boost its political and commercial clout. The East Asian countries - Japan, South Korea and Taiwan - have been minimally affected or have recovered fast and are together with China going to help in the recovery process, and the Asean region could be one of the first to benefit. 

The US and Europe are in decline and the Covid -19 pandemic will hasten the process. India, too, which is minimally affected could make good use of the unfolding opportunities if it does not indulge in its national pastime of democratic dilly-dallying. Japan, which has been prone to all kinds of recession for the last couple of decades, could surge forward as a major exporter just as it did during the 1960s and 1970s. The Russian Far East could become a hive of activity taking advantage of the East Asian resurgence. All these lend credence to the much-touted "Asian Century" when Asia replaces both the US and Europe as the most dominant region.

In conclusion, one can say that the immediate future for the whole world is one of mass unemployment and hardship, economic deprivation, social strife and political instability. It is hoped that a "New Humanity" will emerge from the crisis.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.