“At The Mall Today, In The Morgue Tomorrow” (Linkedin)

 My new article on Linkedin “At the Mall Today, in the Morgue Tomorrow”

Corona deniers abound in every country. You can see them demonstrating against government initiated lockdowns, walking around maskless, bragging about their carelessness and indifference to the harm they can inflict on others by infecting them, and packing public places as if it’s 2019. So what if more than a quarter of a million Americans died and countless others suffer from post corona complications that no one can explain, heal, or say how long they’ll last? So what if my “freedom of expression” jeopardizes someone else’s life? In a free country, I’m free to do what I want, right?

Wrong. We’re free to do what we want as long as it doesn’t inflict harm on others. When it comes to Covid-19, irresponsible behavior in public doesn’t fall into that category; it risks other people’s health, and possibly their lives.

I would like to suggest an idea to authorities that wish to contain the plague: Start a campaign and title it, “At the Mall Today, in the Morgue Tomorrow.” Take security camera footage of people in public places, how they have fun and hang out with each other carelessly, how they disregard safety precautions, don’t wear masks, don’t keep the required distance, and don’t avoid contact. Two weeks later, go over these data and cross-check them against registrations of new confirmed Covid cases. I’m sure the results, despite all the privacy laws protecting personal data, will show sufficient evidence that Covid is very real and people do suffer the consequences of their actions.

There is no intention to revenge inconsiderate behavior, but simply to prove that the danger is real. This act, as cold as it may seem, may save numerous lives by exposing the truth that so many people are trying to deny: Covid is real, and it is here!

Once people realize that there really is a problem, that the 270,000 odd Covid deaths were real people who are not with us anymore, they will be more open to contemplate ways to resolve the situation. This is when we need to start talking about mutual responsibility, solidarity, interdependence, and all those beautiful and true ideas that seem so insubstantial to people until interdependence hits them in the face because they or someone they love was infected by a careless person.

We need to realize, and start acting accordingly, that there is one basic rule to all of nature: All beings are one system, one entity. Just as there is no such thing as one organ being sick but the rest of the body is healthy, there is no such thing as one person being sick and the rest of humanity is healthy. A sickness anywhere is a sickness everywhere. The fact that we don’t feel it doesn’t mean it’s not true; it means that our senses are flawed, that we are sick with alienation, and that in order to heal the rest of our illnesses, we must first heal the condition of alienation.

If we work on this together, we can change reality. We can learn to feel each other, feel our connectedness and our mutual dependence. We can discover the benefits of mutual responsibility and solidarity, but first we must make a joint commitment to do it. When we are sick of isolation and loneliness, we will be able to heal ourselves from our senseless pride and start connecting. When we are sick of alienation, we will be able to see that alienation is our real sickness.