As human beings, we like to think we are inevitable to just about everything. Unfortunately, time and time again, through life lessons we have been told otherwise. But this pandemic, unlike many other times, is different. Call it something you cannot control, but this virus has not only taken the world by storm, it has escalated all the problems as a society some of us have tried to ignore, but cannot run from for some, have been urging otherwise.
We have seen so many things happen before our eyes during the pandemic, namely, the death of George Floyd, Breona Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, the Capitol riot, the Tigray crisis, Armenia-Azerbaijian conflict to the leadership tension in Malaysia. How did we, humankind, get to where we are today and how can we get better from this?
As human beings, we make mistakes but we can become better from it. But first, we need to know we have to do things differently and the pandemic is an instrumental time to do so. Here are things I have seen we learned that COVID-19 has taught us based on research, news and initiatives:
- Agility at its Finest.
Like many problems, COVID-19 has unveiled that no matter how well we build our systems and processes, there is always something that can go wrong. There is no perfect way to avoid a crisis at hand, there are only ways you can adapt to handling it. Even if you have handled it right at first, there is nothing that cannot guarantee more awaits you.
We need to re-look into the systems we built, such as background checks, employee hiring and more, and ask ourselves if they really work for our ever-changing environment or do they need to change? Chances are, our world will change but are we going to keep up with its progress for a more inclusive and safer environment or are we going to fall behind?
2. The Actual Need for Solidarity
If it’s anything this pandemic has taught us, is that everyone’s in danger, and if we do not step up to address the surrounding problems, it will continue to happen and become worse if we say nothing. However, fear not, because the best part is that we are not alone, there are many people who will lead and guide us in the way we need to go. Now, we have so many support groups that will educate and provide us with the relevant resources, from suicide hotlines to climate justice centers.
3. Higher Demand for Actions
With the great shift to the work from home culture, we are going to have more time to think, contemplate and act upon what we consume. For example, if you see a GoFundMe campaign that your friend has set up to combat the rise of domestic violence during lockdowns, before just scrolling past through like you normally would, you would at least stop to read it first. Although lockdowns have kept people from hosting mass movements for actual change, the Internet is still a resourceful platform to generate impact and create change.
While one can say it took a pandemic for us to learn all of this, well, I would say that they are right. As human beings, we get caught up by our hustle and own lives till we do not realise the reality of what continues to happen in our everyday lives. The pandemic forced us to look ourselves in the mirror and see that there are many things in our world that need to be done, and we need to be part of the solution and not the problem.
petiteshark 