What Coronavirus has Taught the World you should know about

Will there be a change in the world…?

Coronavirus has challenged the way we live. Everything has come to a stop. Many people have lost their lives. Everything that was normal no longer is. For example, going to restaurants and bars. We couldn’t go to any since the end of March until 26th May in Spain.

All the industries such as travel, tourism, clubs, restaurants, beach bars, offices, care homes, supply chains, the way we work, porn industry, parties, concerts, education…everything has been challenged.

Let’s just be clear coronavirus will not go away until we have the vaccine. The threat of getting the virus is real. We’ve heard weirdest things from the head of states, for example, drink bleach to kill the virus. For those who doesn’t know it was Donald Trump who said it in his press conference, google it.

We’ve seen people not taking the virus seriously like Boris Johnson and getting ill as a result. Luckily he survived it. How about the care homes? Who looked after vulnerable people in the time of need? I don’t even want to know what people didn’t do or did do.

I don’t agree with care homes. It’s a blessing to have elders in your family and they should live with the family not in the care homes. If, God forbid, the elderly is ill they should be in a hospital not in a care home. However, that’s another topic.

The life before coronavirus was abundant with everything. As Eric Fromm in his book To Have or To Be? says:

‘The aim of life is happiness, that is maximum pleasure, defined as the satisfaction of any desire or subjective need a person may feel (radical hedonism); that egotism, selfishness, and greed, as the system needs to generate them in order to function, lead to harmony and peace.’

Consumerism was booming. People would shop until they dropped. People were out until early hours of the morning partying. People worked hard and played hard. The big city traits. Everyone could do anything they liked.

Everyone went on holidays when they wanted. Everyone travelled as and when one wished. There were no restrictions. Freedom of consumerism was at its peak.

We never thought tourism will ever stop. We never thought our jobs could be in jeopardy. We never thought anything was wrong with our lives. Eric Fromm says it really well in his book To Have or To Be:

‘The concept of unlimited pleasure form a strange contradiction to the ideal of disciplined work, similar to the the contradiction between the acceptance of an obsessional work ethic and the ideal of complete laziness during the rest of day and during vacations.’

It’s not sustainable to live on those terms ‘work hard and play hard’. It’s not sustainable to work crazy hours and then lie on the beach doing nothing. It may sound amazing but it’s not good for you. If you work hard you’ll go crazy. If you do nothing, for example, be lazy you’ll go crazy.

The only way to survive it is to do both. However, a human being is not going anywhere only to an early grave. That’s not a way to live. It’s not a way to be. Coronavirus has challenged the capitalism which is great.

Capitalism with massive consumerism needed to be be challenged. Maybe just maybe people will spend less in a future…? Maybe people will re-think the way they work and have holidays?

Maybe we have a better life after coronavirus? Maybe we have a better health? Maybe we live better? Maybe we become better? Maybe we learn what matters in life? Maybe if we have less we can be more whole…? Maybe if we consume we can have more wisdom from within?

Or maybe I am just naive…? The world will not change and everything will be back to where it was…

Love and Light