By Sujata Tibrewala
Inspired by health workers, introduce global “circuit breakers” to isolate systemic risks, suggests Indian American eco-feminist Sujata Tibrewala.
“Who speaks for the earth” Carl Sagan said referring to an alien invasion. Well that alien is here now. Born in this planet, but still an alien, since this is our first encounter with it. Someone that cannot be killed with bullets, yet affects us equally regardless of nationality, religion or class.
But how did we get here? Five decades of unprecedented inter-connectedness have opened up the world to massive cross-border flows of goods, services and people. And this type of dependence and connectivity increases the likelihood of connected extreme events, such as financial crises, global warming, destructive biotechnology, and pandemics aka Coronavirus.
So how are we facing this new alien as one Earth? Of course, by sitting on our couches. But as we sit at home, there are others on the frontline facing the challenge head on.
Stories of insurmountable courage are surfacing, but today I will focus only on the stories of our health workers who are the new soldiers in this war. They are working 16 hour shifts, and more often than not without proper protective gear and getting infected in the process.
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But what is most important is a global network of doctors this has created which is critical for sharing critical life saving information across borders. So, doctors in Italy could learn how to prepare the emergency rooms and equipment as they expect more patients, and doctors in the US can learn from Italy and China.
One story stands out among many, that of Dr Li Wenliang who chose a global community over an authoritarian regime. He was detained for “spreading rumors” and ultimately died at the hands of the very virus he was fighting against.
However, by this time such was his following that even the authoritarian regime of China was forced to mourn his death and condemn the officials in Wuhan who detained him.
A society torn by war and capitalism, propagating the popular belief of lone “man the hunter” may make us forget that humans thrive and progress when they work in a community.
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However, Dr Robert W. Sussman, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis reminds us, “The early human, didn’t have the teeth or tools to cut meats, nor fire to cook it. So, they couldn’t eat meat. If they couldn’t eat meat, why would they hunt. They were avoiding them at all costs!”
His study has provided evidence that many of our modern human traits, including those of cooperation and socialization, developed as a result of being a prey species. In this way, there are more eyes and ears to locate the predators, to mob them if attacked or to confuse them by scattering.
So, is humanity really more than the borders and races, the boxes politics puts us into?
The formation of European Union in 1993 to end the possibility of war and create a common peaceful marketplace is an example of this. In the current context, economies world over are having to spend monetary amounts greater than their national GDPs which might put even developed nations like America and Italy under debt.
This means after this is done no one can really afford wars or get into another catastrophe. Hence now is a good time to think of a new world order.
Taking inspiration from healthcare workers at the forefront of COVID-19 battle, governments and organizations can come together to introduce global “circuit breakers” that can isolate systemic risks such as pandemic, financial crisis, bio terrorism and uncontrolled artificial intelligence, early on and prevent them from spreading.
Governments could craft and adopt common protocols for temporary travel and trade restrictions, supported by globally agreed-upon thresholds for action.
Redundancy could be built into world systems—including finance, food supply, and public health—in order to prevent single points of failures cascading into systemic collapse.
As if on cue our planet is already healing as a result of grounded flights, shut factories and car free roads. Italian shores are seeing Dolphins coming back, China noted fishes coming back to the sea. Otters were seen lying on the beaches at Singapore in the absence of humans. Nature is teaching us to put her first above national and capital interests.
As noted English actor, musician Idris Elba told celebrity talk show host Oprah Winfrey in a recent interview, “You know, it’s no surprise that a virus has been created that is going slow us down and ultimately make us think differently about our world and ourselves.”
It is time to recognize now that our survival in the next phase does depend on building a global community much in the same way as our ancestors built in the forests.
(Sujata Tibrewala is a California based eco-feminist and community development manager at Intel. She has exhibited her art at various venues in India and US.)
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1 Comment
Nice work Sujata!