RAWALPINDI:
Human history has been an absolutely compelling chaos — endlessly catastrophic, often tragic and at times romantic or comic. A spiral of certainty in uncertainty, an effort to decipher countless events and a hope to prepare for what might occur tomorrow, have been a few constant endeavors of our civilisation. Almost six months ago, many among us, from around the world wouldn’t have thought about being locked up in our homes, with no physical interaction with the world except our immediate family members. Arguably, it is an unprecedented time to be alive, the Covid-19 pandemic has redefining our entire lives.
From incurring socio-political interruptions in the Global North, to ghosting under-developed and developing countries with severe economic disruptions, this pandemic is sparing none. However, out of all the things that are bound to undergo major evolutions, the persisting political and social philosophy is one of them. For the past several years, governments around the world have witnessed paramount increase in politics of nationalism, populism and protectionism. Whether it was the rise of Donald Trump in America, Narendra Modi in India, Vicktor Orban in Hungary or Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil — each of these men had one thing in common and that was their romance with popular rhetoric of nationalistic ideals. A qualitative group of such leaders, facing a global problem with a national mindset, is a potential recipe of disaster in making.
Our current social life reflects that of our ancestors in the cave — we interact with smallest possible number of people, leave our homes only to gather food or to attend most urgent tasks, and try to keep ourselves occupied with trivial activities such as playing games or shopping compulsively. While the end of the pandemic remains indefinite, it is hard to guess whether we will ever be able to go back to the selves we once were.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2020.
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