by Tom Kando
Let me try this: A good word to describe the coronavirus crisis is “biblical.”
Now I don’t want you to misunderstand: I don’t believe in God. A biblical interpretation of this crisis goes against everything my rationalist mind and education have taught me.
But the paradigm, or the metaphor, seems so apt. This is Sodom and Gomorrah all over again. God’s revenge, punishment for our sins, for our descent into greed and selfishness, for raping the planet, for excessive hedonism and materialism, for Wall Street, etc.
Okay, convert the term “God” into “Nature.” Then, the metaphor works better already: We are destroying the planet. Even so, a near unanimity of economists - left and right - still agrees that the solution to poverty, inequality and all other economic problems is GROWTH. It is almost universally agreed that a 1% growth rate is bad (that’s often Europe’s rate), a 3% rate is pretty good (something the US achieves occasionally) and that 6% to 10% annual growth, which China has often achieved in recent decades, is the envy of the world.
But in fact, economic growth is destroying the world.
For decades, some people have been warning us that when man continues to meddle with nature and cause imbalances, “mother nature” has a way of retaliating, of making “corrections.” This is by now a commonplace idea, shared by scientists, philosophers, hippies and others.
We introduce rabbits in Australia, and they eat up the country. We introduce some new plants and fishes into various North American lakes, and this kills all pre-existing life in those waters. We warm up the planet, and the number and power of hurricanes rises dramatically.
To quote my sister Madeleine and philosopher Martha Nussbaum: “...nature always has a way of taking revenge. Winter takes revenge on summer, night takes revenge on the day and animals take revenge on humans. It's all a matter of balance. Nature abhors imbalance.”
But not to worry, we hear: Human technology will come to the rescue. We can continue to grow the economy as long as we switch to new forms of energy such as solar and nuclear.
So mother nature faces two problems: (1) the sheer growth in our NUMBERS, and (2) our ever-more invasive intervention in nature. The logical correction, then, is to (1) stop human intervention in the natural order, and (2) reduce the number of humans. Ergo: the coronavirus.
Okay, okay, I’m babbling nonsense. There is no such thing as a (conscious) Mother Nature. The earth is not GAIA, a super-organism with an immune system to rid it from invasion by a destructive bug - humans.
But it sure LOOKS that way, doesn’t it? So: “God” or “Nature,” take your pick. If you go with “God,” you can be an evangelical, repent, and pray for forgiveness. If you go with “Nature,” you can be an environmentalist with a mystical bend. As to me, while I don’t subscribe to either of these two concepts, I am nevertheless struck by their verisimilitude.
© Tom Kando 2020;All Rights Reserved
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22 comments:
We need to strike a balance between human growth and nature. Science has helped to mitigate many harmful effects of bacteria and viruses that have run amok. DNA has opened our eyes as to how we are all related and can analyze harmful elements. But the biggest problem now is why do we refuse to act upon what we know to be facts? How can we ignore science and instead choose to follow leaders that are Pied Pipers leading us to our own demise? Why can we not learn from the past? Why must history repeat itself?
I wonder if "evangelicals," whatever that term means, are the only Christians that accept the idea of an apacalypse. It fits in a lot better with the idea that the 4 horsemen, war, famine etc. are upon us, and that we are in for destgruction long before the red giant swallows earth up.
It’s gratifying to receive comments indicating that my post at least resonates with some people.
First anonymous is of course totally right. He/she expands some of my points.
Cheryl C. Brings up a point which I (for once) didn’t touch upon: The president and the abject surrender to him by his cabinet and by the Republicans has aggravated this disaster a hundredfold. When the 1929 depression hit, the country had to wait nearly 4 years before a can-do President took charge, replacing one who was not up to the job. Waiting 4 years for adequate leadership now seems inconceivable. Today, valiant effort is exerted at the state and local levels (Governors such as Newsom and Cuomo) and competence is seen in people such as Fauci (who may well be fired in the near future for daring to disagree with the charlatan-in-chief), but, at the center is the elephant in the room...God help us!
Jon Price’s allusion to the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse reminds me of Malthus. The 18th- 19th century economist used this metaphor, too. While his concern was demographic rather than environmental, he was one of the first to sound the alarm on such matters.
Another great bit of rumination. Be well, Tom.
Hi Tom, wasn't it the bible that got us into this mess though. Genesis 1:28
And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have DOMINION over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Human chattel, The trees, and logically the minerals right?
Take care, stay fit, prepare mentally. It's pretty crazy over here in Spain.
X
Of course nature takes revenge. Or actually, it's not revenge since revenge is a human trait. No, nature reacts in self defence.
Which other creature chooses to live cramped up on top of one another in high rise buildings like in say the New York sky scrapers?
Which other creature builds factories full of artificially inseminated co-animals in their quadrillions to feed themselves?
Which other creature relies on a global gambling system like the stock market to sustain a "growing" economy?
A normal, mentally sane family that earns enough to pay the mortgage/rent and feed its children doesn't need to grow financially. Once a balance is achieved, growth is no longer necessary. So why do governments and "business" support the ideology that economic health has to rely on growth? Well, it is because shareholders hope to increase (grow) their investments. Investments are surplus money that people don't need to live on.
Nature now says: Hold on, think again investors. Why not give your surplus money to the poor and needy instead?
Thank you, Tom. Just yesterday 3.23.20, I found myself speaking about what you wrote. It is spot-on! Andrea Roth #buckroth
Thank you, Andrea and Tomi. Excellent point made by Tomi.
I like a good metaphor as well as anyone, but "we are destroying the planet" gets into the realm of foolishness. What? Will there soon be a cluster of asteroids where the earth used to be? An new asteroid belt? Too many of us are hooked on the apocalyptic. I know I have gone through several "end times" in my lifetime: nuclear war, overpopulation (which still seems popular!), microwave and other electrical emissions, global cooling (1970's), global warming, climate change, etc., etc. Just look around and think about 1917 or 1942. It has hardly ever been better for the human race. BUT WE ARE ALL DOOMED!!!
M Riley
Me too.
Dave Covin
I thank the last two commentators, whom I respect for their minds. Just a couple of things, in response to “Unknown:”
1. Okay, let me rephrase “destroying the planet” to “damaging the planet.” About this there can be no doubt, according to the vast majority of the scientific community.
2. I grew up during World War Two in Eastern Europe. I was nearly 5 years old when it ended. The casualties there were not in the thousands, but in the millions, including many of my (Jewish) relatives. I was old enough to remember quite a bit. I am quite aware of past catastrophes.
3. I didn’t say that we are doomed. But to trivialize this pandemic, as our president does, among others, is an error. The entire medical community is taking this more seriously than any crisis in memory. Witness the draconian measures which physicians and epidemiologists are advocating, and which are being implemented in many states and countries.
4. That said, I want to clarify something which some people may read into my article: Some may have the impression that I am insinuating that we deserve to die by the millions at this time. But as I state in the article, I mean no such thing. This pandemic is a huge accident. To see it as some sort of retribution is absurd.
Hi Tom,
I am not sure if I count as an environmentalist. But for me overpopulation and the risk on severe pandemics are strongly related.
In my life time (40 years) the world population almost doubled. Since my mother was born (70 years) the population tripled and since my dad (95 years) was born it quadrupled.
And while the human population is exponentially growing, the biodiversity is seeing a period of mass extinction.
I learned in primary school monoculture is very sensitive to plagues. And human monoculture on earth is wat I am seeing.
I hope we can quickly counter the coronavirus. But human vulnerability to new plagues remains. I see three ways humanity can handle this.
1. Compartmentalise. Making quarantine more permanent, let people travel less and control the amount of inter human contact.
2. Do nothing and see if pandemics and conflict will strike or not.
3. Decrease the human population peacefully. See the number of children per woman drop significantly below two and not inventing a medicine that will people live forever.
They obviously all have there drawbacks. Option 1 is dystopian, Option 2 could work, but I am not to optimistic about that, Option 3 will take centuries and is difficult to realise in a humane way. (It is actually happening slowly. Human exponential growth is slowing down.) I hope education will help.
I expect our future to see a combination of these three options. And until the human population has significantly decreased we have to try as good as we can to maximise recycling and minimise our consumption of the earth resources.
I hope humanity is up to the task. And that we can do it in a positive way.
Kind regards,
John
John's comment is excellent.
I, too remember when the world's population crossed the 2.5 billion threshold. I was a teenager. More than a three-fold increase in my own lifetime. Although the growth rate has slowed, we are still growing. Many people have ridiculed people such as Paul Ehrlich, who popularized the notion of a population explosion in the 1960s. But he was right. The fact that the pandemic is currently hitting Italy the most virulently, a country with a declining population, is irrelevant, in the global scheme.
And one more thing: while reducing our numbers is part of the solution, I worry even more about the increasing PER CAPITA consumption: For example, the world currently has about a billion cars. In the US, it's about 1 per person, in Europe roughly 1 for every 2 people. Now if countries such as China and India attempt to reach our level, the world would have to support 3 or 4 billion cars. We’ll all asphyxiate.
And then there is the moral aspect: what right does the affluent West have to tell developing countries that they may not emulate it? We happily cut down all our trees in our quest for wealth and development, but the Brazilians don’t have the same right?
Go figure!
Tom, following your penchant for statistics (from April 1 https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )
Coronavirus deaths per million population:
Italy 206
Spain 194
Belgium 71
Netherlands 68
France 54
Switzerland 53
UK 35
Sweden 24
Denmark 18
Portugal 18
Austria 16
Ireland 14
USA 12
Thank you President Trump for acting rapidly in blocking European flights!
It's such hard-headed complacency that'll be our undoing:
In the rankings provided by anonymous, above, the number for USA was 8 per million yesterday, and a few days ago it was 3.
Each day we climb up a few spots in this ranking.
In absolute terms, we are of course already the epicenter of the pandemic.
The US has 4% of the world's population but nearly 25% of all the cases. I’m sorry to have to say this, but it is becoming more appropriate for the rest of the world to block Americans, rather than the other way around.
Be as smug as you wish, but the problem is here, my friend.
It’s amazing how so many people persist in their denial, when they face major problems
I just got a message from a Dutch friend. He writes that the US is having a terrible problem with the pandemic. But as it so happens, the Dutch are dying from the coronavirus at a rate that is 5 times greater than the US and 20 times greater than California. But he, too, prefers to focus on "the other guy" rather than on his own backyard.
To anonymous, above, and to my Dutch friend: Get it into your thick head that YOU have a problem, every bit as much as “the other guy.”: Right now, Holland is one of the most affected countries, and the US (certainly some parts of it) is also in big trouble, with a tsunami coming within a couple of weeks.
Contrary to your assertion, the death stats show that Western Europe remains the epicenter of the Coronavirus, every other stat is just a question of who measures the most. Besides, when our summer becomes the southern hemisphere’s winter, the southern hemisphere will become the epicenter..
While I recognize we all have a problem, my previous point was to show statistically that we have more competent executive branch leadership (reacting faster and minimizing loss) than the other European democracies, and that I personally am grateful that Trump is president rather than the senile idiot the democrats are about to nominate.
I would also point out that while Italy by far appears to be the most incompetent and ill prepared of the European nations, at the same time New York which has almost 50% of our Corona cases is ironically led by two Italians named Cuomo and DeBlasio! DeBlasio, you will recall, encouraged New Yorkers to go out and celebrate Chinese New Years and dining in restaurants in March.
I would also point out that Great Britain, one of the darlings of the socialized medicine devotes only has 8k ventilators, the equivalent of only 40k for our population, whereas we had over 160k prior to the outbreak.
I don’t know where to even begin to correct this anonymous:
1. The European and American death tolls compared: we are just behind the European curve, but sadly, we are about to emulate Italy. Today’s death toll was double what it was 3 days ago. It'll continue to grow exponentially.
2. Attributing our high numbers to the fact that we measure/test more is the excuse the White House has been using for weeks. In fact, we are testing woefully less than many other countries.
3. Don’t count on the summer bailing us out. Hopefully this virus will behave seasonally, as does the flu, but there is no way that we can count on this, and even if it happens, it’ll return with a vengeance next winter.
4. Our competent executive branch leadership? What a bad joke!
To quote Trump: First the coronavirus was a Democratic hoax, then we had 15 cases and this would go down to zero within a week, then by April 1 the whole epidemic would disappear, like a miracle.
While Drs. Fauci and Birx are doing a herculean job at this point, the Trump administration’s dilly-dallying is directly responsible for the loss of possibly hundreds of thousands of lives.
There are no words to describe the incompetence, malevolence and mental ailments of this president. A Biden presidency would mean a return to normalcy, decency and competence, as opposed to mental illness.
5. Your rant about Italians, Italian-Americans and Chinese people is pure racism, not worthy of rebuttal.
6. There are times in history when people like you are in the ascendancy. In time, reason returns, we look back, and we wonder what made so many people take leave of their senses temporarily.
I am reminded of the saying "None so blind as those who will not see". We will be able to compare stats in June to see who is right.
Are tests free in America? I'm concerned that as they are calling Covid-19 in Nigeria this is "a rich mans disease". How does it work? I have nothing but an infection. Who pays for my isolation? Food? Treatment? Burial? Please excuse my ignorance. Here in Spain the govt have nationalised all the hopitals, the UK seems to be renting warehouses and buying the wrong tests. Whats the (seemingly belated)plan Trump?
How is one Caucasian criticizing other Caucasians "racism"? And the criticism of China is appropriate since they still permit "wet markets".
I'm tired of the Trump "late" criticisms despite the fact he shut down air traffic from China on January 31, yet as the following Feb 10 article shows Cuomo/DeBlasio were still underestimating the threat and encouraging 500k New Yorkers to attend Chinese New Year celebrations : https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/chinese-lunar-new-year-1.41650522
Dear Tomi,
Hi Tomi:
Your comment is worrisome: You write “I have an infection.” You mean that your have the Covid virus? We would be devastated if this were the case. Even so, you are young and vigorous, so your chances of recovery would be excellent.
But maybe I misunderstood your comment. I certainly hope so.
As to the rest of your comment: the situation/policies/responses of different countries: Right now, Anita and I worry a great deal about Spain, where the epidemic is 10 to 40 times more virulent than it is in California, depending on the metric you use (deaths per million population, Case Fatality Ratio, etc.). Of course, the situation is fluid. the Trump administration’s response may be the worst of them all, and we may be following in the footsteps of Italy and Spain, who knows...
I meant if, Tom yes I'm uninfected if slightly defected. Good luck. X
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