In January 2020 I was in Taiwan. As I heard the concern about the onset of a new virus in China, I thought it would be a localized phenomenon in a relatively distant country that would have little to no impact in my daily life.
Aside from few specialists, we (the sheeple) had no experience in our lifetimes of a similar event and therefore were underprepared for it. For instance, I thought I could catch a plane and get home whenever I wanted, but I was grounded de facto for 3 years. I don’t think the measured imposed were excessive, I would rather live a less comfortable life than die in a hospital, alone.
This whole experience has been a wake-up call for me. The freedom I took for granted was limited for the greater good. For few years we lived a surreal reality. On a more general note, it reinforced my conviction that some things can’t really be understood or even fathomed unless experienced firsthand.
In a matter of weeks or months, sudden major changes I never thought possible to be enacted, happened. This left me wondering, how quickly could we change the world to shape it to the future we need?
If you’ve ever dealt with public administration and bureaucracy, you know that even in the best case where the machine works, usually it’s a slow machine. For a number of reasons, every system has inertia but I think we all recognize this classic example:
“Lay the blame upon thy predecessor” - Article 1 of the Politician’s Constitution
The goal often seems to be just reverting back to how things were before a certain policy was enacted instead of actually moving forward towards a better society.
If you look at how long people have complained about the same things over and over again, protested, went on to strike, and things never actually seem to change. Why? The system has high inertia. A decision made today will take forever to show its repercussion and during this time other things will have changed too, so the ultimate state of things is fundamentally an unknown.
During COVID we discovered that massive changes are possible, any high-inertia system can pivot quickly when (and if) properly motivated.
Travel restrictions that affected billions of people, the development, approval and deployment of a vaccine and the shifts in supply chains to keep our interconnected global economy at least afloat were implemented at once. Despite the haste, everything worked (mostly) well. Swift actions didn’t mean jumping the gun or sacrificing safety, in fact it was the contrary.
It was nice for once to see our governments, companies and society cooperate through those difficult times, to ensure our survival and save our fellow citizens lives.
Unfortunately, some fringes still thought it was a great idea to spread baseless misinformation about the ongoing crisis. While we all had relatives or friends that died alone in hospitals, we could still read online how some thought COVID was a hoax. The surgical masks that have been worn for decades by every doctor and healthcare worker from New York to Ouagadougou were suddenly chocking us and dangerous for our health. Mandatory vaccine akin to living under a dictatorship… yada yada yada.
Fast forward to the present day. There are several high-profile wars and conflicts that are constantly broadcasted. Global warming exacerbated by human activity is a reality we might not want to acknowledge with our brains but can definitely feel on our skin.
And what is the world doing? For instance, we are at the whims of the current US president, proudly acting (for our pleasure) the mad king persona. Sometimes it reminds me of the Wallfacers of The Three-Body Problem books. His actions make no sense, but it’s all part of the plan, just trust me!
The results of his actions are projected on billions of people but most notably they shape the political western vibe. We can’t act on pressing issues the way we should because we need to keep playing BFF with America. Sadly, the situation is so dire that finally Europe is waking up and starting to think maybe it’s not the best idea to watch the world burn and people die but keep one manbaby happy.
But I am digressing. The question is, where is the power of collective action? We keep seeing lots of protest all over the world for peace, solidarity and end to atrocities but there is only so much we can do as citizens. We need the support from both the public and private sector.
If we were able to ground all airplanes worldwide at a snap of a finger, and a single man can throw the world in chaos with a tariff war, why can’t we reset the current geopolitical situation in favor of a more just situation? Why can’t we allocate more funds to expedite fusion nuclear technology or medical research to eradicate cancer, tackle any other major problem?
Simply put: lobbying → money → greed.
As sad as it is, this is the true reality. Unless they are in mortal danger (not us), nothing will be done to change the status quo. If I can keep shoving cheesecakes down my throat, who cares if someone else is dying? It’s greed pure and simple.
This is where I get stuck.
I see our potential as an advanced society, as we all did, to face a crisis and make impactful decisions, but I also see why our system (or any for that matter) is inherently rotten.
I remember watching in Star Trek mankind come together as one as soon as first contact with an alien race was established. It made sense that people, faced with objective reality, would naturally abandon old beliefs and finally embrace the fact we are all part of the same community. But is that realistic anymore? When you have millions of people proudly questioning the scientific consensus about consolidated secular facts you can see with your own eyes, would seeing an alien actually change anything? No. In 2025 reality is subjective, facts are subjective.
It’s enough to say “It’s fake news” to end of the conversation.
And why do we have fake news? Because somebody profits from it. And here we go again.
I am not sure what we can do to change the system, but I am sure it can be changed.
Extreme measures might be needed, they might restrict our freedom or limit our comfort, but should we really complain for years of discomfort when what we are giving in exchange is a better future?
If we spoke to one another clearly, directly, and honestly it might happen. If we wanted, we could do it. But maybe we are complicit too. If we were elected to a position of power and Mr. Lobbyist came to us with nice presents (or an even nicer blackmail), we could be bought out too. If we and our family could live in ultimate luxury, surrounded by peers also living in ultimate luxury, would we care about the rest? Meh…
Will we ever muster the collective will to apply that potential to the crises that truly matter?
