“Post-Pandemic, the new world order”
Picture this. Ten years from today, What do you see? Each person reading this will have drastically differing responses. One thing that has been established as a universal truth is, the world, as we know it, will no longer be the same. Change is inevitable. On many occasions I’ve heard people say,“ When will things go back to normal?”. The answer to that is never. The planet we call home, the society we’ve established and our fundamental environment have all been broken and bent and subjected to trial after trial.
Why are we so eager to go back to how things used to be? A deadly cocktail of death, sickness, economic crisis, humanitarian problems, mingled together with unemployment and even political tension has plagued our world since the pandemic began, adding to the already existent problems our world possessed. Is going back to our old ways the smartest decision? Not in the slightest. We must take this year as a wake-up call, and embrace a new world order with open arms.
Covid-19 has opened a door of enlightenment for mankind. We can go back and plunge ourselves into the black hole our world used to be and resort to even more death, destruction and environmental degradation than the present, or we can make smart decisions and save our world from an apocalypse of destruction.
The pandemic that has shaken us all, and continues to deliver aftershocks has exposed the plight of the poor in India and around the world. The financial system and economy must recognize them more, after the tragic events that exposed their horrific plight during this time. This is our chance to reboot and start our way of living with a reset.
People will also lean on the digital world even more than we always have as caution is taken to avoid too many physical interactions. We will now think differently. Save money, prepare and practice along with a new outlook on the world because we have the first-hand experience about how a pandemic and the emergency situation can change the world in months. Spending patterns and purchase of non-essential items will change, due to fear of salary cuts and unemployment issues.
We, as a planet have been taken by complete surprise. However, our race has manifested this outcome with years of environmental neglect and cruelty. Though the past has a permanent fingerprint on the lives we currency lead, the future doesn’t have to be the same and it is in our hands.
World order will change. No more laughing kids in school buses. They will be covered with masks. No more friends walking arm in arm, they will be six feet apart. However, we must not be disgruntled. The world has survived pandemics before. We must ask ourselves, is Covid-19 the deadly virus or is something else leading us on a path of irreversible destruction. We are the deadlier virus in today’s world. In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, India has seen multiple cases of rape, harassment, caste and religious injustices and a lot more. Around the world people
are being killed for the colour of their skin, forests are burning and to make matters worse there is an alarmingly large number of people who have decided to throw caution to the wind, and not take any of the required precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. I believe that the virus will be eradicated someday but while we are waiting for that day we must recognize the fact that the ways of the world are changing, and they are changing fast, and for the better.
As I write the essay, I recognize my privilege. I am in a position where I can write about what the new world order will be. There are people in the world who have been thrown into a state of confusion and surprise. How do we use our privilege? You and I must answer that question. We must do even the smallest acts to help the new world settle into place without chaos. Unlearning the worst habits that we’ve become accustomed to, helping our domestic helpers by giving them their daily wages, instead of cutting their salaries, eradicating unhealthy ideas like racism, homophobia etc. These are a few ways we must proceed into the new world and it will go a long way, even after Covid-19 is eradicated.
I do not want to think about what the world will be in a year from now. I want to prepare, help, and be a part of a better world. A world where the economy recognizes everyone, one where women are not constantly plagued by fear for their safety. A world where the environment isn’t slowly dissecting. If you think the world must change because of the virus that we call deadly. I must say you are wrong. It must change so that we don’t lose more people to the virus. It must change for a plethora of reasons. We have abused our planet, our earth, to a point that nature and karma is retaliating against us.
We have advanced technology all around us. It is time we have advanced common sense and minds because so far, I have observed that plenty of us lack that. The post-pandemic world is one that should be a product of us human beings realising what a mess we have made of our world and setting out to correct and clean up our mistakes. The new world must see acceptance of everyone around us and elimination of those ugly emotions we too often release into the universe.
I am one 17-year-old penning this down on paper but imagine if everyone came together to truly implement all of this. We have come far as a society but not far enough. So now, you get to decide what type of world you want your kids, grandkids and future generations to grow up in.