We continue our series of articles in which we take apart media news related to the cause and purpose of a natural phenomenon such as the coronavirus pandemic that affects us.
Everything in nature is relative. Regarding the person who perceives all information from the outside inwardly. If he listens only to himself, he will see the whole world within his egoistic nature as something bad, irrational, imperfect. If one learns to hear others, to take their opinions and desires seriously, one will see the full picture of reality, and that there is nothing wrong or crazy about it. That everything has a cause-and-effect relationship, everything is logical, everything is for the good of man.
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei maintained a warm and friendly bond with his audience throughout the quarantine. His recently published book, Dans la peau de l’etranger (In the Skin of a Foreigner, French), is about life in exile. The artist himself left his homeland of China back in 2015.
The main theme of his exhibition, with an installation representing physical and spiritual transit spaces, entitled “Purgatory,” is the theme of refugees and, in general, the theme of life outside the homeland. This exhibition is dedicated to famous people such as Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and others who were also once forced to leave their countries and live in foreign lands.
Artist Ai Weiwei argues that the COVID-19 pandemic is also a kind of exile that completely changes our daily lives: “When we speak of exile, we mean two things. First – is when people left their homeland, lost their familiar surroundings, and were cut off from their roots. But exile can also mean spiritual exile – that is, life in an unfamiliar environment. And now all of society is thrust into a new and unfamiliar situation that we have never encountered before. And today, of course, this pandemic acts more as a metaphor for our worldview. In today’s situation, and perhaps in the future there will be more of these situations, we can no longer call home a safe place.
What can I say? I am pleasantly surprised by the worldview of the Chinese artist, his vision of everything that is happening now. That in such a global natural phenomenon as the coronavirus, he sees tremendous change for all mankind. That the world would never be the same again. For, indeed, the circumstances of life that are foreign to us today give us a sense of exile from all that is past and familiar to us.
The heroes of his exhibition – well-known personalities – were able to find a use for themselves in exile, were able to overcome the attachment of the heart to their native people, and were able to do good to all mankind. In the same way, we need to rise inwardly above all discomfort, accept the new conditions of life, and continue on our way to find good contacts with our environment and our purpose in the world without getting hung up on temporary circumstances.
I was also delighted by the interview of the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Professor Klaus Schwab. He gave a sensible definition of the future direction of the world, beginning with today’s difficult, life-changing situation for humanity. К. Schwab believes that a global rethinking of values is very realistic to do. He wrote a book about “the coronavirus pandemic may give the international community another chance to go in the right direction. The crisis has clearly demonstrated global inequality: growing wealth gaps, unequal access to health care, job insecurity, and a deepening climate crisis. The pandemic has unmasked leaders who work primarily for themselves, rather than for their citizens. At the same time, the crisis has shown that the world can act with speed and solidarity.
Also in the interview the professor added: “… It is clear to us
there will be no going back to the old norm.
. I will highlight three priorities. First – make the world more sustainable, because we will definitely have to face other surprises, black swans in the economy, maybe different kinds of viruses. Second – We need to make the world more inclusive (inclusion is the inclusion of someone or something in the big picture). author), more just, because we saw that we had achieved unsustainability, we saw that whole strata of society felt abandoned in the crisis. Finally, we must make the world a much greener place, focus our efforts on the process of decarbonization (The decline in the role of hydrocarbon energy in our lives. author). This is necessary to avoid a major catastrophe in the future, the first signs of which we can already see today.
…In the future, the world should bet on a much more systematic approach, because we know: everything is interconnected. Both globally and in terms of the interdependence of social, economic and political issues. So yes, we need a systematic approach.
Based on the news described above, we can conclude that the virus did not come to destroy us. On the contrary, with his help, we should take ourselves to a substantially new and qualitative level. But as long as we do not realize this, he will be a destructive threat to us.
But once we realize the seriousness and tragedy of our condition, we can join forces on any level. From simple family, good-neighbor relationships between people to the decision to unite with care for each other on a national and global level. The pandemic thus does the world a great service, pushing humanity not so much toward the development of technology and innovation as toward the development of harmonious relationships in which problems in all areas of human life can be solved.
The heroes of my article are people who have come to reflect and make sense of all that is happening now and awaits us in the future, unless we all see a chance to change the course of history in the right direction. They observed that the world is integral and interdependent, and the success of the world depends on the contribution of each individual.
In order to be called human, we first have to understand and realize what it means to reach the level of “Man” and what we lack for this. And only then will the world shift decisively in a positive direction for everyone.
What do you think, friends, is stopping us from uniting today and getting out of all crises together?
