5 Unintended Positive Things Related To The Coronavirus Outbreak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFC94gSLlWA

The coronavirus has brought about havoc and mayhem all around the world. Currently, millions of people are ordered to stay home, borders are shutting down, the global economy has come to a grinding halt, hospitals are overflowing with patients, the number of infected people grows exponentially and people, mostly elderly, are dying. This is arguably the most disruptive global event we’ve experienced since world war II. The situation and its consequences are undoubtedly extremely grave. In times like this it’s very easy to overdose on bad news which can quickly lead to anxiety, fear and depression. But it’s important to remember that even dire situations may have positive aspects. In this post I’d like to shed light on some of the unintended positive consequences of the outbreak in an effort to create a more balanced view of the difficult period humanity is going through.

1. It could have been much worse.

We should consider ourselves lucky. It may be difficult or even impossible to do so while people are dying and the world is in chaos, but we are lucky because covid-19’s fatality rate is low compared to other viruses. We don’t have accurate numbers yet but so far the fatality rate is somewhere between 1 and 3 percent. Compare that to Ebola, which in previous outbreaks had a fatality rate of 25 to 90 percent. It would be difficult to even imagine how this crisis would have looked like if 9 out 10 people infected died. This outbreak is a hammer on the head wake up call for humanity. It will hopefully urge world leaders and governments to take the matter of potential future pandemics very seriously and do all they can to prepare nations for it, because we know that it’s not a matter of if but when the next pandemic will hit us, and we shouldn’t assume that it won’t be as deadly or even worse than Ebola.

2. The party is over.

The covid-19 outbreak popped a huge debt bubble which has grown out of proportions since the global financial crisis of 2008. Instead of addressing the real underlying issues which led to that crisis, governments all over the world chose to, quote on quote, “fix” the economy by printing more money and lending it in very favourable terms to big corporations who in turn used it to buy back their stocks. As a result the stock market enjoyed a very long bull market. Progressively a huge disparity grew between the intrinsic value of the companies listed on the stock exchange and their trading price. But the party kept on going and everyone was getting richer, on paper. Experienced investors and economists have been ringing the alarm bells for a while, but it was hard to hear them or pay attention while the party was raging. Well, the party is officially over, like a house of cards the economy is collapsing and with it the stock market. Billions of dollars of people’s retirement accounts are gone, evaporated into thin air. So you may wonder, what the hell is good about that? Nothing is good about hard working people losing their savings, but the fact that the party had finally come to an end and that the flaws of the global economic system are exposed in such a grotesque fashion may open the door for a real dramatic change of the system. We may face social unrest and uprising, and years of economic depression, but the reality is that governments and central banks have to come to terms with the fact that the system is broken and printing more money is not a viable solution. 3. Give earth a break.

This outbreak is giving the environment a much needed relief. In just a few weeks the pollution caused by factories, airlines, and other industries which rely on burning fossil fuels had dropped at an unprecedented rate. As a result, air quality in places like China has significantly improved and residents can see the sky again, imagine that!. In Venice, Italy, the canals are clear enough to see fish, a refreshing change from the usual muddy waters caused by excessive traffic of tourist boats. These are just a couple of anecdotes out of many examples observed all over the world. They stand to demonstrate that we have the capacity to change the course of global warming and bring back some level of equilibrium between our species and nature.

4. A call for better leadership.

The outbreak exposed in vivid colors the incompetency of numerous world leaders and governments who for various reasons tried to hide the outbreak under the rug, hoping that it would miraculously go away, instead of taking quick actions to contain the spread of the virus and notify the public about the danger. Considering the magnitude of the damage and life loss one can only hope that those in charge will be removed and punished, or at the very least, that their lies will bring to an increased critical and independent thinking among the general public.

5. Mother nature is in charge

Humanity’s collective ego and hubris has the tendency to inflate out of proportion. While we certainly have many reasons to feel proud about our many technological advancements and achievements we should not feel as if we stand above other species or the environment we live in. The coronavirus outbreak is a stark reminder of how fragile we are. We are just visitors on this planet which happened to provide optimal conditions, such as oxygen and water for us to flourish, for now. There is absolute no guarantee these conditions will continue to exist, and in fact our hubris and thinking that we can control the environment are very likely to bring us to the brink of extinction. So there is no harm, once in a while, to be reminded that we live here under the mercy of mother nature.

To sum it up, I hope these points will help you to view this global disaster in a more holistic way and recognize that great adversities also have the potential to bring drastic and ultimately positive change.