It seems the medical profession has spooked the governments all over the world to take drastic action over the killer corona virus. Because of bureaucratic thinking, the world leaders had no choice but to go into lock down and show the world that they were equally concerned and not backward in protecting human lives.
It did not matter if these steps made millions of people jobless, businesses go broke, airline companies collapse, cruise operators and tourism shut up shop. It did not matter what happened to the economy and what happens to people’s lives as a consequence. The main aim was to save human beings at any cost. How can anyone criticize or argue against such a noble cause?
But how can this horrendous cost be justified when the result at the end is not clear at all? It does not seem to be a rational decision for me. If the steps taken stopped or eradicated the disease or killed the virus, one could understand the lock down. But it only slows down the spread of the virus. Once the lock down is lifted, like any viral illness, the infection must eventually spread through society, killing many people the way Influenza virus did until individuals developed immunity against it. Unfortunately, those among us with a weak immune system would undoubtedly be the hardest hit.
In my mind, it is the bureaucratic thinking that has created this problem for us. So what is bureaucratic thinking? It is simplistic thinking employed by governments, businesses, institutions and professionals all over the world, where one goes by only the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law. In it, there is no use of ethics, morals or common sense. One is not allowed to think for oneself. All you have to do is follow the preset rules. It is designed to absolve the person of any complicated thinking or feeling of guilt because if you followed the letter of the law, your actions are always considered correct. No one could blame you if anything went wrong. It induces bullying and authoritative type of behavior in some individuals.
So when the doctors first confronted the corona virus infection, their immediate response was to isolate the people affected by the virus. The medical advice to the government would be to take urgent action. They warned them that if they did not take immediate action, there would be a massive number of people dead and the medical facilities will not be able to cope. Please remember the medical profession does not care about what happens to the economy or what happens to people’s lives when you have a lock down. Their only concern is to save human lives.
Now the government is placed in a situation where they are damned if they listened to this advice or damned if they did not. To ignore this advice would be political suicide. They had to show the world that they were more concerned with saving human lives than protecting the economy. They had no choice.
Thus we are now under lock-down with more bureaucratic restrictions and control everywhere. Politicians are justifying their actions by bragging about flattening the curve of the spread of the virus. You do not have to be a prophet to predict this because we have all stopped socializing. They are, of course, ignoring the rising curve of massive unemployment and economic disaster. It is time they started looking at the economy and what is happening to the people around them. The lock down cannot go on forever. One has to expect the curve to rise once the lock down is lifted. Are we going to go into lock down each time a new virus attacks society this way? Should we not prepare ourselves with more field hospitals, quarantine camps etc. in the future or even now?
The government is continuously listening to the advice from medical experts who can only think in one way, and that is the bureaucratic way. They cannot think in any other way. These doctors are only concerned with saving lives at any cost. They do not care about the economy or what happens to the people who lose their jobs. If governments keep listening to these experts, how can we possibly arrive at a sensible approach to dealing with this problem? Why cannot we isolate people who are susceptible and infectious, and let the rest of the community live their normal life? Sooner or later, the government has to decide and bite the bullet.
However, please do not become despondent. Every cloud has a silver lining. One has to look upon all this as a positive experience. The enforced self-isolation has made many of us appreciate the meaning of the word freedom. It has also allowed us to self-reflect and get to know our families better.
But the biggest winner in all this is the environment. In Italy, the canals in Venice have become clearest in 60 years, and dolphins have been spotted in southern parts. While in India, Delhi, the most polluted city in the world is experiencing clear blue skies and the Himalayas have become visible in parts 125 km away for the first time in 30 years.
All this has proven the fact that we human beings are the greatest polluters on this planet earth. We have to take serious note of what we are doing to our world. Here is also a proof that if everyone got their act together, we could clean up this planet in no time.
As one can see, bureaucratic thinking has great limitations. If we do not include other considerations in our thinking, we can easily unwarily sidetrack on to a path of self-destruction.