My momentum was at its peak when my husband gave the usual
30-minute alert, which signalled the end of our workout session, at our newly
found workout spot in the complex (#LockdownCreativity).
Oblivious was I to the depth of reflection a random social media message could
evoke before he gave the signal.
Instead of calling it quit for the morning, I was compelled
to increase the pace of my workout, which sent the intended message: ‘I still
have some scores to settle here honey’. After all, I had some scores to settle with those extra pounds, thanks to the second extension of my #Lockdown
experience. By the way, I have been on #Lockdown since mid-March after the
closure of schools in South Africa.
My mind immediately deviated to the video I received the
previous day. The video was about one of the projects undertaken by a
‘notoriously mismanaged country’ in its effort to contain the #COVID-19
pandemic. I remember being captivated by the richness of the cloud in the
video, which was impeccably captured. While the showcasing of the beauty of the
cloud may not have been intentional, my eyes chose to be fixated on the image
for reasons I will explain later.
The image I saw can be likened to the beautiful picture
teachers portray to children about the rainbow in the clouds. It then dawned on
me that my perception of this country had been badly distorted by the limited
human understanding of God’s presence in a nation, which is perpetuated on
social media.
As one would imagine, the pace of my workout was interrupted
by these thoughts, which made me slow down for deeper reflections. I pondered
on the bad images that had been portrayed about this supposedly ‘hopeless’
country on social media lately and how the country was struggling to contain
the virus, against all odds and ironically, amid the 'solidarity crisis'.
My reflection on the solidarity crisis then shifted to how the world seemed to carry on with business and life as usual earlier in the year, while only China battled with #COVID-19. While taking cognisance of China’s unacceptable behaviour towards the escalation of the virus, it appears the rest of the world’s nonchalant attitude was fueled by one of my academic mentors' (Vanclay 2014) ‘NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) and PIMBY (Please In My Backyard)’ analogy.
The pursuit of a solution to a problem is not of immediate
concern if the problem in question does not pose a threat - It could be a
problem if the situation shows indications of potential danger (my paraphrase
and emphasis). It becomes a big problem when the first case is discovered and
we all (globally) now suddenly have to close schools, practice social
distancing, close borders, shutdown the economy and the list is endless.
What lessons can we as 'Moral Agents' learn from this solidarity crisis?
What are the limits of solidarity?
Is love enough?
How far can love go?
How can we be more proactive in dealing with matters which
have no direct impact on our lives, well-being and livelihoods?
How can empathy, proactivity, service and solidarity
mitigate social, environmental, political and economic risks?
What are the exponential effects of our silence and
nonchalant behaviour on the future generation?
Let's redress the solidarity crisis by leaving a comment. I look forward to yours.
