The Politics of Pandemic (10 Minute Read)

I recently had a flashback to December 2019, where I was thinking about 2020. With the New Year just over the horizon, I was wondering if an even year would bring prosperity or if it would be more like a stale year, while hoping I could avoid a negative one. This thought wasn’t random, as I have been having my fair share of years that are up with others that have been more down, just like everyone else.

If you were to ask me if global pandemic would have me on government assistance, spending the majority of my time inside and writing a blog entry on the politics surrounding a microscopic organism that could kill us, yea…it would be a hard sell. I was planning on doing a lot in the New Year because who doesn’t?

Covid-19 is serious, but what this global event is hopefully teaching people is that our government has an active role in our defense.  We are taught that society provides us security at the expense of some freedom and we are currently living through a large social experiment that aims to prove just that. While information on the virus is changing as we learn more, I am not going to speak about the semantics of Covid-19 in this entry, but rather the fundamental truths that surround our government’s response and the macro-level view of the pandemic’s influence on the world.

If you look at the basics of a virus within the grand scheme of our world, it is as natural as a fish in the sea or an apple on a tree. A virus exists in its own natural order and follows a hierarchy like many other forms of species. In the case of our current pandemic, this natural order was disrupted by human intervention, which then allowed it to become a part of the natural order affecting humans.

Yes, while we seem to forget, humans are a part of the world Eco-system and our actions do indeed create ripples and reactions, Covid-19 is no different.

When we see how our government has responded to the crisis, it is no surprise that the majority agree. An emergency often has the brilliant ability to break everything down to the basics, which can often inspire very positive change, while possibly prompting very negative reactions. We are humans, we are hardwired to fear the unknown as a survival mechanism and when a microscopic organism that infects easily can potentially kill you, well…it is normal to feel a loss of control. With that being said though, there are lines that should not be crossed in the grand scheme of things, especially when other’s well being is put at risk.

At its base, our government has a natural mandate to assist as many people as possible with every action that it takes; the needs of the many will more often than not outweigh the needs of the few. The Prime Minister has succeeded in ensuring this mandate is satisfied, even though there are people still falling through the cracks and a deficit we will most likely never be able to pay back, but human lives should always be more valuable than the bottom line, so a deficit isn’t the end of the world.

When it comes to the politics surrounding pandemic there really aren’t any if your government is functional and stable. To bring partisanship into the equation when you are still trying to figure out what your enemy looks like is to not only be foolish, but dysfunctional to the highest degree.

During times like these, you need to focus on what unites us, which in our case now is the general well being of our fellow man, party names and colours become a luxury Canada cannot afford.

The early days of the pandemic were nail biters, because time was not on our side and people were getting infected at rates we could only determine in our nightmares, since information was constantly changing and largely unknown. It was one of those moments you see in the movies where everyone is scrambling and tempers flare just because of how frustrating it is to not to have an answer.

The message remained simple though, stay away from people and keep safe in your home. While our information is getting better now, we know that this statement played out to our benefit. In order to help others it was better to focus on the quality of your actions as opposed to the quantity.

A telephone call to check in on someone, the discipline to take what you need as opposed to hoarding supplies and the trust of your government that it would do what was needed to support our system. You really get to see how fragile our society can be when it comes to the natural order of things; it takes a lot of work to keep things stable and without cooperation things can fall a part easily.

Humanity has a long history of getting its teeth kicked in and also kicking in teeth, so like everything else we will get through this.

Politicians for the most part dread these scenarios, but there are those that are saved by them. Looking at our Premiers, we can see how the optics of delivering a box of masks or taking food to a senior transforms you into an angel, even if your policies before the pandemic arguably weakened our system.

One can hope that we are all able to take something positive from the pandemic and experience growth, after we wash our hands and keep our distance. One can also hope that our politicians and leaders utilize the measures taken to help Canadians now and continue to incorporate them into their planning once the pandemic is over.

A pandemic does a great job of showcasing the holes in our society that we have the privilege of ignoring during times of peace.

While you may still be afraid and the isolation may finally be catching up to you, it is important to remind yourself again that the quality of your actions, not the quantity, will ensure our success.

Take the time to keep safe, as I am certain we are all going to make it out of this having grown as we enter a new era of positive change.