Individualism in times of covid 19 is lethal, yet we can’t help it

Understanding the way society is reacting to the challenges of the covid 19 pandemic.

Yesterday I saw on the news that the major of Santiago de Chile (the city I live in, which is supposed to be in quarantine like the rest of the world’s metropolis) reported that many had attempted to escape Santiago de Chile to their second residences in the countryside on helicopters and private planes.

Of course this was illegal and of course this sparked debate. The debate was mainly about how the penal system favors the wealthy and they wouldn’t be appropriately sanctioned, and that if the poor violated the rules by escaping their houses without a permit they would probably be more heavily sanctioned, some going as far as saying the wealthy wouldn’t be sanctioned at all.

Yet this situation made me think of the bigger picture and a much more disturbing problem at the moment.

Don’t get me wrong. Inequality (in every way, including before the law) is a big problem worldwide, and especially in South American nations. However, there is something even more terrifying that this piece of news is conveying. And no, it is not wealth inequality. It is not equality at all what is at stake.