Chernobyl and COVID-19
I had been wanting to watch Chernobyl (the HBO mini-series) for a while now. I knew it would be grim so I wanted to get in the right frame of mind- and what better state of mind for this than one in lockdown?
I had read about the Chernobyl incident at school. Living in a nuclear power plant township, the incident felt too close to home. It gave me nightmares, of the plant site visible in the distance blowing up in a mushroom-shaped cloud and chaos all around. What had struck me as even more horrifying than the blast was the amount of time it took authorities to tell residents what had happened and begin evacuation. Now, I realize I didn’t even know the half of it!
The graphic depiction of the entire incident was frightening, but the thing that horrified me most now was what horrified me then- the decisions that people make leading to, and in the aftermath of a crisis. And we’re in a crisis right now.
** Spoilers to the show from this point **
It turns out (as per the show), that the foundation of this calamity lay in government lies about faulty equipment. The wheels were set in motion by something as trivial as a chain of work promotions that relied on a safety test! But what accelerated the outcome was really a fear of authority figures. Even at that point, someone could have said NO to follow orders and this could have been averted.
And here I draw two parallels to the situation we are in-
- Even in the midst of this crisis, people in power are driven by petty personal agendas and political gains
- The flagrant disregard of safety regulations to follow orders ‘from the top’. And the top here is not necessarily the absolute top, just one’s immediate superiors
This caused a nuclear reactor to explode, and nuclear reactors are bound by laws of physics. We’re in a biological crisis that no one even understands so the ramifications might be far-reaching.
The situation of migrant workers we’re seeing in India with political parties trying to one-up each other is difficult to watch. Or that of the administration fudging numbers to cover the extent of mismanagement and spread. To watch policemen and security become brown-shirts and harass the public. And it’s not easy to see doctors go in to work during the first weeks of a crisis with crude home-made masks, and to realize with disbelief that they have to fund their own protective equipment if they want it to be of reasonable quality that actually protects them. To see people cause harm when they’re the only ones who have the power to help.
I tried not to think about it because it enraged me, and I couldn’t do anything to solve it. But now I realize I am not helpless. Apparently, a disaster such as Chernobyl could have been avoided if someone had said- NO. Stood by the truth, stood by what was right. Of course, this is easier said than done. An outright disregard of authority can make life a living hell, as I’ve seen myself. But isn’t that always a sign that you’re doing the right thing- when you listen to your conscience and realize that your life is now going to be harder. So to Halifax with niceties and fitting in. Standing up for myself, for what I believe in, and for humanity. It doesn’t have to be always work-related either. The next time, someone says or does something unkind, stand up. I will say ‘no’ over and over until it slips easily off my tongue. I’ll say it as many times as it takes to hear it. Instead of avoiding confrontation, I will try to welcome it with open arms.
There’s just one question I am left with. Even as of today, the official death toll of Chernobyl is at 31. Let that sink in. The core of a nuclear reactor exploded and the state says only 31 people were killed. No one responsible for the ‘accident’ was given a punishment commensurate to the crime- two of them were reinstated at other nuclear power plants! There’s no end to the lies. So what I ask is this- is there retribution or is the universe rigged to reward bad behavior?
