The Personal Is Pandemic
Understanding The Role Of Our Value System In Our Response To Coronavirus And Beyond
From its possible cure to its origin, its mortality rate to its symptoms, there is a lot we do not fully know about Coronavirus. But one thing that we do know for sure is that it is a problem that requires collective solutions. Yet, from Michigan (Perkins) to Mumbai (Chaudhary), there is no dearth of educated people behaving as if the rules for controlling the spread of the virus do not apply to them. Should these individuals be accused of selfishness and stupidity? While one can empathise with the impulse to indulge in more blame games — adding on to those associating the spread of Coronavirus with specific nationalities (Sardarizadeh and others) or religions (Anand) — it might be worthwhile to pause and question the underlying values that inform such self-centered actions and cripple our ability to act synergistically even in the face of a pandemic.
Is it really surprising that so many people across the world are thinking from an individualistic perspective when we celebrate that very individuality? From movies to political campaigns, Fortune 500 CEOs to athletes, the power, influence, and stories of individuals are celebrated in capitalistic societies. We are conditioned to operate as individual entities in school itself. Right from primary classes, our education system naturalises a template of self-worth, wherein value gets generated only in competition with others. Endorsing meritocracy through its ranking system at every level, school turns a blind eye to issues of social justice and tells us that if we are left behind, the fault rests entirely with us, as individuals. Thus, our collaborative spirit and connection with the community are weakened from an early age.
The more we outshine our peers, the more the world lauds us as champions. Wanting acceptance and appreciation, we learn to seek external validation for our worth as individuals. We seek high marks, prizes, medals, certificates, scholarships, leadership positions to fill our CVs with accolades. This culture of proving our worth to the world continues in adult life, as we pursue high pay packages and promotions, tenures and citations, awards and championships. This trend does not stay limited to the classroom or the office. At home, our cheerleading parents and relatives also egg us on to outperform our peers.
The culture of overemphasising extrinsic ‘success’ has pervaded our inner being as well. We live in what Indian writer-musician Amit Chaudhuri calls the Karaoke age: everyone is a performer. One’s public image is validated by ‘likes’ and followers. As a result, today more people grow up wanting to be influencers than artists — seeking external validation rather than internal fulfilment. In our thirst for approval and applause, we get more interested in — in academician-theologian Raimon Panikkar’s words — becoming rather than being (Panikkar 17). Such a pursuit builds entitlement and vanity when needs are met. When they are not, insecurities, alienation, and mental health issues proliferate. One way or the other, it fails to instil a genuine sense of worth and also hinders our inward-looking spiritual and moral growth.
Distanced from the collective and also our own feelings, we, as individuals, look further outward. Searching for external sources of emotional comfort and validation, we are converted by evangelical advertisements into ardent followers of the religion of consumerism. Our fast cars and expensive watches, dapper suits, and big houses elevate our social status and perpetuate a culture of materialism (Eckersley 252). Our binge-buying of a range of products and services also helps us suppress the angst and despair that we earn as a free accompaniment in the lifelong sale of our values.
But what do our underlying values have to do with our response to Coronavirus? The same thing that a weak foundation has to do with a collapsing building. When a challenge of a pandemic scale strikes us, we are caught completely unprepared, not just financially or logistically but emotionally and morally. We reject stay-at-home orders and gather in large numbers to assert our autonomy over our bodies with placards saying ‘My body, My choice’ (Rinkunas). Intoxicated with a ‘first come, first serve’ and ‘winner takes all’ mentality, we rush to supermarkets, wrestle for toilet paper rolls (Andrew) and liquor (Chaudhary), and hoard groceries, unable to spare a thought for the next fellow in the queue, let alone the invisibilised millions on the streets (PTI). Failing to grasp a simple co-dependent relationship that involves protecting oneself to protect others and vice versa, we ignore coughing etiquette and refuse to wear masks (The Indian Express). Caught up in a cycle of consumerism with our lives revolving around our livelihood, we, the proud participants of the economy, express and even act out our restless longing to resume our work and go back to ‘normal’ (Google Trends). Having lived a life avoiding taxes and participated in the bribe economy to get our ‘normal’ life moving, so many of us feel little social responsibility for supporting the poor in this crisis, and yet we dole out blame quite generously, accusing the migrants of spreading the virus, as they try to get back to a home where they can find subsistence (Pal).
Given our predicament, we surely need to figure out ways to revitalise the economy, invest in our health infrastructure, and build more resilient supply chain logistics systems. Yet simultaneously, we must also slow down and pause to reflect on the underlying spiritual crisis that makes us vulnerable in the ‘progressive’ era of shrinking microchips and expanding Moon-mining and Mars exploration missions. We must acknowledge the philosophical foundation on which we build our social constructs because, without it, we would go on making policies incompatible with those we make them for.
While we seem to have little choice but to relax lockdowns and enforce strict rules in the short run, we must also realise that we cannot possibly police every sneeze. In the long run, we need to work, not towards greater regulation, but towards reducing the need for regulation. As with Plato’s Republic (Hayward) or Gandhi’s Swaraj (Gandhi), we ought to facilitate the spiritual progress of citizens. We need to develop a school education system that promotes a shift from vacuous individualism to a realisation of all beings’ interconnectedness (not collectivism — that has its own fatal flaws), external validation seeking behaviour to the realisation of innate self-worth, and suppressant materialism to awareness and enrichment of the inner self. In the modern world, this can only be set in motion top-down, through the government’s initiative. To expect governments to do this is certainly over-ambitious but to expect billions of individuals to have a collective epiphany is delirious. In due time, it can affect a bottom-up transformation, helping in creating a better government itself.
Economic inequality, lack of food security, ecological degradation, technological disruption, and the threat of nuclear destruction have given us ample reasons in the greater part of the last century to realise the truth of our interconnectedness. Having essentially snoozed these alarms for decades, today we hear the loud ringing of Coronavirus. This pandemic is not just an opportunity to try new recipes, improve your physique, or become more productive. It is also, and more importantly so, an opportunity to start working towards an inner transformation. We may eventually find a vaccine for this virus. But there is none for the flaws in our value system. For that, we would have to work towards attaining herd immunity.
Read The Pandemic On Our Democracy by Shreyashi Sharma
Works Cited
Hayward, Jeremy, et al. The Republic Plato. Hodder Murray, 2007.
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. GA Natesan and Company, Madras, 1921.
Panikkar, Raimon. The Rhythm of Being: the Unbroken Trinity. Orbis Books, 2013.
Eckersley, Richard. “Is Modern Western Culture a Health Hazard?” International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 35, no. 2, 2005, pp. 252–258., doi:10.1093/ije/dyi235.
Sardarizadeh, Shayan, and Olga Robinson. “Coronavirus: US and China Trade Conspiracy Theories.” BBC News, BBC, 26 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-52224331.
Anand, Apoorv. “How the Coronavirus Outbreak in India Was Blamed on Muslims.” Coronavirus Pandemic | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 18 Apr. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/coronavirus-outbreak-india-blamed-muslims-200418143252362.html.
Rinkunas, Susan. “Your Body Is a Bioweapon.” Vice, 21 Apr. 2020, www.vice.com/en_in/article/4agz9n/my-body-my-choice-doesnt-apply-to-coronavirus-covid19.
Andrew, Scottie. “The Psychology behind Why Toilet Paper, of All Things, Is the Latest Coronavirus Panic Buy.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Mar. 2020, edition.cnn.com/2020/03/09/health/toilet-paper-shortages-novel-coronavirus-trnd/index.html.
Chaudhary, Archana. “India Races to Restore Order After Protests, Liquor Shop Brawls.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-04/violence-mars-india-s-first-day-out-of-tight-virus-lockdown.
Pti, Deccan Herald. “Coronavirus Lockdown: Beggars, Urban Poor Scour Once-Pulsating Vaishali Market for Food, Alms.” Deccan Herald, DH News Service, 11 Apr. 2020, www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/coronavirus-lockdown-beggars-urban-poor-scour-once-pulsating-vaishali-market-for-food-alms-824042.html.
“Residents Flout ‘Mask Rule’ in Districts near Kolkata.” The Indian Express, 17 Apr. 2020, indianexpress.com/article/india/residents-flout-mask-coronavirus-rule-in-districts-near-kolkata-6366186/.
“Coronavirus Search Trends.” Google Trends, Google, trends.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_4Rjdh3ABAABMHM_en.
Pal, Alasdair. “Special Report: India’s Migrant Workers Fall through Cracks in Coronavirus Lockdown.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 25 Apr. 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-migrants-spe/special-report-indias-migrant-workers-fall-through-cracks-in-coronavirus-lockdown-idUSKBN2230M3.
Perkins, Tom. “Protesters Descend on Michigan Capitol but Rain Washes Away Demonstration.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 May 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/14/michigan-protest-capitol-gretchen-whitmer.
About the Author
Arjun Bhatia is a practising writer and a student of MA in Liberal Studies with a Concentration in Philosophy at Ashoka University. He believes that almost anyone can crack good jokes if they are comfortable cracking bad ones.
Follow Project Democracy on Instagram for regular updates @projectdemocracy.yif
