In a Washington Post article in April of 2019, it addressed the growing alt right movements in Europe. The author spoke of a growing trend in fear mongering and racist identity politics. Places like Germany, pro-Nazi groups have had a resurgent growth in numbers. In America pro-right groups have also seen their fair share of individuals entering the fold.
This has stayed with me. It has been a strange time for Nationalism in our world. Isolationists have assumed power in countries like Brazil, England, and our own United States. We’ve cut ourselves off and mistrust is the dominant order for the day. Buckle down. Take care of your own. Consider your own interest and don’t worry about other countries.
This movement around the world has caused rifts with countries. Britain is reorganizing and trying to figure out how to exit the European Union. In the US, politicians are arguing for freer trade policies and building the strength of our economy in full recognition of globalism.
This kind of political thinking may work for a while, but our protected stand in reaching out to countries imparts its own challenges. While a trade war in China continues to dominate the news, some reporters have noted tensions between our leaders and theirs.
We cannot deny that globalism is a critical part of our world today and there really is no turning back. Access to resources in other countries could help the world as a whole. Diplomacy is a critical tool for leaders. Good relations may have allowed us to enter the country to help with an outbreak in Wuhan.
The United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, these were organizations that were started to help build better relationships with countries. Their function is to assist countries in need, should there be a major problem thus keeping stability in our world and preventing potential wars or control the spread of diseases.
The mistrust of other countries should be attended to through de facto organizations to insure that diseases like the Covid-19 cannot cripple our ability to function. The world has glimpsed the possibility of what a pandemic can do. It may stifle your enemies, but it also cripples your own interests.
A pandemic doesn’t discriminate. Figures like Prince Charles and Boris Johnson know firsthand the impact the virus has had on them. It was reported that Johnson was close to death.
This virus is a wake up call for our world. No one can deny the link between humanity and the potential threat of deadly disease. The human family is intimately fragile in its quest to promote a better life for everyone on the planet, but our greatest strength lies in our ability to reach out to one another in times of devastating uncertainty, to reason for the greatest good, and resolve to be there for the most vulnerable.
The world can be viewed from a microcosmic perspective that teaches us how to live in a larger context. A macrocosmic perspective can remind us how to treat the most vulnerable among us. It’s biblical. What we do in our small affairs carries over to how we act in large affairs.
As we social distance and consider how we are responding to one another, let’s consider those on the fringes who have not been attended to. I wonder how social distancing is going in refugee camps? Are those who have been separated from their lands through ethnic cleansing and criminal acts not of their own doing, being attended to the way we are?
The answer is probably no. Meanwhile, the virus, which depends on human interaction to thrive, works its way through them and continues to devastate populations.
Those who close themselves off from options, stifle the creative spirit of ingenuity. An open heart and open mind creates endless possibilities and visionary solutions for the common good.
Let’s hope that our world leaders have learned from this and do a better job of uniting our countries against the deadly strain of disillusionment that cripples and open their arms to embrace the profound unifying power of discovery.
spirit beat 