Mar-Apr 2020

COVID-19 is a virus, a physical being, howsoever miniscule, which can jump from one animal (bat) to another (pangolins and sheep), and finally into human bodies. At this stage, it can hide and multiply, decide to rest and cause massive destruction, even cause deaths. But it is more than a microbe; it’s a sign from nature or God. In this Anthropocene age, as Homo Sapiens have a dominant influence on physical climate and environment, nature too can devise devious ways to counter such trends. If global leaders rule with the view that markets are their Gods, and private investors are their respected priests, then COVID-19 is a grand counter to that vision.

For one, until now, the virus has attacked richer nations. It started its journey from China, the superpower-in-waiting, traversed through Taiwan and Korea, the mini-powers in an Asian Century, and virulently and mercilessly attacked the US, Italy, Spain, France, and the UK. Almost the entire developed world – where money equals power, greed overrides everything else, and governance is through and for the elite – is under siege due to the epidemic.