Page 165 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

group, and to generally become more sociable within it, but not
behind it. It seems only natural that our sense of vulnerability and

fragility increases, as does our dependence on those around us,
as for a baby or a frail person. Our attachment to those close to us
strengthens, with a renewed sense of appreciation for all those we
love: family and friends. But there is a darker side to this. It also

triggers a rise in patriotic and nationalist sentiments, with troubling
religious and ethnic considerations also coming into the picture. In
the end, this toxic mix gets the worst of us as a social group.
Orhan Pamuk (the Turkish author who was awarded the Nobel

Prize in Literature in 2006 and whose latest novel, Nights of
Plague, is due to be published at the end of 2020) recounts how
people have always responded to epidemics by spreading
rumours and false information and portraying the disease as

foreign and brought in with malicious intent. This attitude leads us
to look for a scapegoat – the commonality of all outbreaks
throughout history – and is the reason why “unexpected and
uncontrollable outbursts of violence, hearsay, panic and rebellion

are common in accounts of plague epidemics from the
Renaissance on”. [144] Pamuk adds: “The history and literature of
plagues shows us that the intensity of the suffering, of the fear of
death, of the metaphysical dread, and of the sense of the uncanny

experienced by the stricken populace will also determine the
depth of their anger and political discontent.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has unequivocally shown us all that
we live in a world that is interconnected and yet largely bereft of

solidarity between nations and often even within nations.
Throughout the periods of confinement, remarkable examples of
personal solidarity have surfaced, along with counterexamples of
selfish behaviour. At the global level, the virtue of helping each

other has been conspicuous by its absence – this despite the
anthropological evidence that what sets us apart as humans is the
ability to cooperate with each other and form in the process
something bigger and greater than ourselves. Will COVID-19

result in people withdrawing into themselves, or will it nourish their
innate sense of empathy and collaboration, encouraging them
towards greater solidarity? The examples of previous pandemics

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