Page 166 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

are not very encouraging, but this time there is a fundamental
difference: we are all collectively aware that without greater

collaboration, we will be unable to address the global challenges
that we collectively face. Put in the simplest possible terms: if, as
human beings, we do not collaborate to confront our existential
challenges (the environment and the global governance free fall,

among others), we are doomed. Thus, we have no choice but to
summon up the better angels of our nature.

3.1.2. Moral choices

The pandemic has forced all of us, citizens and policy-makers

alike, willingly or not, to enter into a philosophical debate about
how to maximize the common good in the least damaging way
possible. First and foremost, it prompted us to think more deeply
about what the common good really means. Common good is that

which benefits society as a whole, but how do we decide
collectively what is best for us as a community? Is it about
preserving GDP growth and economic activity at any cost to try to
prevent unemployment rising? Is it about caring for the most

fragile members of our community and making sacrifices for one
another? Is it something in between and, if it is, what trade-offs
are involved? Some schools of philosophical thought, like
libertarianism (for which individual freedom matters the most) and

utilitarianism (for which the pursuit of the best outcome for the
greatest number makes more sense) may even dispute that the
common good is a cause worth pursuing, but can conflicts
between competing moral theories be resolved? The pandemic

brought them to a boil, with furious arguments between opposing
camps. Many decisions framed as “cold” and rational, driven
exclusively by economic, political and social considerations, are in
fact deeply influenced by moral philosophy – the endeavour to find

a theory that is capable of explaining what we should do. Actually,
almost every single decision related to how best to deal with the
pandemic could be reframed as an ethical choice, reflecting that,
in almost all instances, human practices labour under moral

considerations. Shall I give to those who have nothing and show
empathy to those whose opinion differs from mine? Is it all right to

165