Page 169 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

should take into account the number of life years lost, not just the
number of lives lost. He gives the following example: in Italy, the

average age of those dying of COVID-19 is almost 80 years,
which could prompt us to ask the following question: how many
years of life were lost in Italy, considering that many of the people
who died from the virus were not only elderly but also had

underlying medical conditions? Some economists roughly
estimate that Italians lost perhaps an average of three years of
life, a very different outcome as compared to the 40 or 60 years of
life lost when numerous young people perish as the result of war.

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The purpose of this example is this: today, almost everyone

the world over has an opinion as to whether the lockdown in her
or his country was too severe or not severe enough, whether it
should have been shortened or extended, whether it was
appropriately put into place or not, whether it was properly

enforced or not, often framing the issue as an “objective fact”. In
reality, all these judgements and pronouncements that we
constantly make are determined by underlying ethical
considerations that are eminently personal. Simply put, what we

expose as facts or opinions are moral choices that the pandemic
has laid bare. They are made in the name of what we think is right
or wrong and therefore define us as who we are. Just one simple
example to illustrate the point: the WHO and most national health

authorities recommend that we wear a mask in public. What has
been framed as an epidemiological necessity and an easy risk-
mitigating measure has turned into a political battlefield. In the US
and, also, but less so, in a few other countries, the decision to

wear a mask or not has become politically charged since it is
considered as an infringement to personal freedom. But behind
the political declaration, refusing to wear a mask in public is a
moral choice, as indeed is the decision to wear one. Does this tell

us something about the moral principles that underpin our choices
and decisions? Probably yes.

The pandemic also compelled us to (re)consider the critical
importance of fairness, a highly subjective notion, yet essential to

societal harmony. Taking fairness into consideration reminds us

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