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Editorial

Reflexions on a Day of Confinement

As a result of our being in confinement, doing so much harm?
family, friends and colleagues are more The questions are many and the answers
present than ever before in our daily are few, and one can only wonder if the
lives. My colleague said the other day, whole truth one day will come out. Is it,
“If somebody had told me earlier that I as many tend to believe, only a virus from
would be in confinement until further a market, or is it a virus that has escaped
notice, I would had thought that this from a laboratory?
person had lost his mind.” Yet, here we are, Some people have even proposed that this
victims of a nasty virus that has created is a plan to make us all digital dependent,
huge collateral damage to people, not to and therefore the virus was deliberately different way of life.
mention the world economy. This like a planted. Human beings are incredible when it
science fiction film become reality. As we are in the middle of the pandemic, comes to survival strategies, and you can
“We are at war,” the French President said in we can only wait and see. Once this just see the new ways of doing business
a speech recently. And to some extent we are, pandemic is over, we can reflect upon the that are emerging, the solidarity that
but this time it’s against an almost invisible consequences, as my colleague said on the people show, despite of the confinement.
enemy, visible only under a microscope in a phone. The well-known Swiss sociologist
medical laboratory. The virus in itself is so However, as a friend said, it’s an interesting professor Jean Ziegler once said, it’s never
virulent that we are all encouraged to stay at time to watch and analyse what is going all bad with a crisis, because it makes
home, indoors, despite a lovely spring day on. Fortunes shift hands, some face people think. Although he said this in
with lots of sunshine and high temperatures. bankruptcy whereas others are doing fine. a different setting many years back, his
It may seem crazy, but this is the sad reality The immobility has led to a better quality statement applies today.
for many of us. of air, so that the air that we all breathing However, as we are now living in a time
The stock markets are dropping, is less polluted than before, and many will close to George Orwell’s famous book 1984,
companies are facing huge difficulties, perhaps take the time to reflect upon what and we are all communicating over the
restaurants, bars, cinemas and theatres we really need and want in this life. Internet, either by phone or simply sending
are all closing until further notice. People For the Planet, this virus is a gift from texts, perhaps we can start reflecting upon
are losing their jobs, or going on leave Heaven, environmentalists say because, what we really need and want.
with or without pay. There is no fixed rule for the first time in a long time, you can People listen to music, do sports, read…
or regulation on this issue, so it’s rather up see the fish in the Venice canals, and you So, while waiting for the war to be over,
to each employer to do whatever he/she can see Beijing from the sky instead of perhaps we can start by changing some
wants. the smog. Wild life – indeed the whole of our habits, and see what is really
One can ask oneself: how is it possible biosphere – is at stake so, perhaps, we important in our lives.
that one simple virus can be so powerful, should use this pause to reflect upon a Marit

The views expressed are the Mailing address: Editor: Marit Fosse
responsibility of the authors and do DIVA International Diplomat Deputy editor: Sanjay Acharya
not necessarily reflect the views p/a Salle de Presse 1
of DIVA Palais des Nations Graphic Design: Iris Hariz
® 1211 Geneva 10 Contributing to this issue:
www.divainternational.ch
Tel: +41 22 917 43 01
DIVA International is a publication of Sanjay Acharya, Evelina Rioukhina,
Ryan Kennedy, Oleksandr Svirchevskyy,
Graficim Media Ltd E-mail: Alfred de Zayas, Ekaterina Pinchevskaya,
29 Linconl’s Inn Field, Holborn, diva.international@gmail.com Marit Fosse, Ita Marguet,
WC2A3EE, England
Christian David, Robert J. Parsons,
Celhia de Lavarene, Pierre Virot
ISSN: 1660-1934

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