William T. Robinson, Jr.
With the presence of the pernicious and unapologetic COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) visiting our communities, the world is caught unprepared and vulnerable to this unforgiving pestilence. We are left with an enemy that we know very little about but are forced to respect the destruction and loss of life it has the ability to inflict. We the public are dependent on the scientific and health communities’ researchers and experts’ limited knowledge of keeping this detrimental foe at bay.
Some find it ironic that we live in a highly technical society with medical savvy, but we have fallen short of being prepared for this pandemic. Our past history with pandemics should have prepared us to work assiduously putting the necessary study and research together to be better prepared for another extensive pandemic. Were we caught sleeping. Or maybe we allowed other areas to take priority—based on the subjective views of political administrations governing our various countries.
Make no mistake, someone or some group should be held responsible for the extensive deleterious results of COVID-19. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. Someone needs to explain to the public why research to save lives seems to take a back seat, especially when it comes to research to eradicate or prepare for such pandemics.
Why haven’t we learned from history concerning pandemics? They date as far back as the Bubonic Plague in the Middle Ages. Other pandemics include cholera, smallpox, Ebola, Asian flu, the Spanish flue, et al. Then don’t forget the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Are human lives just disposable liabilities of governments to be used at their discretion? Saving lives should take precedence over killing others for political reasons—often for power, control and subjugation by self-serving individuals or groups.
Pandemics are nothing new and decimate large populations, so why aren’t we doing whatever is necessary to prepare to combat them? We know they are probable in time. If we are able to arrest and put COVID-19 under control, let’s make sure we prioritize being more prepared in the future for the next pandemic which is sure to come. Whatever funding is needed to save lives through research and preparation for a pandemic should be prioritized.
The public should make sure those representing us as lawmakers don’t fall short of making research to save lives a priority. Some would be quick to state that the powers that be expect a certain number of people to be eliminated to decimate a world that is growing at an exponential rate. These powers are playing God when they decide who lives and who dies. They should be held accountable and tried by the masses. Research to save lives should not be political or contentious.
If you can find anything good about the latest pandemic, COVID-19 has made most of us realize what is important. We have a greater appreciation and love for family and friends and a committed unity that this can never capture us unprepared again. The time we are forced to spend together has strengthened the bond of love and prioritized family.
COVID-19 has shut down the economy and there are factions of the government rationalizing that bringing the economy back as soon as possible is more important than the number of humans lives that will eventually be lost. I wonder if they would be so quick to sacrifice their own loved ones for the economy? Ask yourself what your priority is—family or bringing back the economy as quickly as possible. Your priorities define who you really are.
