As they say the world is not going to be the same after this. This pandemic has, as it looks like, changed the foundations of the global order. Not just the things at global level, at the level of the governments of different countries, changes are tectonic. Why talk of governments only, all human communities and societies have undergone a mental and conditional shift. Even at the level of individual, minds have undergone a huge change. As we go through this pandemic we really don’t know where the world will finally end. But one thing is sure, that from individuals to societies, from institutions to processes, from governments to transnational organisations, from regional to global, things will start taking new shape. It is difficult to predict whether the world will change for good or for worse, but given the behaviour of powers, there are apprehensions that we might face a more darker time ahead. The idea of individual freedoms, and liberties might clash with the surveillance capitalism and the states that back it. The actual situation will come to fore only once the pandemic is over, as the problems will start surfacing up one by one. But this is time that human societies world over start reflecting on those problems. Beyond reflection, we should also prepare ground for dealing with those problems with a human heart.
At a time when the powers of the world are busy in putting the blame at other’s door, it is time to think beyond this blame-game. At a time when we are engrossed in talking about what will happen to economy, we must spare some time to think about what will happen to the human. There is a danger of states and systems turning ruthless. In order to compensate the loses those who control the economic levers can resort to exploitative practices. We can be fooled into believing many things that we would decades later come to know were actually traps. So while humans, world over, fight against this pandemic, they should prepare themselves for a bigger fight. And in this the genuine political leadership in the world, at different levels, should come forward and become a bulwark in the fight against exploitative trends.