In uncertain times if people don’theed to any sort of advice, this symbol “#” so small and unprepossessing, wouldhelp win some big victories in the process. With its ever-growing influence,the hashtag #TalsaGharreyBehew is helping raise awareness among the masses.Used over 48,000 times, it has quite literally transformed from an online-communityto a social movement far beyond the social mediasphere!
Amid growing warnings that asubstantial section of the global population could become infected in thedeadly coronavirus pandemic, some people are characterized equally by their ignoranceand their total indifference to human life. Not knowing if science is a follyfor a layman but the consequences of such ignorance can be dangerous. And yet,a lot of people around the valley are simply refusing to change their attitudetowards this catastrophic disaster, having killed more than 12 thousand peopleso far. Despite knowing the grave consequences of their neglecting behaviour,people go to get a haircut, head to relatives’ places, gather at shop fronts ororganize family functions and parties. In some cases, this irresponsibilityeven amounts to flouting explicit orders. There are still hundreds ofinstitutions operating in contravention of the local quarantine rules. Thecollective consequences of the actions we take at the moment are even moremomentous. If we fail to flatten the curve—if the coronavirus continues tospread at such great speed that the number of patients requiring medical careoverwhelms the capacity of our health-care systems—doctors and nurses will needto make unfathomable decisions about whom to save and whom not.
Truth often takes a backseat. Thereare so many people finding it difficult to act in accordance with the minimaldemands morality makes of them in this extraordinary emergency. For those of uswho have spent the past weeks obsessed about every latest headline regardingthe evolution of the crisis, it is easy to forget that many of our fellowpeople simply don’t follow the news with the same regularity—or that they tuneinto radio shows and television networks that have, shamefully, beendownplaying the extent of the public-health emergency. People crowding intopublic places, hanging out in big groups, then, may simply fail to realise theseverity of the pandemic. Their sin is no less than an honest ignorance. Yetanother fact that the coronavirus does affect young people too and for thosewho are far more likely to survive, it is—from a purely selfishperspective—less obviously irrational to chance such social encounters.Moreover, the human tendency to make sacrifices for the suffering that is rightin front of our eyes, but not the suffering that is distant or difficult to seealso speaks aloud of this sheer ignorance.
The philosopher Peter Singer triedto portray a simple thought experiment in a famous paper. For instance, if aperson went for a walk in a park, and saw a little girl drowning in a pond, hewould likely feel that he should help her, even if it might ruin his fancyshirt. Most people recognise a moral obligation to help another at relatively littlecost to themselves. Then Singer presented a contrasting scenario. What if agirl was in mortal danger halfway across the world, and she could be saved bydonating the same amount of money it would take to buy that fancy shirt? The moral obligation to help, he argued,would be the same: The life of the distant girl is just as important, and thecost to the person just as small. And yet, most people would not feel the sameobligation to intervene. The same might apply in the time of COVID-19. Those refusingto stay home may not know the victims of their actions, even if they aregeographically proximate, and might never find out about the terribleconsequences of what they did and what they’re about to. Distance makes themunjustifiably callous. These explanations are all plausible so far as they gobut they altogether do not capture what is going on. The students studyingabroad who spent their last days on campus staging giant parties beforereturning home and hid their travel history on coming back thus avoiding properscrutiny at airport didn’t lack the means or the education to understand whatwas at stake. The many older people continuing their daily life as thoughnothing has changed aren’t motivated by the belief that they themselves havenothing to fear. And it really shouldn’t be too difficult for the worshippersin the mosque, if they fall ill, put their own loved ones at risk. Talking ofthe moral sacrifices that people are willing to make; instead, we need to befocused upon what kind of actions we are accustomed to evaluating from a moralpoint of view.
Our moral instincts have not beenhoned to guide us well in this extraordinary crisis. All of us are havingtrouble adjusting to a world in which leaving our own house for frivolousreasons carries the risk of manslaughter. This helps to explain why so manypeople have been ignoring public-health advice. But an explanation is not anexcuse. And right now, seemingly innocuous activities are the equivalent ofraising a revolver—and then pulling the trigger. So yes, it might feelperfectly normal to flout the call for social distancing every now and then.But by following our instincts rather than our reason, we are puttingourselves, our family members, our friends and our neighbours equally at risk.And that is simply unforgivable.
Now formally classified as apandemic by the World Health Organization, the outbreak has a familiarmagnifying effect. The consequences will be deadly, especially for thevulnerable; the people likely to suffer the most from failing health-careinfrastructures are the elderly and the immunocompromised. It has illuminatedfailures that ought to be too significant for anyone to ignore. The everydayinjustices on display to the world aren’t easy to forget. As the death tollmounts — and it will — so needs our people’s consciousness.