This is a thought provoking reflection on the confrontation of humanity with oppression/death, commemorated during Passover and Easter, in light of the current mondial confrontation with the coronavirus. The editors of the Financial Times conclude that: “Whether we are believers or not, nothing could remind us more powerfully than the pandemic of humanity’s eternal search for meaning in the realities of life and death.” Transcending the particular narratives of Judaism and Christianity, the editors conclude that shared among these traditions is the fundamental conviction that there is an “overriding obligation to fellow humans.”
However, even though there is a call to be united in the strife against oppression, the coronavirus pandemic shows that not all is that easy. Rich deal with isolation more easily than poor, young run much less risk than old, advanced economies have much more capacity to deal with and support their populations than developing economies.
The editors of the Financial Times encourage their readers to act as they seem to believe and work to share the burden of this pandemic equally. The risk of not aiming to equally carry this burden is a deeper, profounder, and more permanent division between rich and poor, advantaged and developing, and old and young. This opinion piece really is worth a read!
Read Full Story on Financial Times Editorial Board
Original Language: English
Published on: 10 April 2020
Photo: Prateek Gautam on Unsplash