By Mustapha Dahleb
A small microscopic thing called a coronavirus is turning the planet upside down. Something invisible has come to rule. It’s challenging everything and upsetting the established order. Everything falls back into place, differently.
What the great Western powers couldn’t get in Syria, Libya, Yemen, …this little thing got it (cease-fire, truce…).
What the Algerian army couldn’t get, this little thing got it (the Hirak ended).
What the political opponents could not obtain, this little thing obtained (postponement of the electoral deadlines. ..).
What companies could not get, this little thing got it (tax rebates, exemptions, zero rate credits, investment funds, lower prices of strategic raw materials. ..).
What the yellow jackets and the trade unions could not get, this little thing got it (lower petrol prices, reinforced social protection…).
Suddenly, in the western world, fuel went down, pollution went down, people started to have time, so much time that they don’t even know what to do with it. Parents are getting to know their children, children are learning to stay with their families, work is no longer a priority, travel and leisure are no longer the norm of a successful life.
Suddenly, in silence, we look back at ourselves and understand the value of the words solidarity and vulnerability.
Suddenly we realize that we are all in the same boat, rich and poor. We realize that we had robbed the shelves of stores together and together we realize that the hospitals are full and that money is not important. That we all have the same human identity in the face of the coronavirus.
We realize that in garages, high-end cars are stopped just because no one can get out.
In just a few days, the universe was able to establish social equality that was impossible to imagine.
Fear invaded everyone. It changed sides. It left the poor to live with the rich and powerful. It reminded them of their humanity and revealed their humanism.
May this serve to realize the vulnerability of human beings who seek to inhabit the planet Mars and who believe they are strong enough to clone human beings to hope to live forever.
May this serve to realize the limit of human intelligence in the face of the force of heaven.
It took only a few days for certainty to become uncertainty, for strength to become weakness, for power to become solidarity and consultation.
It took only a few days for Africa to become a safe continent. That the dream became a lie.
It took only a few days for humanity to become aware that it is nothing but breath and dust.
Who are we? What are we worth? What can we do against this coronavirus?
Let’s face the facts and wait for Providence.
Let us question our “humanity” in this coronavirus-proof “globalism”.
Let us stay at home and meditate on this pandemic.
Let us love each other alive!
