Member-only story
The Pandemic Reminded us We’re a Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves
We have nothing if we don’t have shared experiences and a collective future.
The digital age facilitated the tools to communicate instantly, and television, the internet, and word of mouth disseminated the 2020 World Health Organization's (WHO) pandemic announcement to big cities and remote regions everywhere. Every human, from Seychelles to New Zealand to small indigenous villages in the Andes, collectively realized a shared global calamity. It was our most connected and lonesome communal experience.
A virus indiscriminately infected humanity, but socioeconomic inequalities discriminately decided the severity because artificial constructs divide us, and wealth determines well-being. The impoverished and income-dependent (everyone but the rich) confronted financial insecurities, confined spaces, and supply shortages, while the rich posted self-isolation photos from their mansions or yachts in the Bahamas.
Nonessential workers abruptly isolated, severing social encounters and working remotely, while essential workers kept civilization from collapsing by providing medical and social care, food supplies, and fundamental needs. Categorizing labor by purposefulness, not profits, unveiled the meaning or meaninglessness of our…
