What lessons can coronavirus teach us?
Karwan Ibrahim

Some commentators have argued that in recent decades human beings have become increasingly selfish and greedy, that they are not thinking properly about environmental pollution, poverty, and climate change. But now faced with the coronavirus outbreak, can we learn lessons from this crisis?

Mihran Mudiri, an Iranian actor argues that the coronavirus pandemic may lead us to act again like we are all human beings who are responsible for each other’s lives and that we should have empathy for others because we may soon find ourselves in their shoes.

He also says that coronavirus may encourage us to be kinder with one another, to help each other to develop, and to change this life for a better one.

As Mihran says: this may not be a nice time, but it is a good time to think about human dignity.

Personally I, have faced many depressing times in the Kurdistan Region. Injustice was killing me before coronavirus. I have been arrested as a journalist several times. Sometimes I thought: let this unjust world destroy itself; but I always come back to thinking about how to build a better life for people. Now it is time for those who have created injustice to think about the people again.

Humanity as a whole is now facing a global disease and, when you see people speak about the pandemic, you can feel a global emotion of empathy. For example, as a Kurd, I am very sad for the Italian people, Iranians, and people in all the other countries experiencing outbreaks. I see them as a part of myself. This feeling is true for other nations as well. US citizens also worry for the Iranian people and Iraqis and others in the Arab world are hopeful that Chinese people will recover too.

The virus is attacking all people, not one particular nation or country. It threatens everyone: rich, poor, young, old, black, white, officials, citizens, and refugee alike. Human life is in danger and this situation compels us to think about each other again and, by consequence, to reevaluate our attitude toward the environment and how our greed is destroying nature and to think about poverty and injustice.

Coronavirus knows no borders and now, more than ever, it is time for us all to be true global citizens. Now is the time for stronger economies to step up and give additional funding to global agencies that are working to create a vaccine and to support poorer countries in their efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. There is not enough global cooperation in the effort to confront coronavirus so far: each country is fighting it independently, despite facing the same problem.

If anything, the coronavirus crisis represents an opportunity to rebuild a global system to fight our other problems like fighting environmental pollution and global poverty, to remove injustice and corruption.


AM:06:27:01/04/2020