Article by: Zothanzuala Hmar, Brandon Tlau, The North-Eastern Chronicle
World War II: About 70-80 million people died in the war that lasted more than half a decade.
Why? For numerous reasons which can all be attributed to greed, pride, selfishness, ignorance, and bitterness to name a few. Perfect catalysts for global disaster, crucial ingredients of what we may refer to as ‘bad ideology’.
According to the World Health Organisation, “An estimated 6.3 million children under 15 years of age died in 2017, or 1 every 5 seconds, mostly of preventable causes,” and the huge chunk of these deaths occur in the first 5 years of life, “with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths.”
How often does that cross the mind of a well-fed, entitled, ‘woke’ earth dweller always ready to add a few more filters to an already filtered existence.
Not to say that one should focus on such unpleasantness every minute of the day, but one must be dutifully aware that there is more to life than sheepishly dancing in front of a smartphone camera and sharing it on social media.
Also read: Mumbai: 26-year-old doctor tests COVID positive thrice; Twice after both vaccine doses
All about the Covid-19 pandemic
Trendy? Yes. Significant? It depends.
COVID-19: So far, nearly 197.2 million people have been infected, and more than 4.20 have died from the virus.
Although the exact origin of this novel coronavirus is still unknown, it is undeniable that a touch of human idiocy was involved in the process.
It is hard to overlook the probability of it being a cumulation of our irresponsible actions, all in the name of progress. In the words of Edward Abbey— “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
How to keep oneself equipped with correct fact at times like this?
Our job as educated, well-informed, opinionated, tech savvy citizens of the world should first and foremost be to seek to understand what is, was, and could be.
Secondly, to find out what truths or untruths may be hidden underneath all the noise and chatter constantly infiltrating our consciousness.
Thirdly, to be able to look, feel, and see the world through different lenses and make rational judgements with as little prejudice as humanly possible.
Lastly, and most importantly, it is our responsibility to adapt to the invariable changes brought about by our incessant need for novelty.
Keeping our ears and our eyes open for reliable information, our mouths ready for a quick but sensible retort, and our limbs equipped with the tools to shape this soon-to-be uninhabitable world into a little less terrifying place.
