A Vaccine Won't Save Us

A vaccine will not make us care, empathize, be nice or act responsibly; nor will it make us respectful, kind to one another or behave appropriately.

At the end of 2020, looking across the world, the old divide between the rich and the poor has been surpassed by the divide between “I care” and “I couldn’t care less”.

There used to be a limit in what was morally acceptable to do and say publicly, especially if you were the president or prime minister of a country – there were (and still are) many well-hidden skeletons and traits of inappropriate behaviour across all political and business echelons of power.

These are no longer hidden today – in some circles, even publicly, they are being hailed as proof of being “authentic”.

There is nothing authentic in abusing the power and influence heads of state and government have. There is nothing human in separating children from their parents and locking them up in “receiving centres”.

There is nothing human in benefiting from state of the art COVID-19 treatment and telling your people, your countrymen that they can “beat they virus” – not when the death toll is reaching a quarter of a million, not when you are supposed to care and look after your “flock”.

To visualise what almost a quarter of a million lives lost look like, in case you are struggling, this is the footage of the 2019 Super Bowl final played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The stadium has a maximum capacity of 71,000 seats (only a third of the current COVID-19 death toll in the US). 

It is even more disturbing and concerning when you vote for a prime minister, only to find out that it is not actually the prime minister who actually runs the country but one of his senior advisers, one whose job and position must be protected at all costs. 

It is astounding to see that you’d rather see your premiership in tatters, your political credibility destroyed and your chances of re-election vanish – only to turn a blind eye and protect that adviser no matter the cost to 65 million people, to their trust in you – their leader – and to your party’s respect.

2020 is not about COVID-19 anymore; it is, at least in my view, about the human nature and the biggest social experiment of our century.

I look at the current president of the USA and see a modern version of Hitler – someone so in love with himself, his lies and rhetoric, that common sense, greater good, national interests and the welfare of his own people mean nothing and stand for little. Just publicity and discourse, void of essence and meaning.

I would not be surprised if we saw, soon, the first coup d’état in modern history in a democratic country. I feel sorry for those Republican senators and congressmen/women who are terrified to stand up to their party’s “leader”. But, of course, blackmail and disinformation have been raised to state level “tools” and they just do not dare to anger their commander in chief.

How low can you be, how miserable and pathetic can you get?

How deluded can one be not to see that Putin rejoices in Trump’s presidency because he (Trump) not only lost the credibility and respect of many world leaders who are Russia’s enemies but, also, because America’s (non-existent) foreign affairs policy allows extremism to thrive, grow and destabilise the country’s own geopolitical power?

Millions of pounds/dollars have been spent on communication strategies across the world, particularly in the UK. Some of the brightest minds I know have been working their bottoms off trying to ensure all messages resonate, reach different people, touch their hearts and cause them to act in a desired way to prevent the spread of infection.

But no matter how much money my government or the American government have thrown at these public awareness campaigns, no matter how brilliantly executed the communication campaigns have been, none of them – absolutely none – had any chance of ever succeeding. 

How can any mass communication campaign ever succeed if those we all look up to, seek guidance and leadership from, trust with our lives and livelihoods, are the first ones to totally disregard the messages and guidance put out?

How can anyone expect all British people to heed the government advice when the Prime Minister himself puts his senior adviser (one person) before 65 million others (the UK's entire population)? How can I – or you – trust anything my country’s elected leader tells me?

How does it make sense to any level-headed person that we can go to the pub (indoor space) and meet with friends, but we cannot go to visit our parents? Since when have stupidity and idiotic nonsense been raised and endorsed at national level?

How can Americans embrace social distancing and wearing a mask when the “leader of the free world”, the President himself does not wear one nor does he socially distance?

It’s ugly and frightening what I witness happening in the world today – we’re not used to seeing such actions, behaviours and attitudes in democracies; usually, we brush over these behaviours because they only happen in “third world countries”. Today, they are legitimised in what used to be the most respected democracies in the world.

What a surreal time we live in ... political cronyism and sycophancy, corruption and nepotism at the highest level of power ... And yet, we are asked to believe, look up to and trust our leaders ...

What’s even more frightening is the fact that many of us seem to have let loose; who cares if we misbehave, use derogatory language, lie outright, make up a slew of stories and use them as “facts”, appreciate misogyny and xenophobia, racism and bigotry and consider them as “values” and our "right of expression"?

How can we ask of businesses, of any business anywhere in the world, to be ethical, to do good, to care for the environment and society at large, to focus on more than profit, to be honest and responsible when those elected leaders many of these businesses’ jurisdictions fall in couldn’t care less? How?

If USA and UK are the most nefarious examples I think of, and since both nations have been held in such high regard in the not so distant past, are we slowly but surely heading towards a new system of government and governance where the old style politics and international affairs no longer matter? Where each politician is for his own, his cronies, his friends, and his family? When lies and mis/disinformation are given government endorsement?

A vaccine against COVID-19 will not undo the immense harm that’s been done to the fabric of our society; it won’t build bridges nor will it make us better as leaders or human beings; and it will not bring back the hundreds of thousands of lives needlessly lost.

A vaccine will protect our bodies; it will not heal our souls – and it will not repair a level of trust which, for at least my generation, it is almost irreparably broken.