Whose fault is it?

We got used to this so much, we need to blame someone. 

We have to identify whom are we going to point our fingers against. Can we blame the bats for the virus? We did blame cows, pigs and birds before and started campaigns against eating meat! Can we blame the Chinese culture for eating wild animals? I mean the French are eating frogs and so many other cultures have different eating habits that might sound weird for you and me. Can we blame the European free movement policies for spreading the virus within and worldwide? Europe now is the most affected zone! Can you blame the Italians for getting a little bit relaxed with their response to the quarantine recommendations? In the end, no one really expected the Coronavirus COVID-19 to be that much contagious and serious. 

The answer, in my opinion, is that there is no one to blame. Nobody!

It is up to humanity now to reflect on reality differently, change the way we were taught to react to similar situations. We have to look for the solution rather than looking backwards! There should be some change in the way we look at things! There should be some focus on what is important and what is correct and the right thing to do from a human perspective rather than from a political, economical or even religious angle. What is of real value to all of us. What do we all care about and what can we do to make this life worth living. 

Professionals in developed communities are working from home, doing all that it takes to stay safe and socially isolate themselves as per the international recommendations. Drastic measures have been decided to control the spreading of the virus and it seems to be working in some places. China announced Zero new cases for the second day on the row since the outbreak of the virus. But, some people, communities and countries with fewer tools and fewer resources will suffer more than others. Some will get much more affected than the privileged ones! 

Whose fault is it that a few are in a better position than others? 

We have to look deeper into the effect of the current global situation. Take this year 2020 as an example. Not only with the epidemic of the Coronavirus COVID-19. There is an ongoing economic war between the USA and China, an Oil price war going between governments of Oil producers. Another Water supply war is erupting very soon in Africa, the refugees crisis is not over yet, the classic Palestinian Israeli conflict seems to be at a stage that is worse than ever, conventional weapon driven to war with bombs and guns are still going at some parts of the planet as you are reading these words and much more negative news depending on which part of the world you are today and what the media is feeding you with!

Whose fault is it that everything is happening at the same time?

As a result of all or some of the above, a lot of human beings, families, elderly people and children’s normal life is now negatively affected and is getting from bad to worse, maybe there is not a banking crisis - yet - but small, medium-size and big huge corporations are getting into really tough times this year. 2020 is going to be quiet a challenge for a lot of people! 

Let’s take one business sector and talk about. I would say Tourism for example, and see how far the chain reaction of the current situation will have as an effect.

People are not travelling whether because of government travel bans or because people are simply concerned about their health. This will remain for a while In order to change. So, it has been tough and it will stay for a while like that. As a result, a few industries will be affected as well. Like travel agencies, aviation and all ancillary businesses around airports, transportation, hotels, oil and gas, restaurants, bars, night clubs, entertainment and much more.  

When the above businesses get affected, the automatic response for all such corporations will be to reduce costs. This is the only way they will be able to survive without a regular income. So, they will turn to their fixed costs which are majorly the money they pay for their staff, their business premises or their suppliers. So, Suppliers will not be paid, and employees - in mass numbers - will lose their jobs or stay without getting paid or forced to take unpaid vacations and office landlords are not going to collect their rents. Other service providers like tourism brokers or agents, freelance drivers, waiters, who mainly work on commission basis or per piece or on tips will have much lower income and that is only in case they were able to keep their jobs. This automatically means that a considerable amount of people - down the line - will have either much lower or no income at all. The regular family and household will be greatly affected.

Again the above will affect the regular spending of the regular families. Take for example education tuitions fees for schools, or nurseries and even day-care businesses for the young ones, all the out-of-school extra activities will be on hold, these are all small and micro businesses in most cases who survive by the direct income of a per class or per session payments, like sports classes and talent activities like acting, painting, dancing or music classes. Families may not even be able to pay their home loans and mortgage payments, the residential rental checks will bounce, credit card bills will fall behind, no food delivery, no regular family entertainment like cinema, theatre, kids playgrounds, and much more. 

Whose fault is it? 

Can we blame the CEO or the CFO for taking the decision laying off employees? If they do not react they will lose their jobs too. Can we blame the financial institutions for applying interests for credit cards and loans defaulting customers? They are just applying the terms of the agreement. Can we blame the private schools for not giving refunds for tuition fees for the education year that got interrupted? But, how can they pay their dues if they can't process any refunds? The academic year got interrupted but they still have to pay for regular bills, rent checks and salaries of teachers. Can we blame the landlords applying to evict the tenants who are not paying rent? Ok I know they lost their jobs and can’t pay, the landlord as well as mortgage payments to fulfill and have a family to support and kids to feed. No rent means no money. So...?

Can we blame anyone? No. But the above will be facts that we all have to face. 

Just like the only solution to the current epidemic falls on the actions of all of us. Staying at home to control the virus, I see the solution as well falls on our shoulders to face the negative financial impact on our communities. 

2020 is an iconic milestone for humanity whether we leave a positive or a negative remark in history books. It is time for people to react:

• It is time for governments to step in and legislate interest cuts, tax waivers, fee waivers, and to provide allowances for the less privileged and the most affected because that is the right thing to do.
• It is time for financial institutes to step in and give penalty waivers, interest cuts, grace periods, an interest-free top-up for loans and free benefits to the public because that is the right thing to do.
• It is time for the Mega Corporations to step in and fund its small and micro competitors to survive because that is the right thing to do.
• It is time for the successful businessmen to step in and donate funds towards supporting the less privileged in their communities because that is the right thing to do. 
• It is time for influencers, bloggers, actors and famous figures to step in and give back to the public who made them successful because this is the right thing to do. 
• It is time for heads of Human Resources across all markets and all industries to step up and refuse to lay off employees or force them to take unpaid vacations because it is the right thing to do.
• It is time for CEO’s and CFO’s to face the board this year and openly say yes. We made no profits or we made big losses during 2020 but we kept our employees who will drive us to success 2021 because this is the right thing to do.
• It is time for Property Developers to allow their defaulting customers to pay less or to take their time to pay their installments, penalty-free because that is the right thing to do.
• It is time for telecom operators and internet providers to step in, decide not to make profits for 2020 and continue working on reaching more people, covering more areas, providing free services and keeping their staff working because this is the right thing to do.
• It is time for private hospitals to step up and support the government hospitals and the local health systems to cover as much as possible of their communities for free because this is the right thing to do.
• It is time for all of us to choose to spend our money with small businesses and local brands rather than spending on the multi-million dollar corporation because that is the right thing to do. 
• It is time for each family to sit down and reassess their spending behavior and start reflecting on all what they posses, to see what makes a difference in their life and what brings in real value. To let go of what is useless and to decide not to repeat any irresponsible spending because this is the right thing to do.  

In the end, it is up to each one of us to make the difference today by starting by ourselves, leading by example and it is time for all of us to believe that the change can happen.

Spreading positive brings positive. Believe it, Practice it then go ahead and Spread it.

What if we do not succeed? Whose fault is it?

If we know the solution and we do not do our part? Who is going to be responsible? 

The answer is Everybody.