World News: Borders Sealed, 67 Million on Lockdown, A Nation at War

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Category: World News

Published on Thursday, 19 March 2020 20:55

Written by Olivier Longhi

Between confinement, worry and amazement, the country faces an invisible virus carrying a lot of consequences for the moment unknown but unavoidable. Among the first: humility and modesty.

However, there is no need to wait for the virus to die down to satisfy it. There is no doubt that there will be a before and after a coronavirus. Confining a country, here France, or even an entire continent is unprecedented in history if not exogenous causes unwanted and not controlled by men.

So, to wonder today about the coronavirus, its speed of propagation, the health risks to which it exposes, ... all this is trivial as the virus now paces the daily lives of billions of people.

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On the French scale, it is first and foremost the stupefaction that prevailed, it should be recognized. Because this virus, coming from distant Asia, appeared to us only on the covers of newspapers or comments to which we paid only a discreet ear.

War and Comfort

But when the bad happened, when the doors closed on us and our families, we had to face the facts: danger was lurking. The President of the Republic, serious and hieratic, solemnly announced it: "We are at war! "Damn! In war ! Certainly, but against an invisible enemy! Worse than that! An enemy who can hide in all of us!

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So, hay popularity, yellow vests or pension reforms! Everything has been put away in the closet to fight a virus that makes people tremble to the top of the state. It must be said that the stakes are high because, when you look at it, it touches the very foundation of any society: Man. And even more so, to the systems that this one has built to improve its comfort.

Who would have imagined that in a country like France, one of the largest economic powers in the world, among the most comfortable, the healthcare system would be threatened because it was unable to manage the influx of patients?

And some shout at the underestimation of the epidemic before it enters the national territory. It is possible but, frankly, the question is no longer there. Today, concerns are focused on the daily management of a worried and confined population of 67 million.

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The scenario is nevertheless extraordinary, almost surreal in the 21st century. And yet, we must already think about tomorrow, that is to say what this world-class virus will generate as changes. Because there will undoubtedly be. Our professional habits, our modes of travel, our economic and societal models will be upset by a virus which sends us back to our weaknesses and our mistakes.

Nature and Contempt

Our excessive egos, our arrogant confidence in our own power of domination over nature were slapped by a virus in the early hours despised to be finally feared.

Just like the Black Plague of 1348 which killed thirty million Europeans, in the heart of a 15th century already firmly committed to the Renaissance, the coronavirus mowed down, for a time, the march forward of the phenomena of globalization and standardization as if to remind us that it is Nature which commands and not Man who is, he forgot, a multiple component.

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This ticking virus annoys and irritates him because it shakes up a humanity steeped in habits that it had ended up assimilating these same habits to certainties rooted in the depths of collective consciousness. To say that in France this virus is destroying society is an understatement.

The French, always quick to give lessons to the whole world, strong from their history, from their revolutionary heritage fruit of the tolerance and the humanism of the Enlightenment, are confined at home, like dirty kids deprived of exit after having gauged with a little contempt for its Italian neighbors.

Italy, which has stored its dolce vita in the cupboards while waiting for better days, suffers in silence in its country transformed into a den. And perhaps the first of the consequences of this virus arises: Relearning modesty and humility. Nature has reminded us of this and will not fail to repeat the warning.

Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.