Covid-19 is not nature's revenge on humans as some have suggested. No more than the crashes of the 737 MAX 8 were God's revenge on us for flying like birds when he didn't give us wings. This claim is a piece of poetry, not a statement of fact.

The simple truth is that we were careless. Humans explore the extreme limits of physical possibility in their attempts to gain maximum enjoyment from life. We stretch boundaries to a point that sometimes challenges belief. Most of the world benefits from this to at least some degree. But countless incidents over the millennia have served to remind us that we are not infallible. We need to watch our step, or else we can come badly unstuck.

The fire of London in 1666, the sinking of the Titanic, the Hindenberg disaster, the 9/11 World Trade Centre and thalidomide are all reminders that ambition must be tempered by caution. We must hasten slowly, diligently watching our backs at all times. In this instance, we dropped the ball.

Bill Gates warned of this in 2015, but he was far from being the first. Connecting the whole world together with quick and easy jet travel was always risking a pandemic. We did that without having any reliable solution or remedies at hand and it blew up in our faces. Lesson learned. The goal of colonising Mars is now much less important than finding a vaccine for Covid-19. Or a least a reasonably good cure.

These are the simple facts of the matter. Inventing poetic explanations may be useful for helping people to cope with an upsetting experience. Also, for pushing a preferred political agenda. But it isn't now and never will be an adequate substitute for facing up to reality. The more we do of that, the less likely it is that we will mess up in the first place.


(image courtesy Luiza Bruan - Unsplash)