A diseased world: The tale of individual freedoms and the greater good
Aysha Taryam
Editor-in-Chief, Gulf Today News and Media.
- 23 Dec 2020
It is often difficult, at times even impossible, to see clearly from within the grasp of a tragedy but for those of us looking closely, as this pandemic continues to ravage the world, we might appreciate the massive social experiment that it has put us through and begin to decipher its results in real time instead of the usual manner of hindsight. It must not be lost on anyone that the societal, cultural and individual plates shifting under the pressure of the pandemic have resulted in seismic reactions, some of which have shattered the veneer of ideal notions we previously had about societies. Ones that we have naturally put in hierarchies labelling them from First to Third World countries.
Almost a year in and the coronavirus has given us a new set of tests, the results of which must redefine our outlook on societies and humanity as a whole. As we analyse the statistical ebb and of those affected by the disease and watch as governments scramble for solutions tailored to their own societal fabric, we have come to hear the figures speak. The sound of one specific element resonated highly, revealing that countries made of collectivist cultures have outdone those with individualistic ideologies. Cross-cultural psychology imposes on us the obligation to dissect the reasons behind the figures if only to understand that everything is connected and that it all begins and ends with us. Analysts studying social bonds believe that cohesive societies marked by strong positive relationships across social groups and between social groups and the government are more capable of overcoming shared problems than those with weak or non-existent cohesiveness.
One such example was set by the African continent which has registered relatively low Covid-19 infection and death rates, leaving observers bewildered as those all-powerful First World countries continue to be consumed by the disease. This continent, rife with underdevelopment, foreign dependency, poverty and continually battling numerous diseases, Africa, which lacks physical and health infrastructure, has low levels of sanitation and great food insecurity but has the pandemic well and truly under control. While the virus exacerbated its economic disparities surveys have shown that the African people were more willing to share and sacrifice for the greater good. Meanwhile, figures show nations like the United States and Britain buckling under its weight with supermarket shelves being wiped clean and people hoarding items that they do not even need, forcing their governments to make formal pleas for courtesy and compassion towards others.
As with every experiment of course there are many other factors at play when it comes to the pandemic and its spread and hold on nations but the fact remains that when faced with the disease and with the knowledge of how it spreads almost all nations that value the rights of an individual over the collective vehemently refused to wear masks, exercising their freedom of choice, choosing not to inconvenience themselves over the safety of others. To this day and after watching the rising number of bodies that have succumbed to this disease people are protesting for their right not to wear masks and not to be locked down. This is not to say that individuality is the enemy and freedom of choice should be threatened but it is worth some contemplation when the ‘I’ comes at the cost of the ‘we’, what is left of you when the ‘us’ is gone?
For centuries the Western world has demonised collectivism and found varying degrees of expressions for its movements while the rest of the world idealised the Western democracies and their individualistic traits. Many young nations around the world are actively forgoing their cultural collectivist norms in the hopes of successfully mimicking these ‘First-World countries’ yet when we look closely and delve deeper into the nature of a nation which has nurtured people through severing human bonds and tightening social circles, we see that when faced with collective suffering, we cannot expect to face it by individual healing. Humanity is a tribe that must work together in order to overcome. Covid-19 has tested us and the results have spoken.
