The present work is protected by copyright in all its parts.
© 2021 by Heinz Hermann Maria Hoppe.
All rights reserved.
‘In Isolation’ / Animated projection / 2021 / Runtime: 00:01:11
viral divided /
some cough, the others look then /
some better away, the others confrontational /
some disinfect, the others shake their heads /
some behind their masks, the others revolt without /
some rule, the others also lament /
some crepate, the others enjoy /
some cry, the others laugh – yet? /
some deliver, the others consume bored /
some mobilize, the others dismantle /
demonstratively united, the others /
some invest, the others not now after all /
some in the homeoffice, are the others also at home /
some profit, the others stay behind again /
some vaccinate, the others are still waiting /
for the some ///
Comment
Author: Heinz Hermann Maria Hoppe
March 2021. We are still in a kind of limbo, some people see themselves in free fall. The pandemic and the lockdown continue, and a third wave is on the horizon because the number of infections rises again. The ill, the elderly, and the disabled are still isolated. We wait for vaccination or refuse it. Human ties are broken, many die lonely and of grief. No handshake, no hug, a willed smile hidden behind the mask ... The big bow we make around each other – how will the new behavior shape us for our encounters after the pandemic? Wasn’t our interaction with each other already distant and more impersonal than before? Haven’t we long since been living in the society of loners who only think of themselves?
A virus is not an animal, rather a ‘thing’, without a neuronal system; just a micro-container, which transports molecular codes into cells. Some viruses even survive in space. They are part of our ecosystems and the human superorganism. Nevertheless, we curse viruses because one of them dared to transgress our ideas.
The image of the Corona virus, which is now cemented in us, gives us a target. We always make inner images of our opponents, no matter how small they are. We have to fight someone or something so that we can make peace with ourselves. In the pandemic, we are again fighting each other, fighting over scarce mask and vaccine quotas, over regional and national border closures, – instead of pulling together. After the panic, we will foreseeably carry on as before, instead of refraining from what is destroying everyone and everything.
The virus knows no boundaries, we do not recognize our limitations. When it comes to benefits that are obvious to us, we also only look at tomorrow, not further ahead. We cannot agree and selfishly inflame moods instead of abiding by clear rules. In the Corona pandemic, words of war have long become commonplace: System relevance, triage, tracking, crisis products, reserve capacity, Corona spies and Corona dictatorship, emergency parliament, excess mortality, border closure, contagion, conspiracy, safe distance, general order, contact person, movement profile, curfew, protective screen, mortality rate, mask requirement, fundamental rights encroachment, risk area, crisis policy, catastrophic case, target incidence, isolation, exit strategy, … Such words scare some, and fire up others.
We have only ourselves to blame, say the experts. Because we interfere too much with nature. The Covid 19 pandemic is self-made and will not be the last pandemic, say scientists. If so, our foreseeable post-crisis actions would continue to make us our greatest enemy. Is man the natural enemy of himself? Is it in man’s nature to exterminate himself, unlike animals who sacrifice themselves for their brood? If not, how can we explain the many wars in history in which the warring parties were not concerned with survival due to a shortage of food? How is it to be explained that we give away the basis of existence of our descendants for an abstract medium of exchange – money?
More catastrophic zoonotic diseases could soon spread, becoming even deadlier and hitting the global economy even harder, warn scientists at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), of which Germany is a member. If we do not end the uncontrolled trade in wildlife, if our trade and production systems continue to destroy natural areas through agriculture and forestry, and if we do not stop our overconsumption and waste, then an estimated 1.7 million previously unknown viruses could reveal themselves. 500,000 to 850,000 of these are believed to have the potential for new pandemics.*
Sources:
* See Krumenacker, Thomas, Wider das Pandemiezeitalter in Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rubrik Wissen (Rubrik Knowledge) from 10-30-2020 (German Source).
See also the international website: ipbes www.ipbes.net and Workshop-Bericht der ipbes Deutsche Koordinierungsstelle (German Source): www.de-ipbes.de/de/IPBES-Workshop-Bericht-zu-Biodiversitat-und-Pandemien-2075.html