‘Never let a good crisis go to waste,’ became a historic adage, because it challenges to see opportunities in obstacles, precisely what we should do in Times of Corona

Sometimes we need a crisis, to smash the wall, fall deep and hard, to get up after and see everything clear again. Another perspective, not to rebuild or re-establish the person or the world as we know it, but to reincarnate in a renewed version.

Sometimes you need to dive deep to see the light.

Sometimes you need to hit the wall to gain insight.

A while ago I wrote how Covid-19, the Great Pandemic, has shown us the cracks in the system by being a fast and furious catalyst for the problems inherent at our current world. Poverty, unemployment, inequality, domestic violence, violation of human rights, limitation of press freedom, unfair trade balances and trade agreements, the weakness of our globalised trade and tourism system, and the lack of a decent health care system in many countries.

Covid-19 dove deep into the system and shined a light on the hidden problems, making the cracks becoming visible from outside.

When facing reality, from personal to global problems, all masks fall off. When everything is lost, only the essence remains, and there is nothing left to hide behind.

Since Covid-19 unveiled the cracks, it is up to us to fix it, or to pull it down all together and reconstruct something new.

Hope in Times of Corona

If Covid-19 gave me anything, except for insights in how our world really functions, and the vulnerability of every single one of us, in front of a virus as small as invisible to the bare eye, Covid-19 gave me hope.

As a research journalist specialised in climate change and sustainable development, I have been daily confronted with the issue of climate change: the consequences as much as the possible solutions and related environmental, social, political, and economical problems.

Being aware of the severity and the scale of it, I always wondered what it would take before we would stop it. One day I asked an experienced climate change scientist about his hopes and expectations with regards for the future, if we would ever start taking action? “We will,” he answered firmly, “when it will become as unbearable and unliveable.” He paused.  “When we reached that point, we won’t be asking about prices or efforts anymore, we will be doing whatever it takes to stop it.”

From Disbelief to Despair

When I see at the spread of Covid-19, I see a fast-forwarded movement of climate change. At first when it started in China, nobody believed how bad it potentially could be, nor it would happen to them. But soon disbelief turned into despair.

When the severity and scale became tangible, we did the impossible to protect our lives, regardless the counterarguments. We enforced unforeseen lockdowns and restrictions, closed all economic activities except for the essential ones, and some countries even established a gigantic social care system. We put human lives before economic interests.

Therefore, I have hope, we can do the impossible and stop this next global treat as well. This hope is not exclusively for climate change, but for several global challenges. Covid-19 made various problems tangible, and unbearable; now it is up to us to act. What will it take?

The next series will contain building blocks for the world ahead of us: Earth 3.0, are you on board?

This article is part of the series of Hope in Times of Corona. Read

1. how this times of self-isolation should not mean loneliness,
2. how you can contribute to this battle, 
3. how gratitude lights up the dark,  
4. how united we will stand strong
5. on the most util strategy in awake of a crisis 
6. how I got blown of my feet as well, but caught by many caring hands, 
7. how being calm can get us through the storm.
8. about Love in Times of Corona
9. how to discover your own talents 
10. why we need stories to hold on to 
11. how you can be creative and innovative.
12. how to spend your mot valuable assets in times of Corona.
13. how to listen to the sound of silence. 
14. How breate taking Corona really is.
15. discover the other freedoms Corona has shown us, 
16. about the new-born freedom Corona gave us.
17. about another way to exceed your personal bubble.
18. about the position of nature in this entire story
19. about nature bouncing back
20. about the crucial choice between resilience and resistance
21. about the game to play
22. about star gazing in dark times
23. About looking for Meaning
24. about what Easter and Corona have in Common
25. About the Shark and the Turtle
26. About the Irony of Distance
27. Why to Hold on
28. Fake News
29. about The Big Unknown we live at
30. about Feeling Alive
31. about what the Birthday of my nephew learned me about life 
32. About where we should go from here?
33. About the Great War and the Great Pandemic, and we should not forget
34. about history’s most important message, echoed by corona
35. How one country could rule them all
36. About how to prevent the next Green Pandemic 
37. about how we are experiencing a new episode of our history books
38. masks off, how a friend in need is a friend indeed
39. What’s Next. after we flattened the curve?
40. how will our personal story look like in a post-corona world?

Or wait until tomorrow, when I’ll shine another light on yet another positive corner of this dark times.