When John Galt, the brilliant protagonist of Ayn Rand’s powerful book Atlas Shrugged, resolutely said that he would “stop the motor of the world,” neither he nor his creator Rand could have imagined living in the times of novel coronavirus.
And as billions of people across the globe remain locked down in homes and shelters, the virus does seem to have turned John Galt’s fictional words to reality—albeit with different philosophical connotations.
The world’s motor is sputtering, if not completely halted.
In the middle of a lot of human misery and thousands of deaths, the lens through which people see their place in nature is casting some cathartic visions of the future.
The questions that are bubbling up in people’s minds are as varied as our existential needs. Whatever will happen to the world economy, already facing downturn in several regions? How will people be fed if there are not enough food provisions during and immediately after the pandemic, especially as agriculture and manufacturing remain in dire straits? Will people lose their minds (besides jobs) after prolonged confinement? Is this all due to some god’s curse and we are getting the disease as a punishment for our past sins?
Needless to say, as the world waits with bated breath and sanitized sneezes, a majority of denizens are raring to go back to the life of rampant travel and conspicuous consumption they have gotten so used to. Especially in the decades past World War II, as industrialization took a global strangle-hold, oil flowed freely, and factories churned out objects of desire frenetically, generation upon generation gorged on the world’s newfound prosperity. Hedonistic optimists hailed productivity gains, ever-faster computers, and shorter product life-cycles as the arrival of the Age of Abundance.
Now, with all that prosperity in retreat and a vaccine for the virus months away, the world appears headed toward gloom and doom.
But something else was also noticed—and appreciated—as the current lockdown lengthened from days into weeks. As the roads remained empty and the chimneys stopped billowing tons of carbon into the atmosphere, both birds and people cooed in unison. “Look ma, no pollution!” Pictures and videos of never-seen-before behavior of birds, beasts, and mother nature were shared enthusiastically on social media.
This dichotomy presents an opportunity disguised as a threat. The challenge is, how to crank up the industry and the economy back to normalcy without losing sight of those wonderful pictures of nature reclaiming its glory? If anything, statesmen and economists would argue, the months lost to Covid-19 need to be made up for by pressing the pedal on production and growth. “Stimulus” should be the key word, no?
Without a moment’s hesitation, I must say, “No.” Instead, let’s use the pause button we have already pressed as a real moment in our relentless economic march to reflect, reset, and restore: Reflect on our ways of achieving growth and producing tons of unnecessary or non-durable stuff, reset our needs to responsible consumption and behavior (something we are learning in lockdown but can practice in freedom as well), and restore a bit, just a wee bit, of the majesty of the natural world around us.
This, I know, will not be easy. But we must make a start somewhere—and the current moment seems apt. By pooling the best technical talent and advancements, as well as the resources of governments and philanthropic billionaires (some of whom are showing exemplary initiative and kindness of late), we must attempt, at a global scale, to live more in harmony with other beings who...Also. Breathe. This. Only. Living. Planet’s. Air. Just as we do. But who are not in a position to change our overall collective destiny through small but significant tweaks in behavior—by stopping to eat human beings for crave’s sake, for instance.
Let’s bat for all life on earth.
