THE Covid-19 pandemic has paralysed the whole world as never before, and nations are looking at a long-haul economic recession, if not a depression, similar to the one that happened a century ago.

Unless a cure or a vaccine is discovered quickly, the crisis will persist and the future of mankind will be continuously threatened. Much hardship and deprivation awaits the people and nations as there is no end in sight for this scourge. The spillover and domino effects on the economies of the world are spiralling out of control.

Man is a social being and not being allowed to gather together and being ordered to practise social distancing strikes at the heart of human nature.  Humans have to congregate in schools, universities, hospitals, places of employment, markets, supermarkets, airports, stadiums, houses of worship  and others, but this cannot be done now due to the lockdown to prevent the infection from spreading. Due to the lack of economic activity the world over, prices of a wide range of commodities, agricultural produce and manufactured products – apart from medical and pharmaceutical items – have plummeted, making it harder for economies to recover quickly. Many countries have come up with huge monetary stimulus packages, which may be effective in the short term.

Covid-19 has given man a rare insight to observe his present and future direction. The saying that none are so blind as those who will not see, is apt in the circumstances. For decades, many leaders and civil society bodies in various fields have warned of the wrongful and wasteful course man is following blindly and expecting no repercussions. Covid-19 did not appear in a vacuum but many conditions were ripe for its emergence as a deadly killer. The environmental degradation of the past few decades has caused massive pollution of land, water and air, making it easier for harmful organisms to thrive and threaten the survival of mankind.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), like many other UN agencies, was caught napping during the initial phase of the crisis that allowed the disease, whose epicentre is reportedly in Wuhan, China, to transcend borders and spread unhindered across the world. It was only almost two months later that the WHO named the new virus “Covid-19” and declared it a pandemic. Covid-19 has triggered a healthcare crisis as many countries find themselves cash-strapped, economically at a standstill and not having the resources – material or manpower – to deal with it.

It is shocking that China, which practises the communist system of government that places a premium on logic, science and rationalism, has allowed a parallel medical practice based on superstition, quackery and dubiety to flourish and create a terrible danger to its own people through the consumption of exotic, poisonous and extinction-facing wildlife sourced from abroad. Many animals are reportedly killed by using cruel methods to ensure the efficacy of the cure and medicinal properties. The Wuhan game meat market was reputed to have been the source of the Covid-19 virus. 

It is true that China, like, India, despite its 1.3 billion population, has embarked on a successful programme to rehabilitate endangered animals, like the Siberian tiger, the giant panda, Tibetan antelope and many others. However, China’s huge demand and consumption of many an endangered species tells a different story. In fact China’s increasing prosperity and demand for wildlife products has become the single most viable threat to various endangered species, more than the loss of wildlife habitat.

China has now reportedly banned the sale and consumption of game meat in the country. The WHO has to be critical of countries that permit native and indigenous medical practices, and that allow the killing of endangered wildlife for their supposedly healthful and curative effects. These practices must be banned worldwide to prevent another Covid-19-like emergence. The WHO also has to spearhead futuristic medical research now that novel deadly diseases are occurring frequently, as the last few decades have ominously shown.

The Covid-19 crisis has shown the need to address the problems confronting the world – global warming and climate change, nuclear and bio-chemical weapons, environmental degradation and pollution, loss of wildlife habitats, emergence of new diseases and under-funded healthcare, over reliance on medication for health, over-exploitation of resources catering to man’s greed, the urban sprawl and mega cities, over-population of humans, globalisation that leads to more dependence on other countries, industrial scale  raising of livestock for insatiable human consumption, poverty, social strife and regression of human values – in a holistic and collective manner.

It is regrettable that the US, which should have led the way to resolve some of the above issues, has not shown the much-needed transformative leadership. US leaders and politicians, hopelessly divided between the liberal and Bible belt, continue to treat serious issues, such as global warming, as a joke. Their ostrich-like mentality has enabled Covid-19 infections to surge faster when they had all the time in the world to halt the scourge in its tracks. The US could pay a heavy price for its indifference and ignorance – the infection rate has gone beyond the 300,000 mark with more than 8000 deaths there – as a large number of its citizens are at risk of death. 

The Americans are disputing China’s infection, recovery and death data as if that is the most concerning issue now! US President Donald Trump, who appeared to be unassailable a few months ago, now stares at a humiliating defeat at the hands of either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden on account of his negligent  handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Covid-19-induced recession could also lead to a readjustment of the world economic order, as a fast-recovering China stands to gain much from the global  economic vacuum created by the recession. East Asia could become the centre for the revival of world economies as the US and Europe are being badly hit by the pandemic. 

China’s speedy recovery, together with its strong central government directives and initiatives, could take advantage of the disruptions in  the economies of many countries and further boost  its political and commercial clout. Other East Asian countries – Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – have been minimally affected or have recovered fast and are, together with China, going to help in the recovery process, and the Asean region could be one of the first to benefit. The US and Europe are in decline and the Covid-19 pandemic will hasten the process. 

India, too, which is minimally affected could make good use of the unfolding opportunities if it does not indulge in its national pastime of democratic dilly-dallying. Japan, which has been prone to all kinds of recession for the last couple of decades, could surge forward as a major exporter, just as it did during the 1960s and 1970s. Russia’s far east could become a hive of activity, taking advantage of the East Asian resurgence. All these lends credence to the much touted “Asian Century”, when Asia replaces both the US and Europe as the most dominant region.  

In conclusion, one can say that the immediate future for the whole world is one of mass unemployment and hardship, economic deprivation, social strife and political instability. It is hoped that a “New Humanity” will emerge from the crisis. – April 5, 2020.

* V. Thomas reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.