On multiple occasions the human being has demonstrated that, in the face of whatever calamity, he does not lose hope for a better tomorrow. Perhaps, for that reason, there was no lack of any person, inspired by such conviction, leaving us the inheritance of this memorable phrase: „There is no evil that lasts a hundred years … nor a body that resists it.“ Or the one who, more optimistic than the previous one, arguing that: “ There is no bad through which good does not come“ („Every cloud has a silver lining“). Well, the truth is that the whole of humanity trusts that this will be the case, especially when the new coronavirus, which is called Covid-19, has been increasing with violence, to the point that more scientifically advanced countries appear to date as those who are suffering in greater quantities of the perversity of the above-mentioned calamity of evil.
Who would imagine that this could happen there and here? The numbers are chilling. News from the United States, the world’s leading power, tells us that tears are the order of the day in more than 18 thousand homes, due to the death of their loved ones. Mourning is dressed as a sign of pain in Italy, where there are almost 19 thousand families, crying out for mercy. In Spain they still cannot find a way out of despair. The fact that more than 16 thousand people have died explains everything. It is horrendous. In France, more than 13 thousand people have passed away, both young and old, while doctors do not let their guard down and appeal, in addition to science, to their epic song: „Frenchmen to fight…“ There is no longer that traditional phlegmatic mood in the English. The death of just under 10.000 citizens has caused them to lower their flags to half-mast.
Bad and good news comes and goes from all continents all at the same time. In Latin America, in Asia, in Africa, in Oceania, the social body is convulsed. And yet, in such an extreme situation, that same social body lives one of its best moments, under the name of solidarity. Technology is paying off and allows health experiences to be assimilated, from elementary home isolation to the beautiful delivery of food to those who need it most, from generous monetary aid between family members and neighbors, to exemplary detachments from organizations such as those of workers, who use their fragile funds to mitigate this bitter situation. It is true that, in the midst of such an incredible scenario, there is no lack of persons who have lost all sense of humanity. In that corrupt space, such renewed Judas Iscariots, are those who take advantage of others‘ needs. The speculators, the opportunists, the scavengers are there, thriving, hiding their faces with the masks of individuality. Money, gold, greed have taken away what little they had as human beings. They do not deserve to call themselves children of God, they are traitors to their own brothers.
But beyond the lament or the claim, we must not forget the greatness and inexhaustibility of the development of the moral qualities of mortal beings, knowing that its foundation lies in social instincts, which has its greatest dimension in the nucleus of the family. The sages have said it: Its most important elements are „love and the special affection of sympathy. Animals endowed with social instincts delight each other, prevent each other from danger and help and defend themselves in many ways“.
The before holds a message that does not go unnoticed in these times of pandemic. With his behavior, especially among the poorest, the human being of these days is showing that he is a moral being, who reflects on his past acts and his motives, who approves and disapproves of other facts. He knows that he has that moral capacity that differentiates him from inferior animals.
By Roberto Mejía Alarcón, President FELATRACCS, President ANP-Peru, Vice-President WOW
