Thoughts random: In times of coronavirus - III

Rajendra Kshetri *

Good morning Manipur,

No surprise. The National Lockdown has been extended for another two weeks keeping in view of the larger national interest and the need for a long protracted fight against Covid-19.

The lockdown has restricted all our physical movements, complains if any can hardly be justified, and put all our social life under lock and key. The only thing that the lockdown has not been able to do is to remove my 'thinking cap ' from my head. It rather serves as adrenaline to my thinking prowess.

'Cogito ergo sum ' (' I think therefore I am ') . This famous principle, rationalist philosophy of Rene Descartes, that French philosopher and major exponent of modern 'Rationalism ' couldn't have come at a more appropriate time (than lockdown time).

' My thought is me: That's why I can't stop. I exist by what I think ... and I can't prevent myself from thinking '. How do you like this one from Jean - Paul Sartre, another French philosopher, Nobel laureate, best known as an exponent of 'existentialism ' and for his magnum opus "Being and Nothingness "? Me? I love it.

From 'thinking ' to writing is but a natural progression.
Friends, I can't stop from writing...

Thoughts Random 12

#In Times Of Coronavirus (April 26)

1. For too long we, homo sapiens have been waging a war at Nature. Country after country, government after government the world over have been exploiting natural resources (both renewable and non-renewable) as if they are unlimited and infinite.

2. For too long homo sapiens have been living in a world delusions. A delusory world where state machineries of the most sophisticated techno-know how are pressed into work for ( dam-mining-based) 'development ' . In the global rat race for 'development ' , mankind has been violating, polluting and degrading the ENVIRONMENT as though planet earth is meant for humans only.

3. For too long homo sapiens have been ignoring/neglecting/overlooking, in their quest for controlling nature, ominous warnings/signs ( ' climate change ' , 'global warming ', ' thinning ozone layer ', ' green house effect ' etc.) that the planet earth is under tremendous threat. It is a critically endangered planet thanks to men's rapacious behaviour and wanton destruction of wildlife and ecology.

4. For too long wildlife have been quarantined, used as guinea pigs and converted into industries. The novel Coronavirus that started/spread from Wuhan ( China) is a MESSAGE to mankind:


RESPECT WILDLIFE AND THEIR RIGHT TO EXISTENCE.

5. Nature is Angry, mighty angry with homo sapiens and therefore strikes back with a vengeance. Poor homo sapiens! Our worldly lives are turned upside down. Our existence is uncertain. Our own survival is at stake.

#Respect Wildlife #Save Planet Earth.

Thoughts Random 13

#In Times Of Coronavirus (April 29)

1. The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus since December 2019 in Wuhan, China and its unabated spread to the rest of the world (it has so far claimed more than 2 lakhs people and still counting) has brought back into sharp focus, once again, the decades-old-never-ending CONFLICT between MAN and NATURE.

2. Man's greed for worldly goods, search for territorial expansion, unlimited desire for economic growth transform what is actually a 'non-antagonistic ' conflict into a seemingly ' antagonistic ' conflict. Nature provides what man needs for peaceful co-existence, sustenance and sustainability. Man destroys everything in the name of 'development ' .

Development at what cost? What price development? End of human race? Apocalypse???

3. It is not that alarm bell has not been sounded on man's follies, foolishness and the immeasurable harm done to nature and environment. So today the whole world is deliberating/ focusing on MDG/SDG.

4. Mankind needs/requires economic growth, economic development but MUST BE TEMPERED with sustainability and environmentalism. Gandhi's " There is enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed " is one such clarion call to save planet earth.

5. Something that Hubert Reeves, the French-canadian astrophysicist and populiser of Science, once said, immediately comes into mind:
" Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he's destroying is this God he's worshipping ".

6. " WE ARE AT WAR/ WITH NATURE/ IF WE WIN IT, / WE'RE LOST" .

I have not come across, cannot think of any other saying, message, words of wisdom or prophecy that predicts the perilous position of mankind, in so simple and clear parlance.
#Environment Can Exist Without Man
#Man Cannot Exist Without Environment.

Thoughts Random 14

#In Times Of Coronavirus ( May 1)

1. In the Cold War era, the world was bipolar in that it was divided into two blocks--the US led NATO and the Soviet led Warsaw Pact. The Cold War ended with the collapse of Soviet Union (USSR) in the late eighties. The world becomes unipolar with the US of America lording over global politics. That is till the People's Republic of China (PRC) began challenging the US Might both in terms of military and trade.

2. Then Covid-19 happened. The Coronavirus originated from China propelled the communist country into global limelight and has changed whatever perceptions, good or bad, the world has had about the land of Red Star. As is wont, the blame game begins.

3. The US , Germany, Australia, UK blame Xing 's China for its dishonesty and lack transparency in dealing with the Pandemic and threatened with bills worth billions as compensation caused by the virus. These countries now call for an international investigation into the origin of Coronavirus in Wuhan. As expected, China rejected such a call maintaining that it too is a victim of the virus.

4. What lies behind all these blame games , claims and counter claims as to whether the virus is natural or man made, is actually the battle for trade supremacy between US and China. The global fight against Covid-19 is now slowly but surely turning out to be a TRADE WAR between the two economic giants.

5. The 'Politics of Coronavirus ' inter alia BIOPOWER has prompted some countries to label Covid-19 as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). If you cannot conquer the world through military means, why not use bio-power. Something like 'end justify means '

6. Closer home, a Covid-19 food-for-thought @ N Biren Singh, Hon'bl CM, Manipur:

IN THE WAKE OF MANY COUNTRIES (US, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA etc.) DIRECTING THEIR COMPANIES TO SHIFT FROM CHINA TO INDIA, amidst the Corona Pandemic, THE GOVERNMENT OF MANIPUR MAY INITIATE CONTACTING/INVITING SOME OF THE JAPANESE AND KOREAN COMPANIES TO COME TO MANIPUR (If already done, kudos to the Government).

Manipur, I am sure, can be a very attractive and friendly field for Japan and Korean companies to operate. Such a step/initiative, if materialised and why it should not, would do wonders for the State economy.

#FIGHT COVID-19, #PLAN POST CORONA ECONOMY.