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Part of our discussions centered on whether the apocalypse was the appropriate word and whether it captured the moment. The word made some think about Freud’s death instinct. Others, such as myself, thought the title led us to focus on darkness and despair and closed our mind and imagination to think about the possibilities that this crisis has opened up. My final commentary centers on this question. It is important to begin by recognizing that the historical moment we live in is unprecedented in its magnitude and scope. At a glance, I see five interrelated dimensions:
A health crisis. Depending on which country or zip code you live in, the pandemic is overwhelming hospitals and health-care systems, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and related morbidities. If you are in better economic and health conditions, and are lucky to live in the right country or zip code, the number of deaths and morbidities will be substantially lower.
An economic crisis. The worldwide economic tsunami that has followed the pandemic has exposed brutal financial and social disparities – based on policies that have put profits over people and markets over communities.
A climate crisis. Let us not forget that we are also in a climate crisis. We have a window of approximately 10 years to drastically reduce carbon emissions and transform the world economy from fossil fuels to green energy sources. If we fail, we will see severe droughts, fires, gigantic storms, flooded coastlines, and massive migrations. This will overwhelm governments around the world and cause unimaginable suffering.
A crisis of democracy and ability to sustain social solidarity. Huge and brutal social, economic disparities that marginalize large populations along caste, class, and race are profoundly undemocratic and unsustainable.
A leadership crisis is showing us how good leadership is particularly essential in a crisis. We are seeing that bad leadership can be undemocratic and deadly, causing hundreds of thousands of de