Фейсбук и подобные сайты сейчас забиты множеством статей на тему эпидемии, некоторые становятся популярными или даже супер-популярными, благо нет недостатка в заинтересованных читателях, которые хотят знать «что с нами будет». Но я хотел бы познакомить вас с тремя статьями, которые вы возможно ещё не видели или не обратили внимание. Это статьи трёх израильтян: журналиста, писателя и философа. В каждом из случаев, я приведу довольно длинные цитаты, но они охватывают лишь небольшую часть затронутых авторами тем, так что если вам показалось интересным, рекомендую не ограничиваться приведённым отрывком и прочитать полный текст по ссылке.
- Chemi Shalev (израильский журналист), "Americans Beware: Trump Could Emulate Netanyahu’s Coronavirus Coup”
In the end, however, Netanyahu is a creature of the establishment. He has ruled for the past 11 years within Israel’s constitutional framework. Before his investigations and criminal indictments, Netanyahu respected the rule of law, within limits, as well as parliamentary procedures, especially after turning his Likud party into a blindly obedient rubber stamp. One assumes that if and when push comes to shove and his arguably unconstitutional moves are frustrated, Netanyahu will ultimately accept the verdict of the courts and the Knesset.
The same cannot be said for U.S. President Donald Trump, the outsider who has shown no reverence and no respect for his country’s constitution, separation of powers, rule of law or common decency. Trump’s authority as executive president is far greater than Netanyahu’s as prime minister and the United States, unfortunately and apparently, is facing a coronavirus crisis far greater and less manageable than the one engulfing Israel.
… But even if someone other than Trump was president, and he or she had not wasted precious weeks preparing for the coronavirus onslaught, the United States would still be facing an uphill battle, compared to Israel, in containing the plague. It is an immeasurably larger country with a far more dispersed and diverse population. Its public health system is a sham and a shame.
… It was enough to hear a Washington Times columnist on Fox News last week praising a coronavirus-inspired rush on guns and ammunition in Midwestern states as a “healthy sign” to realize that while it is Israelis who are seen as unruly and undisciplined, parts of the United States may simply be unmanageable. Corona is bound to come knocking at their door.
Given these two factors – a leader who rejects any check on his presidential authority and a coronavirus crisis that could soon grow out of control – Americans should beware a Trump who decides to emulate Netanyahu. The U.S. president, who now fancies himself a “Wartime President” with all the emergency powers that accompany the title, will go farther and more radical than Netanyahu would ever dare.
- David Grossman (израильский писатель), “The Plague Is a Formative Event. When It Fades, New Possibilities Will Emerge”
Suddenly, a disaster of biblical scale has entered our lives […] For many, the plague might become the fateful and formative event in the continuation of their lives. When it fades away, at long last, and people come out of their homes following a lengthy closure, new and surprising possibilities might be articulated: perhaps having touched the foundation of existence will foment that […] Many will lose their loved ones. Many will lose their place of work, their livelihood, their dignity. But when the plague ends, there may also be those who will not wish to return to their former lives.
… And perhaps the media, too, whose presence is almost total in writing the story of our life and our era, will ask themselves honestly what their part was in the feeling of general disgust in which we were mired before the plague. Why were we left with the feeling that people with unabashed vested interests were manipulating us relentlessly, brainwashing us and looting our money. And that our media were telling us our complicated and tragic story in a cynical and coarse manner. I am not talking about the serious, investigative, courageous press, but about the “mass media” that have long since morphed from media aimed at the masses to media that turn humans into a mass. And not infrequently, also into a rabble.
Will anything of what has been described here come to pass? Who knows? And even if it does come to pass, I fear that it will fade away quickly and things will go back to what they were before we were plagued, before the flood. What we will undergo until then is very difficult to guess. But we will do well to go on asking the questions, as a type of medicine, until a vaccine is found for the plague.
- Yuval Noah Harari (израильский философ), "The world after coronavirus”
Humankind is now facing a global crisis. Perhaps the biggest crisis of our generation. The decisions people and governments take in the next few weeks will probably shape the world for years to come. They will shape not just our healthcare systems but also our economy, politics and culture.
… Centralized monitoring and harsh punishments aren’t the only way to make people comply with beneficial guidelines. When people are told the scientific facts, and when people trust public authorities to tell them these facts, citizens can do the right thing even without a Big Brother watching over their shoulders. A self-motivated and well-informed population is usually far more powerful and effective than a policed, ignorant population.
… But to achieve such a level of compliance and co-operation, you need trust. People need to trust science, to trust public authorities, and to trust the media. Over the past few years, irresponsible politicians have deliberately undermined trust in science, in public authorities and in the media. Now these same irresponsible politicians might be tempted to take the high road to authoritarianism, arguing that you just cannot trust the public to do the right thing.
… In previous global crises — such as the 2008 financial crisis and the 2014 Ebola epidemic — the US assumed the role of global leader. But the current US administration has abdicated the job of leader. It has made it very clear that it cares about the greatness of America far more than about the future of humanity.
