Domestic and International Solidarity in the Face of COVID-19
expect my campus to metamorphose into a computer screen. When my mother
entered her new workplace last year, she did not expect her new necessities,
stocked in her bag, to become hand sanitizers and tissues. When my
grandmother walked out the front door before the outbreak of COVID-19,
she did not expect to see face masks become the next fashion statement.
Likewise, COVID-19 has overturned all expectations various generations had
for life. However, changes have not occurred in a mere individual scale;
COVID-19 has structurally transformed the domestic and international society.
Domestically, novel political, economic, and social predicaments have emerged
due to the virus. The virus has especially further aggravated the preexistent
divisions in society across political, economic, and social sectors.
For instance, politically, heightened tension between advocates for
democratic rights, especially privacy, and proponents for curbing the virus
despite potential restrictions on individual freedoms has surfaced in the
wake of the virus. The virus has also exacerbated economic fault lines
preexistent in society: the division between the economically advantaged
and the insecure class has increased. That is, due to social distancing measures,
consumption has drastically contracted, rattling the market and jeopardizing
various businesses; the damage of such phenomena has disproportionately
affected the precarious class. Socially, Korea has seen heightened conflicts
between different social groups, such as religious, identity, ethnic groups,
especially with the frequency of scapegoating.
Amidst such discord in society, the significance of active discourse and the
role of the media in its facilitation has never been more accentuated.
The state and civil organizations must encourage the media to refrain from
disseminating exaggerated, false news and strive to invalidate prevalent
misconceptions. In turn, the public will be informed with a more accurate
depiction of the status quo. Of course, individuals must also realize their
responsibility to maintain an impartial, receptive stance in perceiving
current phenomena. Such role of the state, media, civil organizations,
and the media will enable rational, knowledgeable discourse compared
to the present, where social groups are blinded by illogical hate and fear.
Open discourse will, in turn, entail cooperation amongst disparate social
groups, ultimately enhancing social integrity; with such solidarity, diverse
social groups must collectively endeavor to resolve contemporary societal
dilemmas. Open discourse will also encourage individuals to be more
conscientious, responsibly abiding by reasonable restrictions on freedom,
such as the necessity to wear masks.
COVID-19 has not only transformed the workings of the individual state
but also the workings of the international society. Such consequences are
inescapable as the domestic and international sphere is inextricably interwoven
due to globalization. However, ironically, COVID-19 has caused an upsurge
in the imprudent tendency to deny and regress from such trends of
globalization:
nationalism. The prevalence of such attitude is especially apparent with
the rise in vaccine nationalism, political tensions revolving around immigration
restrictions, and the increasing tension between historical rivalries
such as the US and China, or democratic and authoritarian states in Europe.
However, the rise in hostility in response to the crisis is barely conducive
to resolving it. The international community must come together,
sharing knowledge about the vaccine and mulling over methods to solve
COVID-19’s economic and social ramifications. They must remember
that stemming the pandemic in their own country will not suffice:
globalization means that the virus travels more rapidly and frequently
across seas and continents than any other virus in history.
Some experts have claimed that society cannot return to a world before
COVID-19. While the impact of COVID-19 may be irrevocably entrenched i
n the history of civilization, the future we choose to make above the
remnants of the crisis remains unknown. We can choose to construct
a harmonious society prospering above all obstacles, or a tumultuous one,
irreparably damaged by them. Domestic and international solidarity is
the key to today’s problems; the decision to resolve them lies in our hands.