The Corona Virus and Human Nature

When you turn on the news, search through social media feeds or pick up an old-school newspaper, its story after story about empty shelves at the supermarkets, businesses shutting down and people running around in fear of an invisible and unsympathetic threat.

While the Corona Virus we are facing is indeed new and in many ways unprecedented, it's not as if humanity hasn't faced threats before. Some have been biological, like the Bubonic Plague in the mid-1300s. Some have been natural like any number of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados... Some have been humans inflicting suffering on other humans like the millions killed by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s. But, in all cases, there is a single universal truth, panic doesn't do anything to help resolve the problem at hand. And with that in mind, we each have a choice, to be an example of the best part of humanity, or the worst.

The problem is that the best of humanity isn't the side the media shows. It's not the side that gets the talking heads of pop culture going. It's simply not sexy enough and showcasing the worst cases is much better for the ratings and bottom line, or at least those who decide this stuff think so.

And as sad as it is, for some reason, people eat it up. As a result of the media and in some cases an individual’s own human nature, people lose their cool at the first sign of anything difficult or dangerous. Thank goodness our police, firefighters, EMTs and first responders don't act like that.

In this situation, people have hoarded hand sanitizer, tissues, meat and canned goods...and don't even use an ounce or rational thinking. Some have taken advantage of people economically and sickeningly politicized the issue for or against certain people. In the most awful of situations, people have committed serious acts of violence.

They don't realize their hording is hurting everyone and doesn't even make sense. Their decisions are irrational at best. They buy up bottled water yet the shelves are fully stocked with orange juice which can provide valuable vitamin c to strengthen the immune system. They leave the veggies on the shelves instead of buying them for the valuable nutrients to do the same. They don't even stop to think that a lot of the meat products are not out of stock it's just a matter of them being bought up faster than employees are able to restock the shelves.

Can you imagine what these individuals would do if they had to face the years or World War I or II, the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire or the Johnstown Flood of 1889 among other disasters? I don't even want to think about the level of unnecessary chaos.

One the other hand, we have restaurants stepping up to provide free meals to school children, private businesses setting up special ours to serve the most vulnerable so they can avoid unnecessary contact, neighbors shopping for other neighbors who are immuno-compromised and wealthy athletes paying the salaries of people who normally work the areas they play in. Our elected leaders and officials are doing their best to prevent growing numbers of infected people and provide financial relief for those impacted that way.

It comes down to one simple thing, you have a choice. You can be the guy who stabbed another customer in a store with a wine bottle in a fight over bottled water. Or, you can be the person who steps back, takes simple and common sense levels of caution and actually tires to contribute to society a little bit. It's up to you. Who will you be?