Published: 24 March 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
In the battle against coronavirus, humanity lacks leadership (Time)
YUVAL NOAH HARARI: Many people blame the coronavirus epidemic on globalisation, and say that the only way to prevent more such outbreaks is to de-globalise the world. However, while short-term quarantine is essential to stop epidemics, long-term isolationism will lead to economic collapse without offering any real protection against infectious diseases. Just the opposite.
The real antidote to epidemic is not segregation, but rather cooperation.
In the century that passed since 1918, humankind became ever more vulnerable to epidemics, due to a combination of growing populations and better transport. A virus can make its way from Paris to Tokyo and Mexico City in less than 24 hours.
However, both the incidence and impact of epidemics have actually gone down dramatically. Despite horrendous outbreaks such as AIDS and Ebola, in the 21st century epidemics kill a far smaller proportion of humans than in any previous time since the Stone Age.
This is because the best defence humans have against pathogens is not isolation – it is information.
Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus (Financial Times)
We face two important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between nationalist isolation and global solidarity
DAVID GROSSMAN: The plague is a formative event; when it fades, new possibilities will emerge (Haaretz)
When the coronavirus pandemic ends, some won't wish to return to their former lives, writes David Grossman
READ MORE
PM’s son blasts Yuval Noah Harari for claiming Netanyahu’s turning Israel into a dictatorship (Times of Israel)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair is going after Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari on Twitter after the latter asserted that the premier is turning Israel into a dictatorship
Photo: G7 world leaders summit 2019 (Francois Mori/AP)
