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Wednesday, May 5, 2021

WRONG WORD

 Historically, the last known pandemic the world survived was the influenza virus between 1918 and 1920, which took up to 100 million lives when the world population was merely 2 billion. Following this, the world had plenty of other warnings in the form of HIV, SARS, Ebola, and H1N1 influenza to suggest that a global pandemic was inevitable.

Sadly, we seem to have not learnt anything from these warnings. This has been proven by the response of governments across countries, developed and developing alike, and their attention to public health.

Today, the world population is about 7.5 billion. We are in an era of so called globalization and the ease with which we can globetrot today is undeniable. Coronavirus, therefore, was transported from country to country within a matter of days -- thanks to our interconnected world.No one had the logic to stop travel except New Zealand.

As a result, almost half a million lives have been lost so far, and one-third of economies have been shut down due to lockdown procedures. The world economy has shrunk in excess of 6% in the last five months alone.

Not so long ago, in 2008, the world experienced a terrible recession; we are still reeling from the impact of this recession, and before we knew it, we were hit by Covid-19. Looking at similar historical events, the prediction is clear -- there will be a great (or greater) depression.

The great depression in the 1930s was followed by a world war. Then there was the decades-long Cold War. Less than 3 decades later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, we just about started to enjoy our neo-liberal approach to world order in the name of globalization.

Now, again, we are facing a new threat called Covid-19. This compels us to ask the big question: Does globalization really exist? If it does, then where is it, The lack of co-ordination 

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