the protection of the environment, paving the way for a sustainable economy and slower pace of life, but also for a universal redevelopment. Nonetheless, I am very afraid that capitalism will now show us its most ruthless and most painful face, with the rise of monopolies and the annihilation of many small businesses. We were unprepared for this crisis, we are always unprepared for disease, but we were also unprepared for the possibility of our social and economic systems hitting red. The pandemic is now forcing governments to focus on public health. The economy and its laws, which have been cut off due to their budgets, continue to be a priority. Citizens’ lives become a priority, protected by restrictions and by ensuring basic services. In the leading position are the doctors, not the economists. I consider this extraordinary situation to be a reversal, a word that implies a profound and spiritual revision of the relations between citizens and the state. Citizens also called for precautionary measures to be taken to end the siege. It is a new experience of equal participation and collective responsibility. The most important of these measures include social distancing and quarantine. If I translate “social” distancing into my native Greek language and culture, it does not make any sense; you cannot impose a distance in people’s social relationships, especially in a society that is heavily based on the institutions of family and friends. Throughout this period, I have noticed that my social life actually has increased significantly; this is one of the advantages of this crisis. Through mediated communication with the help of mobile phones and computers, we have been using social media in order to maintain our contact with the people who matter to us and to whom we matter. Home quarantine is a different story. Being an academic, one would expect me to be accustomed to home restraint. But, firstly, I am an overly social person and, secondly, it is one thing to voluntarily choose quarantine and another to have it imposed on you. In other words, as a trapped person, I lack a lot, like any human being. I live without airports, having stopped the constant movement for my job. There is time – for the first time since I can remember from school. Of course, I work normally, many hours a day, but I still feel like I’m living in extreme luxury (even if the heating or the AC is broken). Suddenly, therefore, all the criticism we made of working conditions – even
85
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online