We can educate ourselves or we can let the novel coronavirus do it for us, but while we wait for companies to find a vaccine or a cure, the old world is crumbling and nothing is being done to shape something new. Isn’t it obvious that we can’t go on this way? Isn’t it clear that if people have no income, no occupation, and nothing to do all day, all hell will break loose?
There is a good reason that the government unveiled a new jobs initiative titled “Find Something New,” since “jobs are changing and the pandemic has accelerated the pace.” Jobs are not only changing, they are vanishing, and new jobs must be created.
Since we already know that the virus is going to be here for a while, we should also know that yesterday’s jobs are, well, yesterday’s. By the time the virus vanishes, if it ever does, these jobs will be nothing but memories.
The virus isn’t destroying humanity; it is transforming it. It is forcing us to keep only occupations that are vital for life, and frees the rest of the people. Frees them to do what? To get to know each other. We are the first generation that truly doesn’t need to work for a living. We can support ourselves through the work of very few people, and very smart machines. Those who want to, can work at these essential jobs, while the rest of us free ourselves up to socialize without competition, the need to prove our value, the fear of being fired, or the need to put up a front of happiness.
Now we can sit back and reflect on what we want from life. And what we want is love. Everybody wants it, even the toughest of the tough. It’s how we’re made. We can lie to ourselves about it but not to Mother Nature.
So now that technology can do most of the physical work, we are free to engage our emotions. Now is our time to learn how to love one another and build a solid society, where mutual responsibility and genuine care are the building blocks of life.
It may seem odd to be reading about love when there is so much hatred everywhere, but the rampant hatred is exactly why we need to learn to love so desperately. So while a few of us keep working alongside the machines, the rest of us should learn the trade of the future: caring for each other. Some may like the idea, and some may not, but a guaranteed future of almost total joblessness and a need to survive will ultimately convince even the most obstinate that caring for each other is the best, and only way to live.
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