
Prof. Emeritus Dr. Ernesto Kahan, School of Medicine. University of Tel Aviv, Israel; Delegate to the Nobel Peace Prize Reception to International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War- IPPNW (1985)

Christos Staikouras, Greek Minister of Finance, commented in the Charlemagne Prize Academy Report 2020, “Europe is facing an unprecedented, multidimensional crisis, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A crisis which is continuously rekindled and characterized by a great deal of uncertainty, and which has led the European economy and the national economies to a very deep recession”[i]. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that until October 12, 2020 worldwide produced 623M cases and 6,52M death[ii].
In the book entitled The Great Pause[iii], I make a comparative analysis between the Coronavirus pandemic, the Black Death pandemic in Europe in the 14th century, in which a third of the population died, and the so-called Spanish Flu in 1918, in which between 50 and 100 million died. In these pandemics, a serious economic, social and political crisis was generated. The population asked questions that were not answered; as a result, the people lost their confidence in the authorities.
Examples of this lost confidence in authorities during pandemics are plentiful throughout history. During the Black Plague, non-believers in the ruling religion were blamed for the appearance of the pandemic, but everyone died-religious and pagan, as well as rich and poor. Marco Polo wrote his report of the 17-year journey to the Mongol Empire, where there was religious tolerance, respect for autonomy in the cities, no taxes on doctors, freedom for women, and more. All of this was very different from the situation in Europe at the time, and they looked for answers in classical philosophy. All of these factors gave rise to the greatest revolution in the 10,000 years since the Agrarian revolution, the Renaissance.
One common factor between pandemics is a desire to return to ‘normal.’ What is normal in today’s society? Some of the answers include: a) Money is more important than humanistic values and the care for the elderly and children; b) Today, when for the first time in 10,000 years, we have resources to lower infant mortality to less than 4 per thousand, to provide basic education, primary medical care and water to the entire world population, more than 3 trillions of dollars per year are provided for research and development of nuclear weapons and every 3.6 seconds a person dies of hunger, almost always a child under 3 years of age. c) There are conflicts between countries and terrorism around the world. Since the end of World War II, it is the first time that there is a high probability of a Third World War with the use of nuclear weapons. The World Press reported that, “In a dramatic escalation of tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian president said in a meeting of top officials that the move was in response to leading NATO powers’ making what he called “aggressive statements.”[iv]
In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, radical changes have occurred which are surely irreversible. These radical changes include: a) The development of vaccines in record time; b) Hospitalization of patients at home with nursing care, provision of controls and medications to that home; c) Distance work and teaching via the Internet; d) The development of efficient control and interaction between each person in the population and the health authorities of all kinds. Perhaps in the case of the Coronavirus pandemic, there will be no such thing as a “return to normality.”
There are plans for the transformation of society, plans that are the result of the natural evolution of the economy. Among others, these plans include: a) The replacement of the money printed by the countries by virtual currencies issued by different questionable power factors[v]; b) Microchips implanted in people’s hands and brains[vi] to replace the use of passwords to enter computer programs and to be in permanent brain contact with computers and medical control systems 24 hours a day. Obviously, it will be under voluntary acceptance, but many will likely accept.
Many things have changed since Coronavirus first began spreading around the world. Despite these changes, there are still areas of society that require our attention, based on the population and the humanist forces of society: a) The establishment of health, education, culture, and art as higher priorities in society than the power of money;[vii] b) Priority care of the elderly, children, those who are defenseless, handicapped, and the natural world; c) Greater appreciation of work and more tolerant treatment of cultures, ethnic groups, and religions among the variations of human populations; and d) The elimination of genocidal weapons, mainly nuclear, and the establishment of social contracts of peace and harmony between countries.
I have no doubt that in the near future, technological progress will continue to increase, but it is unclear how the total population, especially the elderly, will use the different types of technology and will be able to be adapt to the new realities without suffering too serious culture shock in the process. I believe that the role of universities and other educational centers should include planning their programs with this in mind right now. That is going to be a great challenge to implement in societies around the world.
Despite all of the technological and scientific advancements our society has achieved, there is still much inequality of opportunities and terrible misery. Today, we write and publish books and articles, but we do not reach all of the population, since only a very small part of it can read and write and have access to the Internet. As I commented above, the risks of the use of nuclear weapons are still present, with the probability of a mass destruction completely different from destruction in the past from the use of the “conventional weapons”. Because of these threats, to achieve survival on Earth we must attain comprehensive peace in the world by creating a global agreement based on harmony. Worldwide implementation of the illegality of the initiation of wars by countries will be a new and revolutionary kind of instrument towards that objective. Can one of the results of the present pandemic generate the implementation of these proposals? We can be a positive factor in that.
[1] Christos Staikouras. Charlemagne Prize Academy Report 2020; p 23-24. Karlspreis_Report_2020-final.indd (charlemagneprizeacademy.com)
[1] https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=es-419&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aes-419
[1] Kahan E. Después de la epidemia. Comparando la Covid 19 con la peste negra y la gripe española p49-58. In Calvo JR et al. La Gran Pausa. Gramática de una pandemia, Ed Malpaso, Barcelona 2020. ISBN 978-84-18236-68-6
[1] Patrick Smith. Feb. 27, 2022, 3:44 PM IST / Updated Feb. 28, 2022, 8:53 PM IST. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-orders-nuclear-deterrent-forces-high-alert-tensions-build-ukrain-rcna17853
[1]Javier García Arenas. El dinero digital en la economía del futuro: nuevas posibilidades, nuevos retos. 2018 https://www.caixabankresearch.com/es/analisis-sectorial/banca/dinero-digital-economia-del-futuro-nuevas-posibilidades-nuevos-retos
[1] Yilda Morillo. Microchips en humanos | La tecnología subcutánea y la fusión hombre-máquina lejos de la utopía. https://futuroelectrico.com/microchips-en-humanos/
[i] Christos Staikouras. Charlemagne Prize Academy Report 2020; p 23-24. Karlspreis_Report_2020-final.indd (charlemagneprizeacademy.com)
[ii] https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=es-419&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aes-419
[iii] Kahan E. Después de la epidemia. Comparando la Covid 19 con la peste negra y la gripe española p49-58. In Calvo JR et al. La Gran Pausa. Gramática de una pandemia, Ed Malpaso, Barcelona 2020. ISBN 978-84-18236-68-6
[iv] Patrick Smith. Feb. 27, 2022, 3:44 PM IST / Updated Feb. 28, 2022, 8:53 PM IST. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-orders-nuclear-deterrent-forces-high-alert-tensions-build-ukrain-rcna17853
[v]Javier García Arenas. El dinero digital en la economía del futuro: nuevas posibilidades, nuevos retos. 2018 https://www.caixabankresearch.com/es/analisis-sectorial/banca/dinero-digital-economia-del-futuro-nuevas-posibilidades-nuevos-retos
[vi] Yilda Morillo. Microchips en humanos | La tecnología subcutánea y la fusión hombre-máquina lejos de la utopía. https://futuroelectrico.com/microchips-en-humanos/