“I think we are not blind, I think we are blind, Blind who see, Blind who, seeing, do not see …” In the novel by the renowned Portuguese writer José Saramago, Essay on blindness, thus concludes one of the protagonists, after having regained his sight. Everyone in that nameless city was suddenly struck by an inexplicable massive epidemic of blindness.
The sudden onset and inexplicable origin and nature of blindness lead to widespread panic, and the social order is rapidly unraveling as the inept government tries to control the outbreak, and city dwellers are forced to survive, often committing horrible acts of violence.
Bulletin
Receive the latest news in Spanish Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
–
Subscribe to our newsletter
Occasionally, you may receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune en Español.
–
Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, one interpretation of this ailment, blindness, is a metaphor for social catastrophe on several levels. In our contemporary reality, the catastrophe is being achieved mainly through dysfunctional governments and their inability to treat the pandemic during its early stages with the seriousness it deserved. Consider Trump in the United States or the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro, who proposed the consumption of chemicals as an antidote to combat the COVID-19 virus, and are likely responsible for the death of thousands of people due to their inaction and impulsive and irresponsible behavior.
More recently, 18 months after the pandemic, Republicans seek profit with the lie that migrants are compounding the spread of the disease. Even President Biden uses the same falsehood to play politics, justifying the continued enforcement of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42 order, which allows the Border Patrol to expel migrants to Mexico while denying them the right to asylum. A few days ago, public health experts explained that migrants arriving in the United States they are not raising infection rates.
However, incompetent governments are not the only ones to blame for this collective failure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Most frustrating to me is that many of our neighbors, co-workers and family members still refuse to take basic preventive measures to mitigate the damage of the disease. For example, there are many people who can get vaccinated, but refuse to do so.
I am aware that there are historical grounds on which governments have committed despicable practices against our communities and that they have sown tremendous distrust against the vaccine. But, how not to be convinced by the more than 620 thousand deaths in the United States, and consider it a call to action? Lack of solidarity by not getting vaccinated will kill more people. In fact, I would argue that negligence in refusing to get vaccinated, for those who can and simply don’t, is a deliberate act of violence.
A member of my family told me: “I don’t know what the vaccine contains and it is still an experiment, so I want to wait until more time has passed.” One, who is an essential worker, told me: “I’ll be fine. I have been wearing my mask all this time and so far nothing has happened ”. I’ve also heard more troubling conspiracy theories against vaccines, all of which are unfounded and dangerous. The fact that these people continue to justify not getting vaccinated does not bode well for the safety of the most vulnerable people and will likely lead to the virus becoming more dangerous with each new strain.
Across the United States, the new phenomenon, truly a disgrace, is the cases of minors who now fill hospital beds in greater numbers.
There are also those with compromised immune systems, they are also our neighbors, our co-workers and members of our families, I include my parents here, and they cannot afford to experiment with a deadly disease on their bodies.
There is a sense that morality is disintegrating before our eyes when selfishness is a guiding principle for some. The corruption of moral conscience is evident, and “I think we are not blind, I think we are blind …” is a very wise point when some decide not to see, or become aware, of the moral option before them, to do what is possible to protect others. It is not clear to me whether we will prevail in this global challenge.
Pedro Ríos is a human rights and migrant defender in Southern California.
–
