The Great Lockdown: Western Societies and the Fear of Death, Jean-Francois Caron

It is being said that we should all be proud of the way we are confronting the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather than privileging profits and trade, Western societies have made the noble decision to save lives at all costs. Indeed, the logic that has prevailed is that accepting any trade-off between saving lives and saving the economy is an unacceptable and monstrous idea, which is why liberal democracies worldwide have chosen to shutter businesses and force people to self-quarantine in their homes as much and for as long as possible. A vast majority of citizens and political leaders deemed that acting otherwise would have been nothing else but pure moral bankruptcy.

Is it, however, possible that Western societies have gone the wrong way by embracing this inherently basic and impoverished version of life? The reason why a significant majority of us are unable to see this truth is because of our refusal to accept death and the tragic essence of human life which is the result of the various cultural parameters we have grown accustomed to over the past decades that followed WWII. The Covid-19 pandemic has simply been the triggering factor that has allowed these factors to reinforce the full strength they wield on our understanding of life. Defined primarily by a fear of death, the desire to prolong life as much as possible and minimize the hurdles individuals have to face during their existence has created a beast that is, in appearance, reassuring to the fearful creatures we have become.

This beast has asepticized societies that refute the tragic nature of life and are willing to hinder individuals’ freedom and what makes our existence inherently humane. However, without realizing it, this Leviathan that now takes the form of a nanny state has altered our nature from individuals able and encouraged to enjoy life to people whose only destiny is to simply survive for as long as possible, without any other purpose than to avoid anything that might jeopardize this objective.