We will never be the same again.

"All the believers were of one heart and soul. No one claimed that any of the things he possessed was exclusively his own; they had everything in common." Acts 4:32

The refrigerated trucks that roam the streets of our neighbor Ecuador are painted in mourning. The meat they collect from the streets is soaked in sorrow.

The disease doesn't wait for help. What to do with a loved one who has died inside the house? The decision is heartbreaking. Tormented by the fear that the virus will infect the rest of the family, our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters place the corpses of their loved ones on the doorsteps of their homes, exposed to the elements. 

The farewell ceremony takes place when the door closes. An extreme act of fighting for survival, absolved beforehand in any divine judgment. 

In the wealthy world, the famous Central Park is covered in tarps, bracing for the worst. The much-vaunted national pride has been replaced by the suffocating anxiety. The nation of records achieves an unwanted feat. Who will be next?

The brutality of the absence of even the most basic humanitarian values ​​prompted Pope Francis to protest. The image of homeless people occupying uncovered parking spaces in Las Vegas is abhorrent and stomach-churning. Where have we ended up?

It matters little whether Covid-19 originated in China or the USA. In a Mumbai slum or in Rio's Rocinha favela. The pandemic has swallowed the walls of illusion. It has shown that we are all the same, passengers on the same plane. 

The catastrophe seems to have swallowed up fanatical liberals, ideologues of the sanitization of poverty. The acronym NHS – initials of the British public health system – has replaced the national flag in the land of the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher. 

Torn apart by the loss of compatriots, Spain is nationalizing hospitals.

The tragedy exposed the limits of European integration. A monetary, fiscal, and customs alliance guided by anachronistic economic principles. When it came time to save lives, it was every man for himself in the old continent. No coordination or solidarity, nothing. 

Millions of unemployed and vulnerable people are being helped by governments around the world. Why not make a universal basic income permanent? Does it make any sense to live in a world of a few billionaires surrounded by thousands of impoverished people?

Homo sapiens became the dominant species because of its ability to believe in and cooperate en masse around common abstractions, ideas, and ideals. At what point did we abandon our civilizational utopia? Why?

Pain has the strange ability to make us more human. The pandemic stopped time, challenged paradigms, and will generate much reflection. Everything indicates that we will never be the same again.

Reach out to your neighbor. Learn to ignore the ignorance of those who attack you. Be a strong link in the chain of good. Embrace your family. Don't lose heart. Don't listen to the nonsense of a deranged president. Just like the virus, he too will pass. Stay home.