The fable of the boiling frog from an anonymous wise man runs like this:
If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out.
But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly.
As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.
When people are unwilling or unable to critically study and respond to threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly, that behavior is called the “boiling frog syndrome”.
SURVIVAL
COVID19 was an emergency for humanity and leaders of nations, including our own, responded by suspending normalcy for the sake of survival.
We were told to surrender our rights for the sake of health and in order to guard against death. We surrendered our right to move and travel for fear of death.
We surrendered our freedom to worship to arrest the contagion in big gatherings. We surrendered the dignity that work gave us for the sake of safety.
We surrendered the protocols that insured transparency in governance so that the poor may be helped fast minus the red tape.
We surrendered many freedoms trusting that in doing so, those to whom we reposed our freedoms will shield us from greater harm and use that privilege responsibly for our welfare.
AND NOW….
How were our many surrenders of normal freedom repaid? Was the surrender of our basic freedoms fruitful? Was it beneficial to all or at least to most?
Was the surrender of our freedoms and the obedience to emergency rules repaid with competent governance?
Was the surrender of protocols in managing public funds accompanied by transparency and accountability?
Was the surrender of our freedoms repaid with a dignifying and dignified statesmanship and professionalism?
Did we get some semblance of encouragement, gratitude and hope for the personal and communal freedoms we so heroically sacrificed for the sake of the lives of many?
What do you think?
We smile as we stay uninfected by the virus but the water in which we swim is getting hotter and we are being boiled unaware. *****