What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger
In the past few months humanity has been tested by nature’s wrath in what seems to be unprecedented in modern history. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly caught the world off guard and with almost no one knowing what to do, the pandemic has many people wondering if we can actually get past this. But arriving at the conclusion that we will lose to this pandemic may be a case of jumping to conclusions because of all of the hysteria. This is not the only time we, as a people, have had to go through something never seen before; after all, there is always a first for everything. Even with life as we know it being under threat, humanity has a way of remaining resilient in the face of danger and bouncing back stronger than ever.
World War I, also known as “The War to End All Wars,” was given that title because there had never been a war so large in scale before. In other words just like this virus, the people of that time had never seen it before. But like everything else, the war happened, eventually passed, and some areas of the world came out of it more unified than ever before. It was in the aftermath of the war where women finally began to be respected as an integral part of society and where voting was extended to all men over 21. After what was an unprecedented and horrific time for mankind, we came out more unified as people then ever before.
Even the influenza pandemic back in 1918 works as an even more direct comparison to the current situation. It was classified as the most severe pandemic in recent history and infected about five hundred million people around the world (one third of the world’s population at the time). With an estimated fatality rate of about two point five percent, it is extremely similar to the estimated fatality rate of the COVID-19 virus which is estimated to be around two point three percent. What significantly separates the 1918 pandemic from the one we are facing now is the time gap between the two. The influenza pandemic was over a century ago. This was back when social distancing would’ve actually meant not talking to anyone whatsoever for two weeks because there was no such thing as video calling or the internet. But even with the severe disadvantage in terms of technology and medicine when compared to now, we still managed to get through it.
Those two are just a small fraction of the examples of really terrible situations we have gotten through before. We have lived through natural disasters, world wars, acts of terrorism, and, yes, even pandemics. Yes, there have been plenty of wars after (including another world war) and multiple viruses since these events and there will almost certainly be more in the future. But, avoiding a hit isn’t what makes us strong; it’s the way we get back up, stronger and more unified than ever before that makes us able to look at disaster straight in the eye and make it blink first.
For more information on the historical events that humanity has fought through see the links below:
https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article185342733.html
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