The Corona virus and its consequences  

Dear friends,

Suddenly we are confronted with a phenomenon on a scale 
humanity never encountered before - "Corona". This name 
derives from the total eclipse of the Sun, when we are 
experiencing an intense sensation. Everything is swallowed 
by darkness and in the sky we see a ring of fire. 

The "Corona virus" is silent, it is in no hurry, and it is invisible. 
Every single person of this planet is effected by it in one way 
or another. It forces us to separate, but at the same time it 
brings us together. It is enigmatic and profound. It makes us 
feel and behave differently. Our insecurity, nervousness and 
confusion is present and tangible everywhere.

We watch in disbelief how rapidly the "world we know" is 
changing. But in fact we shouldn't be surprised, because we 
have created this chaos ourselves with our selfishness, 
ignorance, social injustice, and our ruthless use of natural 
resources. We all, willingly or just by ignorance, have 
contributed to this crisis. We should understand, that every 
action we take, has consequences for the rest of the world. 
We live in the time of globalization. We have created an 
intricate web demanding discipline and collaboration. 
But we don't seem to fully understand it. We know about 
the "butterfly effect" (One flap of a wing of a butterfly 
thousands of miles away, could eventually have a far-
reaching global effect). But that doesn't apply only to 
butterflies. We all are butterflies, and we all are 
"endangered species".

I said before that there will never be any political ideology, 
philosophy, religion or social structure to lead us out of 
misery, and our current situation only makes it more clear. 
In extreme situations we need to find extreme solutions. 
But this will inevitably lead us to a dangerous crossroad. 
Our "democratic" system allows us to choose our leaders. 
But we must realize that we do not need quick fixers, 
preachers or prophets feeding us with extreme political 
or religious views or any other kind of ideological nonsense. 

We need scientists to guide us through this uncharted 
territory, and we need artists to give our fantasy wings. 
We need the help of inspiring personalities to mobilize our 
emotional resources to show compassion and readiness to
help others..!

But our society is based on political systems, and we need 
political leadership. We need full blooded and trustworthy 
politicians, who are able to make selfless decisions protecting 
us from harm. They should listen to all voices and come up 
with practical solutions benefitting us all, and not only the 
chosen few..! Unfortunately such politicians are extremely 
rare, but they must be somewhere, and we must find them 
and give them a voice..!

We live in dangerous times and unfortunately we are 
surrounded by some powerful, but totally irresponsible 
politicians, leading us towards chauvinism, ignorance, 
protectionism and finally to hatred and war. Although this 
has happened many times before, we never seemed to learn 
anything substantial from our past. I say to you now: 
DO NOT LET NATIONALISM POPULISM AND FASCISM 
RULE AGAIN..! If you do, future will never forgive you...
The problems we are facing now have ancient roots. The seed 
of aggression and self-destruction, was planted inside us at 
the very beginning. But at the same time we were given the 
gift of self preservation and compassion. So how can we 
cope with these contradictions..?

The "Corona virus" is silent and almost invisible, but its 
power is such, that future historians might find it necessary 
to divide our era into two periods: B.C. and A.C. - 
"Before Corona" and "After Corona".

I want to share with you some of my very basic convictions. 
They are not new, and they are quite simple, but extremely 
difficult to put into practice..! What I am writing to you is 
perhaps an "utopia", but "utopia" always played an important 
role in our evolution. Without it, there will be no future..!

1. Every person of this planet should receive substantial 
   education, free of charge, and free of any nationalistic, 
   geographical, religious, racial, cultural, political, sexual 
   or social restrictions. It must be open and free for everyone.

2. All people living on this small planet should be treated as one 
   family. We all have the same ancestors. We all are interrelated.

3. Our planet must be treated as one single home for us all. 
   Plants, animals humans and all nature. We all live under 
   the same sky.

4. All kinds of childish "trade wars" must be stopped and our 
   skills and knowledge should be shared generously. Every 
   one of us has something to teach, and something to learn.

5. The production of weapons must be stopped immediately, 
   and the money should be used to supply us with high 
   quality education, technology, medicine and food.

6. Aggression is an essential component of human nature, 
   but it should be channeled and used in sporting events and 
   all kinds of creative competitions. 

7. All borders - national, political, racial, religious, sexual 
   or social should be eliminated. Borders make communication 
   between people difficult, and create unnecessary tensions 
   and aggression. They are irrational and counterproductive.

8. Special funds helping the old, sick, deprived, racially and 
   socially isolated or handicapped, should be set up. This 
   scheme should embrace everyone who does not fit into our 
   standard behavior or thinking.

9. Last but not least. No God is to be blamed for our problems, 
   shortcomings and hardship. We should look for "God inside us" 
   and should not waist our time waiting for a messiah. We must
   take responsibility for our own actions.

Here is a very simple version to make this idea more 
understandable:

Imagine: BOTSWANA IS YOUR GRANDFATHER, MEXICO 
YOUR BROTHER, LITHUANIA YOUR SISTER, INDIA YOUR 
GREAT GRANDMOTHER, ARGENTINA YOUR MOTHER, 
LUXEMBURG YOUR UNCLE, AUSTRALIA YOUR FATHER, 
FINLAND YOUR NEPHEW, SOLOMON ISLANDS AND 
VIETNAM YOUR SIBLINGS, U.S.A YOUR MOTHER IN LAW, 
CHINA YOUR SON - and so on. It doesn't matter who is who, 
but whether we like it or not, we all are one huge family, 
living on a very small and fragile planet - under one sky. 
The clouds pass above all of us regardless of race or 
social standing. We must support each other and take 
care of this planet given to us, otherwise our extinction 
will come much sooner than expected. "CORONA" is 
trying to teach us that. We should listen carefully and try 
to understand this message - and finally take responsibility 
for our actions... every one of us.

The Sun...


Jiri Kylián - between April 12. and 18. 2020


Painting by Andy Kay

Corona

Corona disappearing...

Just cleaning the table…

The Sun