It is now the fourth or fifth week of lockdown here in Jugenheim and I am wondering whether I will ever be able to walk confidently into an office or supermarket again! Will I turn my head and reach for one of the many face masks I keep in my pockets and learn to cheek-kiss others through a shield of cotton while sticking my bum out to avoid any genital contact - oh, my God, how the virus must love hunkering down in those warm and tropical nether regions! Just thinking about it makes me want to wash my hands.
But seriously, I am ever fascinated by the way in which reaction to the virus reveals some of the deep-seated values of a culture. We can learn a lot about culture from the way we deal with Corona and from the variety of ways other cultures deal with it. Nothing is right or wrong here.
It is not abnormal for a crisis to reveal what I might call the inner-core values of a society and governments would be advised to never forget, to take heed. In Britain, Robin Hood and his like will never fade away and the ordinary person doing extraordinary things rules the roost. Example? Captain Tom with his WW2 medals on his chest, walking to raise money for the NHS, has become a national hero, someone to emulate, perhaps, and to hell with the nobs in Whitehall! And later today, the Thursday clap will take place in order to honour the ordinary boys and girls working in the NHS, while the Queen herself referred to Vera Lynn as "the girl back home" in her televised address to the nation, and assured us that we will meet again!
Contrast this with Germany. Ever terrified of producing another strong man (I would say "woman" but this is very unlikely in Germany) focus is on those elements of society we can trust, that is, numbers and statistics. These rule the roost here while in Italy, the hierarchical nature of society is revealed though idolising those in positions of power and those who might be able to change things. At this time of Corona, these people would be doctors and researchers and virologist, people like this doctor in the picture above, honoured on FB with these words: "Omaggio alla sua splendida persona e al suo impegno esemplare nella lotta contro il "nemico invisibile" which I will translate as: Homage to your splendid character and your example in the struggle against the invisible enemy. I can't see this being written in England. Put your head over the parapet and it will get shot off!
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