Comment
The coronavirus pandemic has, of course, had a major and adverse impact on us all.
But, long after the crisis has passed (assuming it does), we will begin to realise that its real and lasting significance lies in the lessons it has taught us, if only we can be bothered to learn them.
It behoves us all to understand what those lessons might be.
We have been taught, first, that we are just another part of the natural world and are subject, like any other creature, to the way it works.
We may think that we are the "lords of creation" and that we live at a more exalted level than other creatures do, and that, accordingly, natural laws do not apply to us and can, like the interests of other life forms, be ignored.
Bearing in mind that the virus seems to have originated with wild animals offered for sale as food in a Chinese market, we might conclude that it would be safer to treat other creatures with more respect.
And, similarly, for the environment - we might note that the air in New York is suddenly much cleaner because the economic slowdown has reduced the number of cars in New York streets.
Again, the finger can be pointed at human activity - and the changes we must make to reduce pollution.
The virus has been no respecter of ethnic or cultural differences. It has infected us all, with a fine disregard for the differences that seem to matter so much to us.
For the virus, we are all just humans; it is that "human-ness" that unites and defines us - and our shared "human-ness" is further evidence that we are all born equally human.
If we are all equally vulnerable to the virus, what makes us think that some of us are "more equal" than others in supposedly more important respects?
We are not only born equal - but, as the virus has demonstrated, we inevitably share with others the tribulations that life brings to us all.
The virus has crossed national boundaries without a missed step.
We need no better demonstration of the fact that, on this Earth, "we are all in this together". Those in distant lands who have succumbed to the virus are our brothers and sisters and deserving recipients of our care and concern.
And, in purely practical terms, the virus has shown that what befalls them will befall us as well.
We should also register that the virus seems to have taught our governments some lessons about their true role and responsibilities.
After decades of being told that the central duty of government is to balance its own finances and to produce a "surplus", we now see that government has much wider and more important responsibilities - to manage the economy as a whole, to ensure that it continues to serve us all, and to sustain the poorest and neediest in our midst.
Our own government has led the way in applying this lesson.
As government after government around the world has resorted, not only to borrowing but to "printing money" as well, in order to keep their economies functioning, we might wonder why it has taken them so long to understand that a sovereign country need never be short of money.
We may, at times, be short of raw materials and labour, but governments can create money whenever we want and wherever it is needed.
Let us remember that lesson if, after the crisis is over, we are again told that we "cannot afford" investment in public services or to support the sick and needy.
And, on a more positive note, how uplifting and refreshing it has been to hear our leaders - and notably our Prime Minister - urging us to "look after each other" in this time of need and danger - and to "be kind" to each other.
The capacity for "kindness" is perhaps the most human and important of all human attributes - and kindness in all its many forms is never more needed than now, when our fellow humans are struggling to survive.
And if we can stop the virus in its tracks by working together, we will have confirmed another important lesson - that "no man is an island unto himself."
- Bryan Gould is an ex-British MP and Waikato University vice-chancellor.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website