These are the ideas of Dr Claudine Als, which she expressed in a recent reader’s letter to RTL. The former councillor of Luxembourg City has worked in research for 20 years and offers some of her own thoughts on the current health crisis.
Dr Als’ letter [FR]”] Dr Claudine Als particularly stresses that the biggest tragedy of Covid-19 has been our lack of preparation. Even though there had been warnings, we were not prepared to face an invisible, microscopic enemy.
“We could only have been prepared if there had been a truly European or at least joint strategy against this enemy in place. Never mind if this would have included self-sufficiency in terms of medication or treatments, or even a joint strategy on how to proceed. We have not managed to impose the lockdown together, and now it seems like we will also not manage to go through with an exit strategy together”
For some people this crisis will result in priority changes, not only on an individual level, but also on a societal and European level.
“We have to hope that maybe, we will value the Greater Region a bit more again and buy more local and regional products. Maybe we will grow more vegetables in Luxembourg and consume our own food here, instead of thinking that we need to order everything for the cheapest possible price in China. I think that we have been shown the harsh consequences of our one-sided dependence on China”
According to Dr Als, at the beginning of the 21st Century, our society has reached a level of freedom unknown until now. This freedom is precious and has been earned over the past 200 years. Now the time has come to reconsider everything.
“We have been able to travel everywhere, afford everything, communicate with anyone in many different ways. We could go see everything, amazing, and then suddenly it all stopped. We had a lot of time to question many things, to reconsider. Rethinking one’s own life, one’s own existence is not a bad thing at all. What is important to me? What makes me happy, fulfils me, gives me something more, enriches my life?”
Dr Als continues to say it is important at this point to consider our options as a society. The next crisis is already just around the corner: the climate crisis.
According to Dr Claudine Als, now is the time to move forward with ideas like a CO2 pass, taking care of our own needs as a country, e.g. when it comes to growing vegetables, and reducing our dependency on China.
