Page 19 - HQ May June July 2020

The two meanings of the word salus An important point now highlighted by the

The term salus means both health and salvation coronavirus crisis is the subsidiary role of credit.
in the ethical-spiritual and especially religious sense. Blocking large sectors of the economy to ensure
The current experience with the coronavirus dem- greater health security and reduce the spread of the
onstrates that the two meanings are linked. Threats virus is causing an economic crisis, particularly in
to the health of the body cause changes in attitudes terms of liquidity, for companies and households.
and ways of thinking and require a defense of certain If shutdowns last for a long time, a crisis in the
values. The moral reference system of society as a cycles of production and consumption can be ex-
whole is tested. Ethically valid behavior is demanded pected, with the specter of great unemployment.
and selfish, disengaged, indifferent and exploitative In the face of these needs, the role of credit can be
modes of thinking are called into disrepute. fundamental and the financial system could redeem
itself from its many reprehensible practices of the
There is heroism in the common fight against recent past.
contagion and, at the same time there is plundering
by those who would take advantage of the situation. Sovereignty and globalization
The fight against contagion requires a moral rebuild- The current experience with the coronavirus
ing of society in terms of healthy and respectful be- also forces us to reconsider globalization and na-
havior and solidarity, which is perhaps more import- tional sovereignty. Globalization views the planet
ant than the rebuilding of resources. as a system of rigid connections and articulations,
The challenge of physical health is therefore an artificial construction governed by insiders with
linked to the challenge of moral health. We need to seemingly unshakeable communication systems.
profoundly rethink the immoral drifts of our soci- However, such a concept is weak, because a strike
ety, at all levels. Often, misfortunes are not entirely to the system creates an avalanche or domino effect.
natural, but have behind them man’s morally disor- Epidemics can put the health system in crisis
dered attitudes. The origin of COVID-19 has not yet while quarantines put the productive system in crisis,
been definitively determined. Even if a natural ori- causing the collapse of the economy, unemployment
gin is found the social impact calls into question the and poverty. The credit system runs out of fuel, as
community ethic. The answer is not and will not only it were, while the weakening of the population ex-
be scientific-technical, but also moral. After the tech- poses it to new epidemics and so on in a series of
nical response, the serious coronavirus crisis should vicious circles of global proportions.
revive public morality on a new solid foundation. Until ‘yesterday’, globalization presented the
Contribution to the common good splendors and heights of perfect technical func-
Ethical participation is necessary because the tioning and confirmation of the obsolescence of
common good is at stake. The coronavirus epidemic states and nations. It presented the absolute value
contradicts all those who have argued that the com- of the “open society”: one planet, one religion, one
mon good as a moral end does not exist. If this were universal morality, one globalist people and one
world authority.
the case, what would all people inside and outside
institutions be engaged in and fighting for? What A virus may be enough to bring down the sys-
commitment would citizens be called upon to make tem, since any non-global levels of response would
if not a moral commitment to the common good? On have been unavailable in a globalist system. Our ex-
what basis is it said that a certain behavior is “manda- perience warns us against an “open society” under-
tory” at this time? Those who have denied the exist- stood in this way, both because it is in the hands and
ence of the common good or who have entrusted power of a few and because a few other hands could
its implementation to techniques alone, but not to a bring it down like a house of cards. This is not to
moral commitment for the good, are today contra- deny the importance of the international collabora-
dicted by the facts. It is the common good that tells tion that a pandemic requires but such collaboration
us that health is a good that we must all promote. It has nothing to do with collective, mechanical, auto-
is the common good that tells us that the word salus matic and systemic global structures.
has two meanings. The European Union’s death by coronavirus
Will this experience with the coronavirus deepen
This experience has demonstrated a divided and
and broaden this notion of the common good? As ghost-like European Union. Selfish differences have
we fight to save the lives of many people, abortions arisen between member states rather than cooper-
have not stopped, the sale of abortificatients has not ation. Italy has remained isolated; it has been left
ended, euthanasia continues, the sacrifice of human alone. The European Commission intervened late and
embryos proceeds and many other practices against the European Central Bank intervened badly. Faced
life and the family continue. with the epidemic, each state took separate steps to u

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