Kázmér Kaposvári
Let’s think about the fact that we go to school every day, we learn, we do some sports, and most of us are just eager for summer to begin. These are familiar actions, feelings, and thoughts that we have every year.
For those people who were really just waiting to be home at last, I have good news (and bad): all of the students will have to stay home (we know why…), and let’s say that it is really unfamiliar for people to think they finished school already at the end of March. But the most unfamiliar thing for all of us is that we are going to learn till the end of the year without going to school. The lifestyle we are going to have in these rough few months is far from ordinary. Most people wouldn’t have ever thought that a crisis like this would happen, just because we all think these things only happen in history books and films and that we, humans, have developed so far in technology and medicine that we are able to solve anything. This will be the moment when people realise that the life they were planning is changing in ways we don’t know yet.
Personally, I still can’t put this anywhere, but I have some thoughts about what is about to happen: I think that this is going to unite humanity or else destroy it. If we are about to be destroyed, it will be because everyone will steal food and medicine from each other. But there is a really outstanding idea about what I think may be in the future. I believe that the virus is going to evolve and become more deadly and kill more people at a higher rate. This is not a great problem at a global level because this wouldn’t destroy nations, it would only cause big casualties. Most nations are able to withstand this pressure over the long term, and if some of them need aid, then other countries might come into the picture and help out.
Well, this is nice, and this way we are happy that we don’t all die out, but there is an exceptional country called North Korea. I believe everyone is aware of how things usually go there. Sadly they live in a communist dictatorship; furthermore, they keep their borders closed all the time. So they don’t really accept any help or even request any. Still, a few months into the pandemic, we don’t know much about their situation, as their official statements are not reliable. From what we can see, their economy and health system are not ready to fight off a pandemic like this. Of course, they also take precautions against the virus, so when the first man got infected there, they immediately ordered him to stay in quarantine, but somehow he managed to ignore this and went to a public spa. When the local forces found him, they reportedly executed him. This act sent a message to all people in North Korea not to ignore the situation, as the country has a very strict legal system. But this is just the beginning, as there will be more infections they won’t be able to stop, and the president (Kim Jong-un), as we all know, likes to play the role of king. The minute he sees his empire tremble (the death of many people and also the army), he might use his little secret card that he has played so much with over the last few years: nuclear bombs. I know this sounds unfamiliar and unimaginable, but because there will be a lack of medicine and masks, he might use this threat to gain some help from neighbouring countries. Also, if this day comes and he is about to lose everything, or even worse, about to die, well, in this case he will not care; he will press the red button and destroy everything, only because if he dies, why shouldn’t he die with the rest of the world?
If not this extreme scenario, then the worst case will be wars, which are likely because of the supplies that the world needs. In that case, many countries will fight each other to survive. In such a world, learning at home would already be a luxury. The life that once seemed unordinary would now look distant.
Let’s just face it, as far as imagination goes, these are the worst and most unfamiliar scenes that I can come up with: nuclear aggression from North Korea, or fighting all around. Yet we know that these would not solve the problems. For this reason I personally think and believe that neither of these extremes will happen, and that we as countries and nations will all be able to help each other out.