The Source March 2020

READING ROOM
China’s mishandling of the coronavirus
outbreak has imperiled itself and the
world because it is a land of 21st-century
science and 19th-century politics.
Scholars in China predicted a year ago
in an article in the journal Viruses that
it was “highly likely” that there would
be coronavirus outbreaks, calling it an
“urgent issue.” Once the outbreak occurred,
other Chinese scientists rapidly
identified the virus and sequenced its
DNA, posting it on last January 10th
on a virology website for all to see.
That was extraordinarily good and fast
work. Meanwhile, China’s government
instinctively organized a cover-up, ordering
the police to crack down on
eight doctors accused of trying to alert
others to the risks. National television
programs repeatedly denounced the
doctors as rumormongers. Tight rules
were used to control the information
rather than to stop an epidemic. One of
those eight doctors, Li Wenliang, caught
the virus and died, causing public outrage.
A brave voice in China that had
cried out paid the highest price, death,
which could have been prevented. The
first known coronavirus infection in the
city of Wuhan presented symptoms beginning
on December 1st, and by late
December there was alarm in Wuhan’s
medical circles. That would have been
the moment for the authorities to act decisively.
If the government would of act
in the right way many lives might have
been saved. It’s not that the government
didn’t act but the undertaken actions
were not against the virus, but against
whistle-blowers who were trying to call
attention to the public health threat. The
mayor of the city of Wuhan (the place
of outbreak) said he wasn’t authorized
to discuss the virus until late January. In
that time, people traveled to and from
Wuhan and didn’t take any kind of precautions.
The locked down that effectively
quarantined people in Wuhan,
was finally ordered by the government
on January 23rd but by then, according
to the mayor, five million people had already
fled the city. China informed the
World Health Organization (WHO) of
the virus on December 31st but kept its
own citizens in the dark. It would have
been wiser to have had a lock down at
the same date. As such avoiding as much
as possible the freely traveling of the virus.
Possible panic in the public could
have been restrained to the area concern.
Such till more solid information would
have been available.
THE TRUTH
IS WORTH IT
We have to understand that the world
we now live in is not the same world
we come from. Between 1900 and 2000
much has changed. And in the last two
decades it all has been accelerated. It’s
the same planet though, but not the same
world. As such, we have to awake and
adjust our lives to the many changes we
are confronted with. Technological evolution
doesn’t only bring good with it.
There are many side effects that if we
don’t pay attention to, those will surprise
us in ways we didn’t expected. The impact
of the unexpected can make things
even worse than we could of imagine. It’s
always easier to say what should have
been done retrospectively, than what to
do when you are actually at that point
making decisions. Don’t understand me
wrong, I’m all for (technological) innovations.
But sometimes this kind of “free
developments” has its shortcomings and
complications. It also allows an uncontrolled
way of living. We already stand
at the feet of the beginning of this new
(technological) revolution. An unstoppable
era of which the point of no return has
already been taken. We do see the governments
sharing their futuristic gadgets
(of millions, billions and trillions), after
they understood the challenges it brings
with it better. They shouldn’t be praised
for doing what they are supposed to do,
but it certainly stimulates the flow of information.
Because today’s world has
become a global village. The ability for
(relatively) anyone to travel anywhere
in the world, the ability to communicate
with nearly anyone (especially via social
media), and greater access to the Internet
and technology in general have all contributed
to the globalization. And in the
age of globalization, liberalization and
privatization of the entire social-cultural
life has been totally changed. One cannot
remain silent anymore. The silence of the
one can be the death of all. We may escape
one time, even two times but what
about the third time. By becoming a village
the rules have been changed. These
rules are intended to assist in creating
and preserving a peaceful and enjoyable
living environment for all residents (approximately
7.7 billion). For the safety of
others all rubbish and general waste are
to be bagged or wrapped in a village. In
a village are the maintenance and condition
of the common ground one of a
joint responsibility. Therefore, I think
it’s one-sided and partial to look only at
China’s situation. What if another (type
of) outbreak happens in a western (free)
country, would the situation be much better?
What about the many other human
sufferings which are related to the capitalist
supremacy of the western world.
Thus the world that we use to understand
has rapidly become a much smaller entity
due to technology, and as such demands
of all of us a far more open communication
because the silence of one can become
the death of all.
Gerrit J. Scheper
Advocate Gerrit J. Scheper thought his career was set
after graduating from the University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands, and being senior partner and co-owner
in a well-known international law firm. But after
what Gerrit calls a “clear call to full time ministry,”
he changed course and went to the ‘Prophetic school’
in Pretoria, South Africa, completing several master’s
classes in theology. Gerrit is taught in the worldly laws
as well as in the spiritual laws, and as such experienced
in the earthly courtrooms as well as in the Courts of
Heaven.
As pastor and teacher of the Word, Gerrit empowers people with the Lord’s vintage truth
through writing and speaking, and weekly radio and television programs. Gerrit is a frequent
speaker at churches and seminars across borders. And he and his spouse are together
the founders and pillars of the monthly informative magazine ‘The Source’.
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