There is little question that the COVID-19 pandemic has made people more distrustful of one another.
In a time when anyone and anything could be a disease carrier, it is difficult to not be suspicious. A visceral manifestation of this distrust is violent xenophobia, expressed in public acts of brutality against Asians: a Singaporean University College London (UCL) student in the streets of London, and even an Asian-American family and child in a Texas supermarket. Such distrust shows when people dub COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.” It shows when people inside China call it “Wuhan pneumonia” and panic at the sight of cars with license plates from Hubei province. It shows when people indulge in conspiracy theories, when they question whether public institutions are doing enough to fight the virus. Much of this distrust is harmful and unjustified, but might a dose of distrust in our institutions be warranted?
When the United States (USA), a recognized global superpower, reassures its citizens that everything is fine days before it declares a national state of emergency, it can be difficult for people to feel safe. This is compounded by the fact that several internationals institutions’ reputations have come under fire after months of meltdown. Even the Chinese government, which out of all world governments (save South Korea’s) has probably done the most to combat the spread of the virus, remains on the receiving end of accusations of data falsification – accusations which are doubtless strengthened by the fact that local officials in Wuhan were involved in silencing the spread of such information at the very beginning of the outbreak. This behavior just goes to illustrate how long distrust can persist once its seeds are planted in our collective psyche.
On the other hand, the equally infectious pandemic of distrust that ails the internet and media at large is seemingly contradicted by political polls, which indicate that deeply unpopular leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump, whose responses to the pandemic are controversial at best, have seen their support increase (if only temporarily in the latter case) as people “rally around the flag”.
The fact that chronic distrust or chronic misplacement of trust can paradoxically coexist speaks volumes of the degree of panic that is currently sweeping through the world. It is unmistakable that the virus has a huge impact on all realms of human activity. Without trust in one’s government, in other governments, and NGOs, people have no assurance that they will be kept safe and hence might struggle to make sense of health recommendations while lashing out violently. Add too much unwarranted trust and people are lulled into a false sense of security that can be equally damning.
Where, though, should the responsibility lie? Given that reporting on COVID-19 oscillates between radio silence and continued bombardment of contradictory information, it is unfair to blame regular people, uninformed and biased as we may all be. Rather, the onus should be on those public institutions that have been fanning the flames of this crisis of trust.
Nonetheless, I’m under no illusions that we can expect them to change their ways any time soon, especially since social isolation will hinder attempts to hold them accountable. Now more than ever, as consumers of media, we must be vigilant about the information we take in. Rather than defaulting to preconceived notions of what information is reliable, we should genuinely commit ourselves to the age-old advice of reading a diversity of viewpoints (as repugnant and disturbing as many may be), maintaining skepticism, and giving benefit of the doubt at the same time. As isolation slowly becomes the new norm, perhaps it might do us all some good to just stick our heads in the sand once in a while.