What Human beings can learn from the COVID-19.

  In 2015, Former CEO of the Microsoft, Mr. Bill Gates said that we invested much in nuclear weapons but we have to invest more to prepare the anti-virus which could spread to world cities through people appearing in a good health. What we are now expiring vis-à-vis COViD-19, originated from Hunan, China and proliferated to all over the world  is just what Bill Gates predicted.
 (See the following site : https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_the_next_outbreak_we_re_not_ready?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread)

  It reminds me what Dr. Taro Nakayama, a Medical Doctor, and Former Foreign Minister of Japan, Founder of the IMPO (International Medical Parliamentarians Organization), non-profit-organization associated with the WHO, said, watching at people walking at streets.
 'If the human beings may be perished, it would not by the nuclear wars, but by any virus which we can not see.

 The threat we can not see might be more dangerous than the threat we can see.
But why can we, human beings survive on this earth, without having strong tusks or fangs,  spines or thorns, without having huge bodies like elephants or dinosaurs. It's because we have
a wisdom, but also the survival of human beings is based on cooperation, solidarity, benevolence and love. In Japan, 'Omoiyari' (Thinking of others) and 'Tasukeai'(Helping each other) are high valued virtue, because people living in Japanese archipelago are always facing natural disasters like volcano
explosions, typhoons, earthquakes,, etc. If people do not help each other, they can not survive.

 On February 1, 2020, when the COVID-19 from Huan, China already penetrated in Japan, I was participating in an international event on 'Tokyo 2020, sport without borders'. It is true that in the Olympics, regardless of race, culture, languages, etc. people can be friends, through fair play competitions.
  We have been opening the borders and welcoming the outsiders, which promote the dynamism and diversity of a country. But this COVID-19 without borders became a world threat and it coming into the every corner of the world as a no-seen killer monster. Many countries shut suddenly the borders and asked people to stay home or close their shops. It is something totally contrary to the globalization. We considered that the life of individuals is the most important, and the national-border is the best way to protect people's lives.

 What have we learnt from this experience? One is that the life is more important than economy. It is said that money can buy a house, but not a home, money can buy food, but not appetite, money can  buy goods, but not love and respect. Too much globalization for economy put the world in a greater risk. The second is that we need a nation to protect ourselves, our identity, our culture, our history and our lives. It is not a contradiction to the internationalization. If you see the Olympics, people respect each other, each nation, each identity. That means the respect of the diversity.

  If we respect each other and help each other, we will overcome this difficult time.

　日本語では、下記のネットン番組（65分～75分位）で、「人類が新型コロナウィルスから学ぶべきこと」について簡単にお話しております。