How an Irishman Views the Coronavirus

From the Irish Times:

A wise teacher once told me that humans have two basic responses to threat: panic and complacency. Neither response is helpful and both are in evidence today, albeit about two different kinds of threat: panic about coronavirus and complacency about other, apparently less dramatic problems, including, most notably, climate change. 

In fact, there are plenty of people who are responding calmly and efficiently to coronavirus, and plenty who are appropriately exercised about climate change. But my teacher had a point. If even 10 per cent of the panic about coronavirus was shifted to climate change, the world would be a substantially better place and our fight against coronavirus would be none the weaker.

- Brendan Kelly