Doctor of historical sciences Virgiliu Pâslariuc, university professor, said the people will be unable to live by running away from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic cannot be denied and societies should learn to live with such regimes and such a thing was done by all societies until now, which also went through pandemics. “The predecessors felt those dangers, fear for the future, but namely disciplining on the part of the state and self-disciplining of persons created preconditions for overcoming the crises,” Virgiliu Pâslariuc said in the public debate “COVID-19: Memories of the Future or what History teaches us?” that was staged by IPN News Agency.
The doctor of history noted that the experience of the pandemics of the previous centuries brought with them anxiety, fear for the future, questions without answers. In those periods, societies became very agitated as they could not understand where the dangers came from. The example of Louis Pasteur, who tried to convince humanity of the existence of the danger posed by the virus, is very important.
According to Virgiliu Pâslariuc, in states of uncertainty, the people lose the horizons within which they can forecast a particular future. The fear usually generates a violent behavior and society is more agitated and sensitive after the quarantine regime and anything can generate an explosion of dissatisfaction that accumulated during the unnatural self-isolation regime. As the lifestyle changed, the people didn’t do what they used to do and lived in fear.
A problem derives from the communication between the authorities and the people. The message of the authorities, the way in which they talk to the people and persuade them to do necessary things matter. The authorities’ message should be coherent and understandable and the people should be convinced that measures are needed and the measures include the discipline and self-discipline. Those models of the past should be undertaken now,” stated Virgiliu Pâslariuc.
“As regards the management of fears, we see that our government adopted a dualistic position. It either says that wearing a mask is ok or says that it is not ok. This information, these contradictory messages generate uncertainty and distrust in society. The Government lost credibility.”
According to Virgiliu Pâslariuc, the COVID-19 crisis will be overcome when the vaccine and the necessary preparations are found and the conditions in medical institutions are improved. The post-pandemic shock will pass and the economic shock will come. There will be a stage when society will exert great pressure on the state and this is worrisome. Currently, the authorities do not have a plan for overcoming this situation.
The debate “COVID-19: Memories of the Future or what History teaches us?” was the 146th installment of the debates project “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
