THE TRUE NATURE OF HUMAN GREED AND SHELLFISHNESS SHOWS IN TIMES OF CRISIS

I’m sure all of us have either witnessed or saw few images encapsulate more succinctly or poignantly the situation facing us all at this very critical time

Pictures of supermarket shoppers filling their shopping carts to overflowing with large packets of toilet paper is labelled ‘panic buying’. Brought on by the apparently imminent spread of COVID-19, these rabid consumers seem to be concerned that the greatest risk from the demise of civilization as we know it, is not being able to wipe their bottoms with their luxury brand. But why is this called ‘panic’?

I’ve observed the elderly (seniors) stand in the middle of a supermarket aisle surrounded by empty shelves, their gaze focused on the scrap of paper — presumably their shopping list — in their hands.

This is not Venezuela, not Russia during the Cold War, not a corruption-ravaged Zimbabwe not any third world country.

This is Canada, arguably the most stable place on Earth.

And the bare shelves are not the result of food shortages or some sort of catastrophic failure in supply chains; they are the result of the cruel selfishness of those who, in times of crisis, have no regard for the needs of the vulnerable or elderly but care only about themselves.

Over the past few days, scenes like this — and worse — have been repeated up and down this country and many other so called “civilized” first world countries i.e. the UK, France, Australia, the U.S., Canada, Germany etc.

People queuing around the block at Costco and footage of crowds fighting and falling over each other to get into a supermarket or grocery store, while other scenes show people slapping and hitting each other over rolls of toilet paper.

All of them shocking, all deeply distasteful, all liable to make one question the very nature and sanity — of the human race.

But there was something about the quiet desolation of those elderly people gazing at their shopping list that brings into stark relief the way coronavirus is ripping through not just our immune systems, our National Health System and our economy, but also our social fabric.

It shows how, somewhere along the line, we ceased to be humans beings and a country that cares about the old, the sick and the vulnerable, and became a nation of sharp-elbowed, nasty and thoroughly inconsiderate “I’m Alright Jack”.

Of course, there are also many stories of individuals stepping up to help others, of communities coming together to weather this storm.

Indeed, I have every confidence that once the acute phase of this crisis has passed, once the reality of the situation has been processed, people will calm down and rally to each other’s sides.

But that does not change the fact that the viciousness of the panic buying, the sheer greed that people have displayed in taking far, far more than they need without giving a second thought to those less nimble, less speedy, less well-off, has been striking.

I’ve seen shops and stores full of elderly people looking for groceries even though the shelves were empty — ransacked by the so-called ‘shellfish and inconsiderate’.  Already far more vulnerable to the effects of the virus than younger people, the older generation are also much more likely to be living on their own and surviving on their pensions.

They don’t tend to have a freezer full of stuff, and they can’t always afford to buy in bulk. But even if they could, it’s not really in their nature to take what they don’t need.

And this, I think, is really the crux of the matter. What we are seeing here is a really deep generational divide.

Between those who grew up in the shadow of two World Wars and those like myself who are survivors of the 1971 genocide and of deadly diseases such as typhoid, malaria, cholera, measles, small pox, chicken pox and plague, and who know true hardship and personal sacrifice; and those who have never known anything else but relative prosperity, people for whom the prospect of having to do without simply does not compute, whose sense of entitlement blinds them to all but their own needs.

Between those who, like my parents and individuals from my immediate generation never waste a single morsel of food or buy more than we know we’re going to need; and those who are so spoilt for choice that they’ll chuck out stuff that’s half a day out-of-date, or reject a tin with a dent in it.

They want it all, and they want it now — because they’ve never known anything else.

They’re that child at a kid’s party who grabs all the sweets at once, even though they can’t possibly eat all of them, and if they did it would make them horribly sick.

Spoilt, selfish, ill-mannered and probably deserving of a good smack (were such things still allowed these days).

It is often wondered of today’s younger generation whether, if asked to make a similar sacrifice to the one made by their predecessors in defence of the country from Nazi Germany, they would be equal to the task.

I have always felt that the answer to that question would be yes; that when push came to shove, they would set aside their “me-first” mentality and step up to the plate.

But what has been so depressing about the recent stockpiling, for me at least, is how that does not seem to be the case.

Scenes of the healthy and able-bodied riding roughshod over the old and frail make me question whether we have what it takes to face this crisis.

The irony is that a lot of the surplus food bought by selfish panic buying will probably be dumped when this serious crisis is all over!