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Rediscovering utopian hopes of a connected world

(This article originally appeared in The Guardian, 29 Mar 2020.)

The coronavirus blitz spirit has focused our interest on networks that make us stronger – the NHS, the BBC and the internet itself

If this is the worst of times, it is also the best of times. In our anxiety we are drawing deep reserves of strength from others. In our isolation we are rediscovering community. In our confusion we are rethinking whom we trust. In our fragmentation we are rediscovering the value of institutions.

To each their own narrative or metaphor. If this feels like the blitz spirit to you, all well and good. Others find it helps to imagine a world recast through virtual networks.

But what it amounts to is this: there is such a thing as society and we are all interdependent. And if it sometimes takes a grave crisis to remind ourselves of these truths, then this moment may well be historic for the possibilities of hope as well as for all the tragedy and turmoil.

April 01, 2020

Alan Rusbridger
WATATAWA Senior Adviser