Do we have a baseline responsibility to not go back to “normal” — to think of our climb out of the Covid-19 pandemic in a different way, to impact a more realistic outcome?
Alison Bernstein, Ph.D.:
This is another ethical question. Personally, it is my opinion that we do.
An example of one such effort is efforts to create new stock photo images of people in masks. Another is encouraging and expecting role models to demonstrate the “new normal.” For better or worse, people listen to what influencers and celebrities have to say about all sorts of things about which they have no expertise. They could use their platforms for good, by posting about how they are distancing, posting pictures of themselves in masks, amplifying accurate messages. We can all do the same within our own social networks. The words we use and the images we see matter. I would like to see more attempts to instill a sense of civic duty and responsibility to our communities to keep each other safe. This pandemic is a clear case where individual action is insufficient to address the problem. The only way to protect myself is to protect you and the only way for you to protect yourself is to protect me