New Vision for the Post-Pandemic Era
Promoting the Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience
Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze
President of Federation of World Peace and Love
Vice-President of Association of World Citizens
Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men
Oct. 08, 2020
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Suver and the Marmara Group Foundation for their time and effort in organizing the 23rd Eurasian Economic Summit at a critical moment when the world is ravaged by the novel coronavirus. I would also like to thank all participants for contributing their wisdom and expertise in various fields and proposing forward-looking approaches for world development in the post-pandemic era.
The negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be more serious than any other event since the Great Depression and have changed how we live and work and affected how people get along and communicate with one another. The virus has not only threatened human life and health, but also caused serious damage to the economy. The global economy is estimated to take 2 to 5 years to recover. Many governments have implemented unprecedented policies and measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Therefore, they need to increase public health funding to cope with the global pandemic, resulting in reduced investment in other areas and widening the ripple effect of the wealth gap. The virus indeed has caused crises, but the pandemic has also given us an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and re-examine how mankind should coexist with the Earth and how we can rebuild cooperative and harmonious relationships between people and between nations.
How will mankind face the post-pandemic era? When we are describing the new world after the pandemic, what elements do we want to add? How do we make a well-thought-out plan in times of change, uncertainty, and ambiguity?
Despite the daunting challenges, we still need to face them with optimistic attitudes, and our mission to pursue a sustainable future for mankind continues. Recalling the origin of mankind, we find people coexisted and thrived together with nature, the four seasons were harmonious, and all living things flourished. This allows people’s hearts to travel back to the beautiful root of culture and enables people to foster an education that conforms to the new era and recreate a good economy. Therefore, we need to listen to the calling from our conscience and follow its guidance to distinguish right from wrong, true from false, and good from evil. Conscience is like a beacon, clearly showing us the way forward.
The economic crisis triggered by the pandemic requires all nations to help one another and work together to adopt specific solutions. Supply chains shall be reshaped in conformity with the new macroeconomic scenarios. When shaping the new world after the pandemic, we must follow our conscience and choose the best plan to protect everyone and the environment, rather than just pursue personal or national economic interests.
When we apply our conscience to care for people and the environment, we will be able to change the world, make the culture of conscience an excellent culture shared by the whole world, and make it a more sustainable lifestyle where people can live in harmony with nature. That is our new vision for the post-pandemic era, where humans live by universal values, follow their conscience, and promote the culture of peace with love and conscience.
Creating a beautiful new world of love and peace starts with the kind heart and good thoughts in each of us; we need to get rid of hostility and conflict and follow our conscience to make decisions that benefit all humanity. All nations need to build partnerships among themselves, jointly work on action plans for global sustainable development, practice humanitarian spirit, and help the weak, regardless of race or gender, to create a sustainable and peaceful new world.
If we can gain insights and unite ourselves with conscience, then the post-pandemic world should be even better than it was before. A culture of peace with love and conscience will nurture mutual respect and understanding and help us work together for an inclusive society in which our needs are taken care of and human rights are protected. We need to protect our conscience, as conscience will reclaim true love. True love will calm the heart, and a tranquil heart will inspire wisdom and guide us to make right decisions.
Humanity is now at a turning point. Each of us holds the key to determine the future, and the key to turning that key lies in our conscience. Today, we must unite ourselves. No matter where you are from or who you are, we are all leaders of the world. Let us apply our conscience to turn the key that can change the world so as to move toward a truly peaceful, rational, and safe future and create a more positive, prosperous, joyful, and happy society.
*Presented at the Marmara Foundation’s online conference in support of
the 23rd Eurasian Economic Summit in Istanbul, Turkey