Some thoughts on… Championing Goliath
With a ~5% contraction of US GDP in the first three months of the year, we are beginning to quantify the fallout from mismanagement of Covid-19. Reflecting on the economic news, I was reminded of the story of David versus Goliath from the Bible.
In the tale, a smaller hero (David) takes down a heavily-armored, larger opponent (Goliath) using a sling-shot and 5 stones from the nearby river. Our global culture lauds David for his bravery. The original old-testament legend is retold in the Koran, Goliath is Jalut (جالوت) in Arabic, and has been spun in every world culture – a valiant group of rebels fight a behemoth, a strong mother takes on a large company, a young wizard in school vanquishes a dark force.
As opposed to conventional wisdom, in the case of Covid-19, I am supporting Goliath in two different analogous cases.
The first analogy is more straightforward. Covid-19 is the small entity taking on a larger organism (the human race) and initially winning. In this case, I am of course rooting for humanity to triumph over virus.
The second analogy, is a little more textured. The social and economic advancement that society has achieved over the past 50 years has been remarkable. We have vastly improved food supplies; reduced maternal mortality by about 200,000 deaths per year and increased life expectancy by about 15 years. We have also moved about a billion people out of poverty.
All these benefits have come with a relentless push toward achievement, advancement, and growth in the economic system, but the cost has been on the planet. As we have scaled up economic activity, we have also increased environmental degradation. In some ways, our activities could be considered a virus attacking the larger planet.
By advancing the goal of economic improvement, we have sidelined the goal of environmental security. The pandemic’s initial spread is a result of our encroachment on wildlife, overutilization of natural resources, and construction of an international economic system. We are reducing forested habitats, selling wildlife as food, and then transmitting disease through a globally-connected transportation system.
In this second analogy, where the Planet is the larger entity and the ever-expanding economic system is the virus, I am in many ways rooting for Goliath again. It is ironic, that Covid-19, a microscopic element, can stall the strongest economies in the world and by doing so may save Mother Nature.
Natural viruses are smart. They cannot completely kill off their hosts, as they will not have a place to live. Sometimes viruses take a pause between major bouts of infection. In a similar fashion, maybe what is best for humans and the globe is not to relentlessly keep increasing our economic activity. Maybe we also need to pause our economic growth or at the least re-think it. Sometimes standing still is the best move you can make. As for both of these cases, I am rallying for Goliath.