Will COVID-19 end the 'one-world village' ideology?

Currently, media pundits are full of rhetoric, offering 'clever' opinions on the strategies needed for and cataclysmic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Is the age of human contact gone and maybe virtual relationships via social media are our future? As I write this article, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix stocks are rising 5-10%, while non-tech 'real-world' stocks continue to tumble. Treatments using standard off the shelf drugs exist. Vaccines trials are under way in the US, rapid test kits are flooding across Europe, 'social distancing' has begun and economic stimuli packages are underway. While hypothesising about the spread, political strategies, communications and economic impacts, the media avoid the fundamental issue regarding this viral outbreak's spread, namely global village ideology.

Globalisation ideology is the root cause of COVID-19 and its predecessors SARS and MER. These outbreaks seem to stem from poor sanitary conditions and cultural behaviour in countries that allow such rogue practices to occur unchecked and unregulated. The most likely epicentre of this COVID-19 viral strain stems from the long-standing, unregulated social/cultural practices of live 'wet' wild animal markets that are much favoured in regions like Wuhan. Nor do we hear of 'feeder' markets from neighbouring countries that freely enter via China's borders. Trump is the only public figure who dares criticise China's behaviour, but then he has been the only world leader to question the global over-dependency on China.

While the UN etc will not interfere or criticise the internal policies/affairs of nation states, those outside these 'rogue' nations can and must protect our populations from the consequences of these activities. Quite simply, countries' sound practices must utilise strong border control to force 'rogue' nations into adopting safe sanitary/cultural practices and outlaw high-risk activities such as 'wet' markets. While the media focuses on 'social distancing' at all costs (irrespective of human, social or economic impacts), there is no mention of the ultimate cause of this pandemic, namely decades of liberal open-border policies and the globalisation movement.

Recall the angry debates over 'boat people', illegal immigration, open borders in the EU and Trump's Mexico Wall. The one world, globalisation movement has aggressively promoted freedom of movement with minimal restrictions, yet we enforce stringent food regulations at borders. Critics of this naïve and high-risk ideology have been ostracised and abused by the left-leaning mainstream media and trolled relentlessly on social media. Decades of this pressure, its infiltration into education and the expectations of recent generations to travel the world freely has created a high-risk environment.

First-world societies have been in total blind denial to this high-risk ideology… until now. The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark warning to us all (Gen X backpackers, business people through to global grey nomads). The global, one-world utopia sold to us is a chronically poisoned chalice, just like the fake shiny, golden chalice. The simple, plain unexciting wooden carpenter's chalice of strong borders may be boring, but it is genuine, effective and safe.

Today's virus can travel halfway round the world in 24 hours, yet 70 years ago, my in-laws' immigration to Australia took 2-3 weeks, long-enough for any infection to develop and be managed. Previous 'new world' generations were quarantined on New York's Ellis Island to prevent the rampant diseases from Europe infecting North America. In 1990, when I immigrated, I was tested for all diseases including AIDS and vaccinations were checked, along with my health history. Our dog came with us and despite a wealth of vaccinations and testing spent two months in quarantine. Now in our 'one-world' globalised UN 'moulded' society, such practices are frowned upon and indeed demonised as racist.

Our globalist journalists are not retracting their hysterical criticism of the Morrison/Dutton policy to isolate Wuhan passengers to Christmas Island. Yet it seems that their controversial policy (and use of isolated ADF bases) has provided Australia with an invaluable breathing-space. Media pundits spruik Italy as being the more realistic 'insight' into what awaits Australia. Yes, the population demographics may be similar, but the Morrison/Dutton strategy worked, despite the political/media castigation. Italy remained fully open and has paid the consequences of their socialist open border ideology.

It's time we cleared the utopian fog of the global village ideology. Borders are and always have been a means of "community distancing" (be it at tribal or country scale). Previous generations regularly instigated social distancing, with diseases like chicken pox invoking home isolation of children. Since then, the benefits of almost universal vaccination (excluding our beloved anti-vaxers!) has made "social distancing" rare. Unfortunately, we have destroyed the effective protective barriers of "country-distancing" that existed before the global village ideology infected our now global society.

Until, three months ago, anyone with a passport and relevant visas could travel the world by historically cheap aviation industry either for holiday, business or seeking asylum. Isn't it about time that such 'freedom of movement' came with a global accountability? If you have no demonstrable vaccination/health history or come from a country which poorly regulates its sanitation/cultural practices, then you must lose that freedom of movement. This is the only way to force those countries (such as China in the case of COVID-19) who ignore their global citizen duties. They need to regain the right to access that freedom of movement visa we have so naively given them.

Those parts of the world that fulfil their duties through low risk sanitary/health/cultural practices expend significant proportions of their GDP to achieve this. Until countries like China lift their game, country-distancing must be imposed and freedom of movement restricted. Of course, given decades of integrating itself with cheap goods, asset purchases and massive resource imports, the first world will find this difficult. At least this should be a lesson to re-establish greater self-dependency and unmask the dangers of 'outsourcing' our industry to China. Otherwise, those countries who embrace safe health/sanitation/cultural practices are wasting money, time and effort and exposing their citizens to a global virus war. Social distancing will become the norm, toilet paper and sanitiser hoarding will be unnecessary and social interaction will have to occur in social media's virtual world. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg et al will expand their wealth and control over our lives.

As a footnote, this is not an anti-China article. I have sincere concern/empathy for the Chinese population and the environment they operate within. Rather, it's about awakening our awareness of the global village ideology and its role in exposing our global society to what are readily preventable pandemics.