“I am impressed by the fact that these are well organized and have deep thought. Especially I learned from an article dealing with the difference between East and West.Here are just my interests, it seems that there is also difference in collectivism between China, Indian and Japan, etc. and this difference became obvious in fighting against COVID-19.I am also curious about the future of Eastern individualism, because it could be damaged by this virus.I believe that ---- (Adi Singh) is growing even in this harsh circumstances.”
Mr. Arita Tetsuo , The Asahi Shimbun, Japan
MARCH 24, 2020
KARO-NA! East or West?
While sharing my views on COVID-19 with my friends and family, an interesting aspect emerged. Why is the eastern part of the world, primarily Asian countries, able to handle this epidemic better than their counterparts in the west, including European countries? And that too, when the origin of this disease appears to be in Wuhan, China. During the discussions, there were multiple arguments including first mover advantage, communist government, fast learning etc. This made me think and explore the reasoning behind better handling by the east than the west, if that has happened.
One thing is clear that in the last 4 months, the epicentre has been shifting. It has moved from China to Italy and now it seems New York is the new home to this virus. WHO has appreciated China’s handling of the virus situation much to the chagrin of the USA. China had 81,171 infected patients and 3249 deaths. Whereas Italy, which is much smaller in size and population count has 41,035 infected persons and 3405 deaths. Moreover, America is seeing the spread of this wildfire and New York is the new claimant of numero-uno. In the midst of criticism, President Trump rubbished the utility of social distancing and claimed that America is not meant to be locked down. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is similar in his approach and as a consequence, Britain is seeing a spate of catastrophe. On the other hand, a country as large as India, in spite of its diverse social structure, is locking down state after state by invoking harsh measures like curfews.
While thinking on the above lines, I came across an interesting article by David Robson, “How East and West Think in Profoundly Different Ways”. The narration seems to be appropriate to analyse the current situation by juxtaposing eastern handling and western handling of virus driven situations. David Robson emphasizes how our social environment molds our mind and suggests that history, geography, and culture can change how we all think in subtle and surprising ways - right down to our visual perception. The most notable difference between east and west revolves around the concepts of “individualism” and “collectivism”; whether you consider yourself to be independent and self contained or entwined and interconnected with other people around you, valuing the group over the individual. People living in individualistic societies put more emphasis on personal choice and freedom. Whereas eastern traditions like Buddhism and Taoism tend to focus on concepts of unity. Interestingly, this piece also examined “Germ Theory”. Rudyard Kipling’s quote “Oh, east is east, and west is west….” sums up the situation, at least in my mind, in the present circumstances.
The elected representatives like President Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson adopted an ostrich like approach and refused to believe that this catastrophe can hit the high and mighty. President Trump tweeted on March 22 “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF” and a second tweet “AT THE END OF THE 15 DAYS PERIOD WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO”. These tweets were in response to suggestions for shutting down businesses. The last two days have been horrific and New York is in a state of emergency with more than 13,000 confirmed cases in the city. On the other hand, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called corona testing “as simple as a pregnancy test” and publicly announced that Britain will turn the tide in 12 weeks. This is just another line for the side of a bus.
The approach adopted by the two sides is markedly different to the eastern part of the world, who adopted a very conservative, timely, disciplined, and decisive strategy. The west being the west adopted an individualistic, liberal, and opulent approach in terms of time and extent of measures required to be adopted. The consequences are in front of all of us!