We are All Interconnected, We are the “Family of Man”*: Thoughts on the COVID-19 Response

I woke up this morning thinking of our plight here in the U.S. vis-a-vis COVID-19.

Then, for some reason, the front cover of Edward Steichen’s 1955 book*, The Family of Man, by photographer Edward Steichen, popped up from some vast repository in my memory library:

Steichen said the people “looked at the pictures, and the people in the pictures looked back at them. They recognized each other.”

Yes, because we are all humans, all with the same loves, pains, stresses, and dreams.

In the public health crisis facing us, we need to remember our common humanity.

Our world is so interconnected now.

Food from one part of the world fills our stomachs. Books from another feed our minds. And clothes sewn in yet another part clothe our bodies. Plants from still another part grow in our fields, in our gardens.

Remember Fritjof Capra’s book, The Web of Life? Now, more than ever, it’s time to think in those terms.

For our well-being, and the well-being of all life on our tiny blue planet, wear your mask, stand away from people when you’re out in public, and – best of all – if you can do it, STAY HOME. There’s nothing political about this crisis, but the price we pay as humans may lead to political problems we can well avoid by trying harder to save each other.