The coronavirus pandemic and thoughts about planet earth

By Wellington C Ramos

The coronavirus pandemic is having a major impact on many families throughout the world. The biggest fear for many is that it will shatter their unaccomplished dreams, stop some to enjoy what they have accomplished in their lives, or leave a burden for their families to endure. The reality is that we cannot escape death so we must prepare our lives in total by including death in our plans. If we do not die from the coronavirus, we will die from something else but it is still death.

When a human being is born into this world, most people especially the parents want the best for their children throughout their lifetime. However, for that to happen it starts with the mother and father taking care of their parental responsibilities up until the child becomes an adult. If anyone of the parent fails in taking care of his or her responsibility, that can have a major impact on the success or lack of success of their children and there are statistics to confirm this.

I was brought up by my mother and her family, so I know what it is like to grow up without a father. Luckily for me, I came to my self-realization at an early age. I had to get up and work for my money. This is because nobody was going to make it their business to give it to me. Many of the people who are wealthy and powerful today had similar experiences in their lives. The best advice I can give a child is to start planning their future from early and do not wait around for what is left after their parents die. If they leave something for you, be grateful and it becomes part of your assets.

Employment is a key component for parents to acquire the means to take care of their children. If the mother and father are both unemployed, then they both cannot take care of themselves much less their children. Some parents do not need employment because they come from wealthy parents and they have the finance to take care of their children. Most wealthy parents encourage their children to work for their money to increase and maximize their family’s wealth. If a family member refuses to work he or she is seen as a liability to the family. A person who comes from a poor family is a liability to his family and the nation.

The government of every country has an interest in this because the higher the unemployment rate, the more the government will have to spend on providing social services to its citizens. Who is responsible for the wellbeing and care of an unemployed person the family or the government? In my opinion, all able and functional adults are responsible for their wellbeing. The family and the government should only be providing them with support and relief until they create or find full-time employment.

Still, all governments in this world should have a plan in place to provide full employment to their citizens. Belize has never had a plan that I have seen nor know-of since we became self-governed in the 1960s. This is why many students are graduating from our high schools and colleges and cannot find work with huge student loans tuition debts. Some are having children while attending and graduating from high school and college and this worsens their situations. We cannot continue to govern our country like this. Where we boast about being an independent nation while most of our citizens are dependents on their families or the government.

This crisis is telling us that we need to encourage our citizens to do farming because it is a One-Shot Deal. We grow our food for ourselves and our families and we sell the surplus food to earn money so that we can purchase our other needed items and accumulate wealth. At the same time, we are creating our jobs. Most of our Belizean citizens are not doing farming, and we depend on other ethnic groups to provide us with our food. If they were to decide one day not to open up their stores to sell us their groceries or to sell us their food crops we would starve.

One of the worst dependencies anybody can have is on food because when a person is hungry they must find food to eat. Let us take this coronavirus pandemic and change the way we have been living for centuries. Remember the adage: “We are here today and gone tomorrow”. That is just the reality of all of our lives, my people, no matter who you are or what position you hold, so calm it down.