Death, liberty and COVID-19

Just as death is the limit of life, so the fear of death, its messenger - a virus, a law, a war - marks the limits of liberty. The spread of the new coronavirus that broke out in a food market in China in December shows how vulnerable we are as individuals and societies. While we were busy with the "high politics" of international relations and the fallout of Donald Trump's policies on the global economy, the sudden appearance of a microscopic organism, believed to be the spawn of the violent merger between humans and wild animals, has triggered instability on global trade and markets, the deaths of thousands, curbs on the freedom of many millions and insecurity across the world.

In the last few years there was a strong trend toward a return to boundaries, to borders and levies, with the return of nationalism and protectionism and a surge in bigotry. COVID-19 shows us just...