Pandemic lockdown a chance to strengthen family ties

The COVID-19 pandemic stands to improve familial bonds with so many people in Turkey forced to stay at home, according to a leading psychologist and thinker.

"[The lockdown] is an opportunity to discover the language of the family and familial love," Gündüz Vassaf told the Hürriyet Daily News this week.

"This is an opportunity for the concept of the family to consolidate and strengthen," said Vassaf, who is currently in the United States.

Can you tell us what you see in the United States?

The state has collapsed and does not know what to do. U.S. society used to have high organizational skills, but since the polarization between the two parties these skills have been harmed. When the state's organization collapsed, individuals did not know what to do. Gun sales have increased for instance in some states and [U.S. President Donald] Trump included guns on the list of essential goods.

Some suggest the pandemic will bring about the end of capitalism.

Some companies will go bankrupt; some new ones will flourish. We will save many companies with our taxes, just as was the case in past crises. Capitalism cannot survive without the state. The problem has been the fact that democracies - here I use it in the narrowest sense in terms of the legislative and judicial branches - did not inspect capitalism.

Currently, we are seeing the most extreme stage. Even though Trump had the authority, he did not want to touch the companies. Now it is too late; he is now calling on them to produce masks and ventilators.

How do you think Turkey is handling the pandemic?

Turkey is in between two worlds, in terms of how the West and the Far East approached the virus. There is a...