Even before coronavirus is contained, we are back to full-blown politics. That should not surprise us, politicians know how to make hay when the sun shines.
Few business professors would admit, but politicians are entrepreneurs in their own right. The initial Covid-19 shock was short-lived; humans inevitably adapt to situations, no matter how dire. Lebanese found it hard to adapt to peace after 20 years of civil war.
We expected Covid -19 to change our philosophical orientation, give us a new perspective about life, its purpose, and how we relate with each other, the planet, and the universe. It seems it was not a big shock, after all. Why is it so hard to shock the nation?
Looking back through the last 100 years, it seems our country has never had a big enough shock to change fundamentally, transform or renew itself, the same way a snake sheds its old skin.
Big shocks lead to great suffering; they include floods, drought, economic meltdown, war, and pandemics. These have touched us on the periphery. WWI barely touched Kenya, it brought the first soldier settlers who farmed the land, brought new crops, and ushered in modern capitalism. Some Kenyans estimated to be about 250,000 fought in this war against Germans mostly as carriers.
