Life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness in a post-Covid 19 era

• Main Authors: GHOSH, Aurobindo, HALDAR, Amit, BHAUMIK, Kalyan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: COVID-19; pandemics; happiness; Asian Studies; Public Health; Social Welfare
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6794; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7793/viewcontent/Liberty_Covid_19_BT_2020_08_06_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

A multi-generational pandemic has afflicted economies and convulsed worldwide health systems putting policymakers on prongs of an unthinkable trinity of choice: life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness? These inalienable rights guaranteed by the US Declaration of Independence seem farcical with three of largest four democracies in the world accounting for the highest infections. In this opinion piece, we re-evaluate the clichéd debate between life and livelihood. Second, we investigate the implementation hurdles faced by the frontline medical policymakers expediting testing regimes and vaccine development to avert an unfolding catastrophe. Medical professional are opting for mitigation strategies like isolating infections through targeted contact tracing until wide spread near universal testing for Covid19 is possible, despite pushback for socio-politico expediencies. Finally, we narrate a hitherto seldom heard perspective of a divorce lawyer on the impact of social isolation on the family dynamics and the human mind. In the denouement, the triumph of the human spirit augurs the pursuit of happiness only through shared social responsibility during an unprecedented global crisis.