Does humanity deserve Corona?

[Belacqua]

You cry because Coronavirus is killing some thousands of you.

But why didn't you cry for Chinese Uighur Muslims butchered by the communist government?
Why didn't you cry for the Millions in Syria killed by Assad?
Why didn't you cry for Millions killed in Yemen by Saudi/U.A.E airstrikes?
Why didn't you cry for thousands tortured in prisons of Saudi Arabia?

Does humanity of today deserve covid-19 ?
I say yes.
Millions would also say yes.

Just like when the Black Death came.

I agree with your strict criticism of humanity. I think I won't follow you in saying that this makes the virus deserved, especially.

There's no doubt at all that humanity, both individually and collectively, falls far short of what we could and should be. Every one of us is selfish, hypocritical, and self-justifying. Ideally our institutions would make it easier for us to be good, but they aren't set up that way. For the most part they encourage and reward our worst behavior. 

I suspect that human beings evolved our ability to do abstract reasoning mostly so we can invent reasons to justify our horribleness. Otherwise it would be too hard to face. 

And I agree that we are right to see this as a failing intrinsic to humanity, and not one portion or subset. One of the ways we overlook our own horribleness is by pointing to groups of which we are not members. It's easy to pretend that religion (to use the common example on this forum) is the key factor in our evil, when there is no reason to think that the absence of religion would improve things much. The evil is baked in. 

Like it or not, European thought about all of this comes largely through a Christian tradition. It is normal in Christian writing to say that nearly every one of us, if we got what we really deserved, would be condemned. But the point of grace is that we are saved even though we don't deserve it. I don't know how mainstream it is, but there is a mystical tradition in St. Theresa of Avila, William Blake, and many others, who say that while it is Christ who grants grace, Christ only works through the actions of living people. With the conclusion being that it is the responsibility of each of us to save who we can, deserving or not. Is there a parallel tradition in Islam, I wonder? 

As to collective punishment from the virus: the trouble is that karma isn't properly distributed. Though everyone is guilty, some are way more guilty than others. The people with the least guilt (the poor and powerless) will suffer most, while the most guilty get early testing and superior health care. 

So I think we mustn't enjoy schadenfreude from natural disasters, as they don't bring about real justice. Anything which serves to intensify the evil results of our evil institutions (e.g. for-profit health care) can't be called good.