The Economy, Nature, and the Meaning of Life After the Coronavirus Crisis

“Christians still regularly tell you that nature is so beautiful and testifies of God’s greatness and goodness. Oh, dear people, nature is downright terrible, nature is one great suffering... What is ‘very good’ about a creation in which the most terrible parasites live in humans and animals...? What is ‘very good’ about a creation in which all organisms are terrorized by parasites, including parasites themselves?” (‘t Hart, Wie God verlaat heeft niets te vrezen. De Schrift betwist, pp. 7–8; 1997). The words by Maarten ‘t Hart seem irrefutable. Now that the coronavirus causes a disease that makes us realize that life is not as malleable in everything as we wish, they would have been almost prophetic if he had added the word “viruses” after “the most terrible parasites.” Long before Maarten ‘t Hart, ancient philosophers refused to accept the idea that creation is only cruel and chaotic. In this chapter, we will discuss how every crisis is an opportunity to continue to grow, either personally or collectively, or to come to a deeper understanding. Bearing this in mind, the question arises as to how we can learn from the present coronavirus crisis. How should society be rearranged? How should we deal with nature of which humankind is a part?