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Coronavirus

Coronavirus Consolations: Mexico City To Madrid To Tehran

Our writer finds the destruction of the natural world, and his own money problems, far more distressing than any pandemic.

Street scene Thursday in Tehran
Street scene Thursday in Tehran
Alidad Vassigh

-Essay-

MEXICO CITY — If it's not too early to look for one, I've found the proverbial silver lining of the COVID-19 crisis: the global health epidemic will probably help humanity meet its climate targets this year.

In recent days I've seen just this one series of satellite pictures showing a drop in pollution in China. Yet when infections began getting out of hand there in February, I thought right away about how it might curb polluting activities like air travel. Full-fledge reports on its environmental effects would no doubt be speculative, though we can say the same about so many of the socio-economic forecasts we're used to. But let's just consider the flights being canceled as millions renounce their travel plans, or even all the people being asked to work from home on a daily basis whose polluting cars stay in their driveways.

I am in Mexico, and I must say that Mexicans are resilient in times of crisis. They will carry on unless literally forced to stay home and watch their phones. As Paco, the owner of my favorite local internet cafe, said once, "You know what they say, if an apocalypse happens, the only survivors will be cockroaches and Mexicans. Just so you know what we put up with."

Instead, the markets have panicked on their behalf, which is something where I can indeed verify the effects. The peso is plummeting just as I've begun trying to sell my flat in Mexico City. That will leave me heading back to Spain just as the virus is spreading there, and the Brexit transition begins for real. I will likely get a good five or 10,000 euros less for it now. What I always say about calamities like earthquakes also works well for global health contagions: it's really not a good time right now.

My mother is bound to have her say.

And yet, another silver lining: I really can't do much about this damn plague. Consequently, it is stressing me far less than the complications arising from my flat's sale and return to Spain. Because those bear an element of personal responsibility. In other words, if I were quietly suffocating to death in a hospital, I might think, stop fretting, your hour has come. But in losing money on a flat sale, your mind will inevitably, insidiously suggest you made the wrong call. Who can blithely face up to a big mistake? It requires courage, integrity, honesty. Dismal words indeed.

Even if I could shoo away guilt with deceptive reasoning, my mother is bound to have her say ("Who told you to go to Mexico?"). She's got her own worries, trying to figure out how to travel out of Tehran, after her flight was grounded in early March. Iran, our native country, is one of the worst hit by COVID-19. I mailed her urging her not to shake hands, and she reminded me women do not shake hands in the Islamic Republic.

It all reminds me of another conversation with friends, from 10 years ago. We wondered what one would be thinking on a flight plunging toward destruction. I had precisely four thoughts: First and foremost: at least it's not my fault; secondly, I won't die alone, a possible indicator of failure in life; third: please God forgive my sins what with this stressful ending; and finally, the stewardesses should get up and serve the champagne, there's no sense in wasting it.

My silly friends laughed. I wasn't joking.

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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