What do Madonna and Cuomo Share?

Madonna recently posted a video, naked in her bathtub, which is fun; and yet she conveys an important and genuine message, that is, (in her own words) coronavirus is the “equalizer”, everyone is subject to it, she does not care about who you are, how rich you are, how powerful you are, how smart you are, what a great story you can tell…A few days later, the New York State governor Cuomo, in talking about coronavirus already infecting his brother, warned the public in almost identical terms to Madonna, that is, coronavirus is the “equalizer”, everyone is subject to it, he does not care about who you are, how rich you are and how powerful you are!

Given the time sequence, one may say that Cuomo must’ve watched nude Madonna’s bathtub message and subconsciously memorised it and then recited to the public a few days later. That’s only a guess and no one knows. Maybe, it is by pure coincidence that both of them use the word, “equalizer”, and speak the same sentences. No matter how rare it does, coincidence or independent creation happens. Coincidence or not, the event certainly offers some perception into people’s mind or consciousness.

In the modern world, people tend to forget one fundament that we are all the same, a pile of flesh with a mind. The variation of people’s intelligence, wealth, social standing etc does not change that fundament. Now, as we are witnessing, coronavirus and indeed any virus is an equalizer, it discriminates against no colour, red, orange, yellow, green, pink, blue, purple, black, white, etc; it discriminates against no standing, rich, poor, clean, filthy, powerful, powerless; and treats everyone exactly the same way. After all, everyone is simple a pile of flesh!

That fundament impels us toward compassion. A drug dealer is no different from a president; the president may be a drug dealer and the drug dealer can be a president. Religion asks people to show compassion toward all human beings, and on many an occasion did Jesus treat criminals as heads of state. Laozi says, great kindness is like water, and as we know, water makes no distinction among people and among things; it nourishes the rich, the poor, the clean, and the filthy, it shows no resentment toward any one, rather, it treats everyone exactly the same way.

Then, again, coronavirus impels us to put Madonna and Cuomo on the same plate; stripped of their glamour, they are just two individuals selling pancakes in the open market street in Bangkok or paddling the tourist boats to make a living for their family or offering half of their only cake to the needy in times of want.

Then, maybe, it is coronavirus that puts the same word of equalizer and the same sentences in their mouths to remind everyone that the human beings are just one species of nature sharing the same traits and holding the same bucket of water capable of doing both good and evil.