I watched NHK’s BS1 special “Virus VS Humanity: To Fight an Unknown Enemy.

The contents were interesting, but I was also interested in the appearance of Mr. Koichi Goka, who was dressed in a very conspicuous outfit (laugh).
I felt uncomfortable compared to other scholars and googled it to see if I could find something similar to myself, but it turns out we are the same age! So you are a scholar of the punk rock generation.

I transcribed Mr. Goka’s remarks on the program because they were really great.

The remote cause (of the new corona) is climate change. From a macroscopic point of view, what is causing this is industrial development in developing countries to fill the economic gap that began with the North-South gap, and this is happening at a tremendous rate, faster than it used to be in developed countries.

This would happen in the middle of what is called a “biodiversity hotspot. Therefore, with the rapid progress of development, destruction, and deforestation, the viruses that had been trapped there have found a new home in the form of humans, and since the 1980s, they have been entering the densely populated areas in the north by connecting the north and the south.

There is a situation in which the virus is actually taking advantage of the development and globalization that is causing climate change at an incredible rate.
The big question is “How can we make it so that people in the south don’t have to cut down the forest?” but we still haven’t reached that goal yet.
And in return, we have the problem of infectious diseases.”

And to close the program

In order to deal with such an urgent crisis like this virus, we naturally have to confront it with science and technology. After all, it is the development of new drugs, isn’t it? On the other hand, in the long term, in order to prevent a repetition of such crises, we must consider a change in lifestyle that is based on the extreme concept of symbiosis with nature.

The point is that we have encroached on nature to the point where we really should not touch it, and this is causing these problems. From this, viruses and other pollution problems fall as a risk to human society. In order to break this vicious circle, we need to start discussing what kind of living creatures can coexist with nature in accordance with the natural order, otherwise we will not be able to maintain sustainability.

I feel that the coronavirus has finally taught us that we must take this matter seriously, that if things continue as they are, human society will have no choice but to collapse.”

reference
↓If you missed it, please click below.
(1)NHK On Demand “Virus VS Humanity: To Fight an Unknown Enemy
https://www.nhk-ondemand.jp/goo…/G2020107041SA000/index.html

↓I have purchased all of his books. If you are interested, please read them all.
(2) The Never-Ending Battle Against Invasive Alien Species – An Increasing Number of Invasive Alien Species (Shogakukan Creative Monograph) Koichi Goka https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4778035348

(3) “Living with Animals: “Dani-sensei” delivers impassioned speech to Their Majesties: Koichi Goka – Mainichi Newspapers
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20190424/ddm/013/040/010000c