Foster the People lead vocalist Mark Foster penned a powerful essay calling out the ills of Western “unchecked capitalism” worsening the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on Tuesday. Released on the band’s website, the essay relays Foster’s hope that governments can work together to overcome the pandemic and concludes with a new song titled “It’s Ok to Be Human.”
“This tiny virus has effectively put its finger on the very core of our selfishness,” the indie rock singer wrote in his essay. Foster goes on to cite how “unchecked capitalism” encourages people to act in self-interest as “we’ve become gluttons in industry; destroying the planet with pollution, waste, and excess out of our hedonistic desires to accumulate wealth.”
As many non-essential businesses remain closed and governments mandate stay-at-home policies, the frontman reflects on how this “pause is the only thing that can bring clarity to the manic momentum of the rat race we’ve allowed to hijack our humanity.”
Foster also adds that the current crisis reminds people of their humanity and their “need to breathe oxygen multiple times a minute, drink water, eat food, and maintain an internal temperature of 98.6 degrees. It’s easy to forget about our vulnerabilities when we have been spoiled with the comforts of societal excess.” Foster’s sentiments about humanity’s vulnerability serve as the inspiration behind the band’s recently released “It’s Ok to Be Human.”
The essay ends on a more positive note, as Foster writes that he hopes “governments work together, comparing their research and sharing their best scientists’ work to collectively find a vaccine,” and that citizens “reach out to people in need and give them the other half of [their] sandwich.”
To read the entire essay, click here. Listen to Foster the People’s “It’s Ok to Be Human” below.