Christopher Phillips, the Executive Director and Founder of Democracy Cafe, interviewed Prof. Sachs on March 25, 2020 about the importance of public spirit in facing the global Coronavirus pandemic.
“From his clarion call early on for a global fund to fight the AIDS pandemic, in tandem with malaria and tuberculosis, to a global fund to support distressed coffee farmers and create long-term sustainability in that sector, Jeffrey Sachs has long been at the vanguard of efforts address the most pressing issues faced by humankind, and the most critical global poverty issues. These tireless efforts on Dr. Sachs' part that inspire and enlist the necessary players --- from the United Nations. to private philanthropists to government leaders to funding agencies the world over -- have born great fruit, surely saving millions of lives.
In my latest give and take with Dr. Sachs, the director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, shares what needs to be done if we're to effectively address the coronavirus pandemic. His keen insights also bear on issues from global warming to the glaring economic disparities in the U.S. and abroad, to lack of decent and humane health care for one and all.
His criticisms of Trump and Fox News are fierce, but what comes through most loud and clear is his stirring call for each and every one of us in a position to do so to rise to the occasion, stand up and be counted, and hence to cultivate the kind of 'public spirit' needed to take on these urgent issues that effect us all, while time still remains.”