The coronavirus is more than a vector of disease: It is a window onto our greatest failings. The pandemic has exposed a lot of weak points in society, from the lack of health care access and worker protection in the U.S., to the ways cities have been designed for cars instead of pedestrians , to the fragility of food supply chains . COVID-19 has disproportionately affected low-income workers and communities of color, revealing how historical biases have created and reinforced inequalities in society . It has shown that our abuse of the natural world is untenable.

The pandemic has been a series of escalating lessons in how not to prepare and how not to respond. We asked 10 experts in health, food, social justice and environment: After all these failures, have we learned anything?