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It goes without saying that the global Covid-19 pandemic was an appalling thing for us all to live through. But there were issues that it highlighted that, we can only hope, could bring genuine change in the future.
One of the starkest lessons was just how undervalued and underpaid carers are in supposedly developed economies. In fact, so many of the people who help provide a social safety net for those who are vulnerable and in need are not properly rewarded in market-led economics. In the pre-pandemic world, their work was often invisible to most people who were caught up their own lives of workplace competition and social media obsessions. Yet when things genuinely turn to shit, and the world as we’ve known it starts to collapse, then it became apparent that support we expected to be there for all of us was, in reality, over-stretched and under-resourced.
Governments across the world were prepared to throw their economic orthodoxy out of the window when the pandemic arrived. Governments stepped in to run essential services where private companies couldn’t afford to, and to safeguard people’s incomes and jobs. Free-market economics was irrelevant for the first time in my lifetime – massive government intervention was the only way to try to make sure that as many people as possible got through the crisis.
Of course, it is only natural for people to want to get “back to normal”. But how much of that pre-pandemic economic normality really worked in the interests of society as a whole? It was great that the work of nurses, carers and key workers was given some of the respect and public acknowledgement it deserves, but now, in the aftermath of the pandemic lockdowns, the Government is reverting to it’s old ways – demonising the unions and trying to make political capital out of those who are taking action just trying to get decently paid for the essential work that they do.
The way we run our societies and our economies is not a given – it’s a choice. We can choose to set our priorities a different way, rather than letting the markets decide what they should be. Because pandemics aren’t the only crisis we have to deal with. The climate crisis is here and it’s real – and market economics are no better equipped to deal with it than they were with Covid.
Dealing with carbon emissions will have a huge economic impact across the world, and people need to be protected from those by greater intervention. Instead, the recognition of those economic impacts leads to denial and delay by global leaders who are hoping, against all logic, that the market will somehow be able to come up with some new answers. The world needs new priorities. Redistribution of wealth is essential. Protection of the vulnerable is essential. These things do not come from market forces but from overriding them.
lyrics
What if we decide not to return to the way things were?
What if we decide that now’s the time to change?
What if we choose to act on some of the things we’ve learned?
What if we don’t want to go back to more of the same?
Make no mistake, 2020 was a terrible year,
But it may have helped some things to become clear –
Like the importance of those who provide food or healthcare,
And how much we all need a safety net of social welfare.
What if we decide not to return to the way things were?
What if we think that it’s time for something new?
What if we decide that creating a society that is more fair
Is something that we now want to do?
Community trumps individualism when the going gets tough,
So when things are scarce it’s important that everyone has enough.
Did it take this crisis to appreciate the contribution that’s made
By so many of the most poorly paid?
And vapid social influencers can offer no contribution
When we encounter times of genuine confusion.
Perhaps this can help realign our priorities
To safeguard everyone’s basic necessities.
What if we decide not to return to the way things were?
What if we decide that now’s the time to change?
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