An early exit from what exists would be welcome, but do we really want to get back to “normal”?
That normal, according to many people, including author and social commentator, Naomi Klein, was really a crisis; a crisis for most and yet the further enrichment for the already rich.
The pined-for “normal”, I suggest, is not somewhere we really want to go.
Shepparton, as does much of the rest of the world, peeps from behind closed doors waiting out the COVID-19 crisis to pass, hanging on and waiting for that return to normal, or “crisis” as proclaimed by Ms Klein.
And Ms Klein is not alone, as similar sentiments have cascaded around the planet, even being expressed by the organiser of a Rushworth-based climate group, Lou Costa.
In a note to supporters she said: “Could this be our global wake-up call as the planet responds in kind to our greed, over-population and interference with the natural world?”
In the note, that was poetic-like in content, she wrote:
“Imagine if we could achieve environmental harmony without having to isolate ourselves from family and friends.
“Imagine if we could produce a majority of our food within a small radius of our town.
“Imagine if we created our own clean energy source so that we didn't have to worry about bills.
“Imagine if we didn't have to earn as much money in order to survive.”
Continuing with her reference to the coronavirus dilemma, she said: “This experience could be the catalyst for transformation - especially for small towns like ours.”
The “transformation” Ms Costa references will be torpedoed if Scott Morrison and his cohort scramble back to their normal and refuse to acknowledge society’s shortcomings; shortcomings pointed out by a professor and economist at the University of Queensland, John Quiggin.
He said, “The Covid crisis has demonstrated the inadequacy of crucial aspects of our social and economic system, particularly relating to employment and unemployment.”
“Before the resurgence of neoliberalism in the 1970s, Australian governments accepted responsibility for maintaining full employment, and provided support for all those unable to engage in paid work, whether through age, disability or unemployment on an equal basis.”
Pointing to the inadequacies of governments, he said, “Within a matter of weeks, dogmas that have been in place for decades have been abandoned.”
Interestingly it was just last week that a $1.3 billion ‘JobKeeper’ program was announced by the Morrison Government, a program that is unambiguously ideological.
Rather than simply hand the money to the people, illustrating confidence in the people who elected him, our PM and his cohort, have dished out cash to the business world, confident the bosses will do the right thing by those who worked for them.
Many will of course, and that warrants applause, but whatever happens it maintains the servant/master relationship, which is at the root of the crisis alluded to by Ms Klein.
And so will our post-coronavirus world be one sought by our profit and free-market driven ideologues or will it be one that builds on a step change in values, ethics and social norms that brings on the transformation grounded on the beautiful scenarios penned by Lou Costa?
Rob McLean is a former News editor.