What comes next depends on what we do right now
Sam Coates, Unlock Democracy
One of the strangest parts of the public debate over Covid-19 is the wartime comparison - a virus doesn’t respect borders or care for the blitz spirit, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally either. Nurses and doctors lacking proper PPE have died from prolonged exposure, people in care homes have fallen victim to crowded facilities, and refugees locked in detention centres are at high risk too.
But there is one comparison worth our time– how the aftermath upends previous political certainties.
As the Second World War ended, people cooperated on a scale never seen before to meet an existential crisis. Everyone was fed and (mostly) had a roof over their head to ensure everyone could contribute to the war effort. When the fighting stopped, the public realised that the spirit of working for the common good could also happen in peacetime. They elected a post-war government that built the modern public services we value so highly today.
“When the fighting stopped, the public realised that the spirit of working for the common good could also happen in peacetime. They elected a post-war government that built the modern public services we value so highly today.”
Where the 30s saw mass unemployment and poverty, the post-war government aimed for full employment. It boasted that it had ‘virtually abolished extreme poverty’ in a few short years.
The disruption to come
In 2020, instead of an economic calamity, we’re having to put large parts of the economy on ice to save lives. Whether enough has been done to protect people’s incomes during the lockdown is a fierce debate. But the scale of the interventions so far are unprecedented in peacetime.
A shock of this size will lay waste to business as usual. The question is what will life be like, how will society change when lockdown is lifted, and whose needs will be prioritised?
In 1945 there was a broad political consensus for the state to ensure everybody’s basic material needs were met. But the most recent shock before the pandemic, the financial crisis of 2008, pushed in the opposite direction. After the banks crashed the economy with their recklessness, no one was held accountable for the damage done. Instead, powerful voices insisted public spending cuts were more important than maintaining a social safety net.
Which way will we go after lockdown?
What happens next could mirror one of these two pasts. Powerful voices demanded devastating cuts to public services after 2008. Will they now insist that we all ‘pay back the debt’ racked up during the shutdown? Will scrutiny of the government’s response be dismissed while emergency powers aren’t quite rolled back to pre-crisis levels? Will plans to kick start the economy reflate the catastrophic fossil fuel industry?
“What happens next could mirror one of these two pasts. Powerful voices demanded devastating cuts to public services after 2008. Will they now insist that we all ‘pay back the debt’ racked up during the shutdown? ”
Or will we see just how much things can change when they need to. Will we demand the same action to solve the other crises that were already quietly growing? We know from polling we commissioned in 2018 that the public back a fundamental right to a job, to healthcare and housing. Will we demand the same urgent action to provide those necessities to everyone? Will we demand the economy is rapidly redesigned to slash CO2 emissions by the amount scientists say is needed? Will we end the unfair political influence of the richest, which has been blocking these popular demands for such a long time?
How could we improve society so that in the future it meets all of our needs? Whether you’re lucky enough to have more time on your hands during lockdown, or you’ve lost your job, have to home school your kids, or have been affected in another way – we can all dream of something better than what we have right now. Then let’s come together and do everything we can to demand it.
Tell us in the comments below:
how would you improve society so that it meets all our needs?
Thumbnail attribution: "IMG_0022" by C. Young Photography is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0