Week 17
2020 will undoubtedly be dubbed the international year of the Coronavirus even though it’s clear that neither national borders, political blocs or the Gregorian calendar will define its boundaries. Having said that, the start of the pandemic pretty much coincided with the beginning of the year and many of us are resigned to this year being a write off in many ways.
In insurance terms a write off is a very neat device but there will be nothing neat about the impact, not only of the virus but the attempts to deal with it, will have. Despite the piss poor response by the UK government (particularly in England) it looks exemplary compared to the maelstrom that is awaiting the criminal response by US government which has largely been to use the opportunity afforded by the crisis to perform the biggest wealth grab in world history.
But we should not be fooled into believing any of the countries who have come out of this smelling of roses, are a model for the way forward. We will do well to hand pick the positives but we should not forget that we are still governed by neoliberal administrations and unaccountable corporations. We shouldn’t allow these events to overshadow what is…
