Bojo's Bubonic!

Goodness me, from a news anchors perspective, Corona really is the gift that keeps on giving. First we have the lockdown (no doubt the government heeding advice from this blog, which is lovely to see) and now Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive, mild a case as it may be.

If one was taking a sceptics look at this pandemic, which anyone who knows me will know I absolutely am going to, it may be interesting to draw comparisons to the response to this outbreak and other such disasters that have effected people globally, such as the 2008 global financial crisis and legislative decisions that have also had a crippling and, indeed, at times equally deadly impact on just as many people.

Of course though, when it comes to political decisions such as austerity and bailing out the banks, rich and important people would be, and indeed were, absolutely fine! The tories and establishment can’t catch ‘being poor’, so why would they give a damn? Why wouldn’t they simply bail themselves out and hang the world. They’ve been doing it for long enough after all, just take the singular example of the exploding usage of foodbanks and surging homelessness under consecutive tory and right wing governments internationally. Again, Boris and alike were never going to be effected, so why even make it worthy of news, let alone debate?

Now let’s take a look at corona, a disease where the impact is indiscriminate of who you are and what you do. Suddenly, we have a lockdown, the outbreak is nonstop on the news and the world has suddenly stopped! Why? Well, as Boris Johnson and Prince Charles have proved, the powerful can be effected: this is an issue that transcends wealth, and as soon as the self interest of the powerful is effected, action is invariably taken.

Now don’t get me wrong here, dear reader. Are these measures the right thing to do? Absolutely they are and I’m proud of the collective public effort to halt this disease. However, should a response on a similar scale have been launched when the financial crisis occurred; when the middle and working classes were left as scapegoats for the rich and powerful; when and while people are starving in some of the biggest and wealthiest economies in the world? Yes. Of this there can be no argument.

If we want to live in a society where a human life is not simply of monetary value, we have to take the lessons from this outbreak and apply them to legislation effecting wider society: making the world a happier and more prosperous place to live.

If Corona has taught us anything, it’s that no response to any epidemic, pathogen or societal, can be too big.

P.S: If anyone was interested, I also have an instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/rabbitholeramblings/

Stay safe.