When future generations look back on this time, will they refer to 2020 as the lost year of Coronavirus? Or will they credit coronavirus as the tipping point when humanity finally began to save itself? Perhaps the answer is both? As I ponder this question, I wonder – How will history judge us?
In any case, there is little doubt that Coronavirus and our neglect of Mother Earth are two sides of the same coin. A pernicious virus has infiltrated every corner of the planet and brutally crushed our world, but to be fair, it was already broken anyway. So here is our chance to put the world back together properly and lay strong foundations for a new path to a healthier world. Let’s face it, the current one is only working for avaricious elites. Egregious profits to shareholders, hedge fund managers and billionaires, constitutes the woeful imbalance of capitalism. Turns out capitalism is a massive failure, entirely propped up by the working class and the working poor. Shame it took a global pandemic and death on an epic scale for everyone to notice but here we are…
Over the past thirty years in America, the top 1% gained 21 trillion dollars while the bottom 50% saw its net worth decrease by $900 billion. An economy dependent on acceleration and infinite growth is unsustainable in a social democracy. Why would we go back to “normal” after a deadly virus when “normal” is also killing us? Capitalism has run amock and the global economy has just crashed so isn’t this the perfect moment to re-shape it into a circular economy and begin the GREEN REVOLUTION?.
Across the pond, the EU is trailblazing with its combined European Green Deal and COVID recovery. Seventeen countries are already signed up to the comprehensive package that includes fulfilment of the Paris Agreement and carbon neutrality by 2050. Alas, my heart is heavy for Britain, I hope it will re-join this insightful collective someday. Below are some important points of interest from the original letter sent to EU members.
- The focus is presently on fighting the pandemic and its immediate consequences. We should, however, begin to prepare ourselves to rebuild our economy and to introduce the necessary recovery plans to bring renewed, sustainable progress and prosperity back to Europe and its citizens.
- While doing so, we must not lose sight of the persisting climate and ecological crisis. Building momentum to fight this battle has to stay high on the political agenda.
- We should withstand the temptations of short-term solutions in response to the present crisis that risk locking the EU in a fossil fuel economy for decades to come.
- No person or place left behind
Anybody who once thought of the U.S Green New Deal as leftist propaganda, can surely now see, how wrong they were? Health care for all, renewable energy and free education are intrinsically tied to the fight against Coronavirus and future pandemics. What’s more, when we’re faced with the inevitable extreme weather disasters during a pandemic, printing money will no longer be enough. We learned very early in this crisis that every country absolutely must be prepared as well as globally coordinated from day one. Any government stimulus plan is only as good as the next catastrophe and we know it’s merely a matter of time before they overlap. There is simply no argument, it makes economic sense to future proof our response to COVID-19 through a green stimulus. In terms of employment – according to a study by World Bank, one million dollars invested in oil and gas in the United States creates just 5 jobs, compared to 17 jobs per million dollars invested in energy-saving building retrofits, 22 jobs for mass transit, 13 for wind, and 14 for solar. Needless to say, the argument for saving jobs relating to fossil fuels is now mute. Analysis by Clean Jobs America found, solar alone employs more than twice the number of coal workers. Moreover, two-thirds of U.S. clean energy jobs are involved in construction and manufacturing.
Equally significant is a well-coordinated health care system where first-responders, nurses and doctors have all the tools they need to both protect themselves and treat patients. Where Governors aren’t forced to bid against each other for vital equipment and patients are not reliant on insurance (or insurance tied to employment) to receive care. Crucially it’s the speed of our response that’ll have the greatest impact and ease the pain of recovery, everyone getting the help they need in good time. A sturdy and robust system that provides for every single person regardless of skin colour and income and where no doctor ever has to choose which patient lives or dies is dependent on one thing, Medicare For All.
I grew up with the knowledge that health care is a human right and living in America where it’s a highly profitable business, hasn’t changed my view in the slightest. Indeed quite the contrary, it has sharply pointed out how diabolical the health “industry” here is. Far from a right, it’s treated as a luxury where even the wealthy over-pay, the middle-classes are bled dry and everyone else is left to die prematurely. And the ultimate irony? Private health insurance is useless during a global pandemic.
Even when the worst of Coronavirus has passed, we may never know the true number of lives lost. Thousands of people were never tested and hundreds have died at home. Countless families have been shattered, millions of front-line workers still risk their lives and those of their families every single day. Sadly the death toll continues to rise here in America with more than 51 thousand dead to date. On the small island of Britain, it’s 19 thousand and counting with no number from elderly care homes as yet. Densely populated Japan is only at the beginning of its outbreak and we hear very little news of the spread across Africa. Many countries continue to suffer an untold mortality rate, the numbers coming out of India don’t show the full picture due to a dire lack of testing and treatment. Imagine a country of 1.38 billion people, most living in abject poverty, trying to shelter-in-place? You should read this brilliant article written by my favourite author, Arundhati Roy. It explains the dilemma in India better than I ever could.
WHILE THE WORLD HITS PAUSE
As Mankind hurtled along the path towards the sixth extinction, some of us were fighting the climate crisis. However, even with the recent successes of Greta’s School Strikes and Extinction Rebellion doubling the efforts of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Ecocide Law – activists were still in a minority. A battle of this magnitude requires a unified call to action from every socio-economic demographic. Besides, tackling the impact of the climate crisis shouldn’t be the responsibility of the people most affected. This work should come from those of us who have benefitted most from capitalism and white supremacy. From super rich through to poor, all standing together, taking action and speaking with one voice. Unfortunately, this has not been the case as I’ve expressed with great frustration many times on my Blog and Instagram.
Enter global pandemic COVID-19.
The coronavirus has provided us with the greatest motivation to tackle the climate crisis we could ever have imagined. Taking direction from scientists, the world has begun to lay an alternate path, a fork in the old road as it were. As we pause our “normal” lives to self-isolate, our brightest leaders, lawmakers, scientists and activists work tirelessly to lay the foundations for a new path, one paved with green initiatives, where everyone gets what they need. In a word, it’s really one thing, EQUALITY.
MOVING BEYOND INDUSTRIALISATION
By now you’ve probably heard COVID-19 referred to as a great leveler, well I’m here to tell you, it really isn’t. Just like the climate crisis hits the poor end of town harder so does coronavirus. COVID-19 amplifies the gaping chasm of inequality most of society accepts without a second thought. So it’s from a position of privilege that many of us now pause in comfortable surroundings, leaving others to deal with the consequences of our overt consumerism. An unethical community where we allow our neighbour to work for a pittance in the warehouses, factories and farms that sustain us. Not only what we need but everything our hearts desire from food and clothing to a plethora of plastic. Stuff to make ourselves happy. Absolutely everything has been over-produced and industrialized to maximum capacity. Industrial farming animals, industrial clothing factories, industrial-sized warehouses of goods and products even industrial prisons for profit!
The human race is so damaged and broken. Yet it took the immediate threat of annihilation to wake everybody in the global north from their privilege bubble. Call it a collective slap in the face to mankind if you like, the fact of the matter remains, we got lucky here. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now but this is our moment, it is the ultimate turning point for humanity to WAKE THE FUCK UP.
As we pause on the precipice of a fairer world, awaiting that first daunting step, how can we contribute? The answer to that is easy, the act significantly harder. We must look within and heal ourselves. Self growth, lose the ego and become self-aware. See the WORLD as your community and its people as your FAMILY. And lastly, please, I beg you stop buying shit you don’t need.
Today the G20 jumped on a virtual meeting to end all virtual meetings and pledged full transparency of all research on treatments and vaccines for Coronavirus. The twenty world leaders and global health experts committed not only to collaborate but also share all information with developing countries. Moving forward in unison to fight this and future pandemics will benefit every country rich or poor. If we allow such a virus to exist in one country eventually, it’ll travel to the rest. So finally, at least by default, the global north must bring aid and prosperity to the rest of the world it has ravaged thus far.
Finally, empathy has returned to the human race and by default, if not design, Earth will be restored to her natural splendor. Now brace yourself for the next phase – EQUALITY. Progress is on the other side of this pandemic. Coronavirus has moved the evolution of humankind but just like all evolutions, you have to be willing to shed your old skin.
Comments ( 8 )
Daniella
Hi Michelle,
your post is a hard one to digest considering the situation we are in. Yes, we should take a better care of our mother Earth. She is the only one we have, but I’m affraid that it doesn’t matter what we do (or don’t), there will be changes anyway. The dinosaurus died because of climate and geological changes. No people were involved!
We can not make this word the perfect place. Medicare for all sounds lovely, but who is going to pay? Taking money from the rich will give us Cuba and Venezuela behind the Iron Curtain.
You are a very beautiful and intelligent woman. Your dress is amazing. It’s just that not everybody can pay more then $300 for a dress.
Sorry for this long and rambling message. This corona isolation has started getting to me as well.
Continue with your believes though. Maybe you WILL find a way to make this word a better place! Good luck! Stay safe and healthy!
Michelle
Hi Daniella, Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and leave a comment, I really appreciate it. I totally understand why you struggle to see how America can fund Medicare for all because you’ve been told this for decades. However that doesn’t make it true. Europe, Britain, New Zealand and Australia all fund health care for all on taxpayer money and I’ve lived/paid taxes in two of those countries for many years so I know it works. I gave birth 3 times in nhs hospitals and didn’t pay a penny.. No insurance either.
I’m Not saying it’s perfect but it’s a million times better(without losing quality of care) than here. My daughter is asthmatic, her generic salbutamol in the U.S is $70 after co-pay, in Australia it’s $7 no co pay that’s straight over the counter without a prescription, in Europe it’s 7 Euro and in U.K it’s free (as are all meds for kids)
That’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of lies Americans are fed about prescription drugs and health care costs.
Here’s a wiki link about nhs in Britain to give you a quick backstory – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service_(England)#Core_principles
Basically nhs was born out of desperate need even though most people said it wouldn’t work. Massive policy changes are always like that, people don’t believe it until it happens. The nhs is over 70 years old and is totally taxpayer funded.. it’s not a charity it’s all about tax appropriation so when billionaires don’t pay corporate tax and then get tax breaks on the small tax they do pay, hundreds of billions of dollars are lost.
They are stealing from a society that made them rich, don’t you think they should contribute like everyone else? Billionaires should not be getting away with this simply because they create jobs. That’s the lie they use to justify the unjust.
Please watch this old episode of Last Week Tonight which explains the situation beautifully with humour.
https://www.facebook.com/LastWeekTonight/videos/270717457226780/
Anyway, I hope you get the chance to experience a better healthcare system even if it’s not Medicare for All. Americans really deserve much more than they’re currently getting.
Mx
No Fear of Fashion
Hi Daniella, I am from the Netherlands. I pay € 180 every month for health insurance and I am 100% covered for all costs. No matter what. Only dentist work is insured to a certain amount and 75% of it, but that is my choice.
I think it is actually cheaper to have our kind of health system. Because in the USA, so I have heard, people often wait until hospital admittance is necessary because they are (sometimes) covered for that. Instead, if they had gone to the doctor sooner, they might have been cured for far less money.
The health system in the USA is so wrong in my eyes that I would never dare to live there. A blogging friend of mine had breast cancer and no money/insurance to have it cured. She is a teacher at an art school not a bum or so. After a year she was allowed to participate in an experiment to cure it and it worked. Her arm is still in bad shape but she made it. I was horrified when I heard that.
I don’t want to attack your country and I know you cannot help it either. But really, good health care for everybody is doable and a human right. You have little control over your health.
Sorry I was ranting on.
Greetje
Lizzy
Hi Michelle, first of all you look beautiful. I know just how busy you are with having your three children at home to home school so it’s nice to know you have had at least a little time to yourself to write and photograph this post.
Politics isn’t my thing and I have never lived outside of the UK to know any different or to be able to comment. What I do know though is that we are very fortunate to have our NHS and I am very very happy to pay my taxes to help fund this.
I believe the Earth will have recovered at least in part while we are in lockdown. I hope that this will in turn, inspire us to take more care going forwards. I hope too that our attitude towards each other will change. That we will be kinder and less selfish. Let’s hope Covid-19 brings something positive. Take care and stay safe my lovely xxx
No Fear of Fashion
You are describing what I feel and what I put in my clumsy little poem. But the ones with the money, the rich, the dictators are still in charge and we let them because we don’t know how to reign a country otherwise. However these people are not prepared to part with their power or billions. Amazon boss is making sooo much money from this misery. I haven’t heard yet that he is going to give his extra profit to people in need.
So, all in all, I hope and pray things will change but I am very doubtful.
On a lighter note: I adore your dress.
Greetje
Lisa the Sequinist
I’ve had to read your post three times to fully digest it! Which is nuts, because you and I discuss these topics a lot, but I STILL LEARNED so much. Thank you for all of the work that goes into these posts; I know getting facts and figures straight so it isn’t just an opinion piece is so time consuming. This is such a dense read, but with so much information and to me, so much HOPE! Covid is a terrible thing to be sure, but it is just part of life, and unfortunately one that exposes the incredible lack in national health care systems. I grew up in the US, paying insane money for coverage (especially if I was between jobs) because I was always terrified of bankrupting my parents if I was ever seriously ill and had no coverage. IT IS A CRAZY WAY TO LIVE AND THINK, but so many Americans are used to it. Even worse, they tend to demonize people who do not happen to have their woefully inadequate system, because the deeply misguided assumption is that a country that is high on the tech charts cannot be so dire on the healthcare front. Anyway, it is all in the spotlight now, and I hope this gets fixed. Brava for your facts and passion, my friend. xxx
Emma Peach
This is such a brilliant post Michelle. I really want to believe that this pandemic can be a wake up call but there are still so many people who refuse to see the truth in front of them. I was chatting to my daughter the other night (bedtimes always seem to prompt deep discussions!) about Jeff Bezos and how unfair capitalism is and she asked why he doesn’t just end homelessness if he’s the richest person in the world…I love the innocence and honesty of kids. As for the NHS, well my mum worked as a nursing assistant on a psychiatric geriatric ward for more than 20 years and suffered renal failure just after retiring. She is now reliant on dialysis three times a week. She’s only had one holiday since being on dialysis and it cost £300 per session! Without the NHS we’d be in deep shit because there would be so many people unable to afford healthcare. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. On a lighter note, I love your dress, the photos are beautiful. Hope you and yours are all keeping well.
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
MT
Emma I’m so sorry about your Mum, I hope she gets another holiday soon it must be so exhausting being on dialysis. You’re right the NHS is brilliant, I hope people in the UK remember what the NHS staff did for them after the pandemic because you can bet your last penny Boris will try to cut funding or pay rises to claw back what they spent during covid. Of course you and I know the government could easily afford to pay nurses more if they just taxed the rich and stopped off-shore havens but why would they do that when they aren’t called out on it? I’m seeing a huge shift here in the U.S, even more so since I wrote that post. The BLM movement is making a real impact, combined with climate activists these protests will force the American government to enact a proper green recovery. There’s a lot going on outside trump bullshit so come November we should see the beginning of real equality, green jobs, re-building infrastructure and police/prison reform. I joined the UK Greens to keep informed of the challenges in Britain and although I’m not keen on the Labor party, I do think it could be a door to the green recovery there since the Greens aren’t getting enough support. In any case, the Tory’s have to go before they destroy what’s left of socialism and we lose the NHS to private healthcare.
Don’t lose hope Emma, there are enough people doing the right thing to make a better world for the next generation. The rest of them can go do one 😉
xxx