COVID has proved the durability of three big ideas from three different men. John Boyko writes:
19th-century German political philosopher Karl Marx argued that we either own the means through which stuff and services are produced, or work for those who do. Our relationship to our society and each other, he wrote, is based on where we are within the layers of wealth and work.
One estimate says nearly 160,000 small businesses are at risk of going bust as soul-crushing unemployment continues to drain savings and hope. Meanwhile, since the pandemic began, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has seen his net worth rise by billions. Identifying Ontario’s COVID hot spot as Toronto is a sad lie. Rosedale is fine. Jane and Finch is suffering.
COVID’s infection rate among people earning more than $150,000 a year is 42 per 100,000. Among those making under $30,000 it is 223. These numbers will persist as many leave small, multi-generational apartments and ride a crowded bus to a minimum wage job, while others enjoy a stretch while taking a break from their ergonomically designed chair in their nicely appointed home office. Women and racial minorities have suffered inordinate hardships, but Marx would point to the many middle- and upper-class women and people of colour that are doing just fine, thank you.
The second big idea came from Abraham Maslow, who introduced the concept of a hierarchy of needs:
We begin by seeking adequate food, drink and shelter. We are then able to pursue safety, and then love and belonging, followed by self-esteem — and finally, a feeling of self-fulfilment that he called self-actualization. COVID showed us that no matter where we are on the hierarchy, we can quickly slide back down. I live in what city-centric people call “cottage country.” In the pandemic’s early days, I heard neighbours insist that our one and only grocery store should deny admittance to non-residents — the cottagers — who were stocking up on our food and leaving us short.
Over 50 per cent of Canadians report that COVID is battering their sense of self-worth and has appreciably worsened their mental health. Alcohol and drug use is increasing along with family violence, fear and anxiety. Separation from friends and family is eroding feelings of love and belonging. Televised scenes of rioting in American streets, narcissistic madness in the White House and COVID’s ruthless second wave are all straining our sense of safety. Employers used to think that employees would be less efficient but happier working from home, but it ends up that the opposite is true. It’s tough to seek self-actualization while home-schooling the kids, enduring yet another damned Zoom meeting, missing friends and hoping that maybe the family can get together next Christmas.
And, finally, there is John A. Macdonald's idea that -- when push comes to shove -- the federal government is where the buck stops:
Only the federal government, he said — and so the constitution now deems — has the fiscal capacity and political legitimacy to respond nationally to a national crisis. Its Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) helped nearly 9 million of us to stay home and safe. It is now transitioning to a more flexible Employment Insurance program. The federal government shut the borders and signed contracts with those who will provide vaccines. Premiers worked hard within their jurisdictions while effusively praising the federal government’s invaluable support and initiatives. We need only look to our southern neighbour with their dominant power at the state level, and no equivalent of Elections Canada, to see how right Macdonald was to put power where it belongs.
Ideas come and go. But good ideas stand the test of time.
Image: medium.com
4 comments:
Yes, three big ideas. Now, let's take a look at those visionaries. Macdonald and Marx were contemporaries, both men of the 19th century, born and died within a few years of each other. Maslow, about a century later, 1908 to 1970.
They were men of their times. Great minds indeed but shaped by their environment and circumstances. Maslow's theory was published in the midst of WWII, 1943. Do they remain relevant? Sure. Is their wisdom enough to guide us through the turbulent times ahead? How could it be?
Where are all the great visions of the 21st century, the era that saw our environment and our societies transformed as never before?
I may be grousing and I am in that mood. I have read ProgBlog at least twice a day since began my hiatus from blogging almost a month ago. I noticed something curious about the posts - other than their scarcity. No one is posting on the great peril of the day, the environment. There have been important developments over this period. For example, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased, not declined, since Covid materialized. Is this not of concern to self-styled progressives? Perhaps we have such limited attention spans in this era of social media that we can only focus on one dire threat at a time. What are we taught about crossing roads? Oh yeah, look both ways. We don't do that these days.
BTW, I'm looking to update the latest on climate departure from Camilo Mora's lab at U Hawaii. It's been almost eight years since their paper predicting the onset of departure beginning in the tropics around 2023. What we've seen over the past couple of years does seem to corroborate those forecasts.
If anything, Mound, COVID has exposed the cruel injustices behind our prime theory of how things should work. The virus tells us why the planet -- and of us -- are in peril. Still, we refuse to connect the dots.
@Mound
I may be grousing and I am in that mood. I have read ProgBlog at least twice a day since began my hiatus from blogging almost a month ago. I noticed something curious about the posts - other than their scarcity.
Thus are the reactions of most blogs and the MSM.
Covid 19 has become a distraction from many issues such as climate, the socialised economy and personal responsibility!
Covid has turned the world ,as we know it, on it's head ; given it a shake and so far has not seen anything fall out.
I cannot describe it , perhaps we are in a state of trance and not able to react to the obvious dangers on the horizon?
Perhaps besides the obvious health concerns the masses are trying to process the obvious that the status quo does not work?
TB
Why is Mounds blog gone?
I'll let Mound answer your question, TB. My sense is that the enormity of the problems we face is making some people tune out.
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