By Avner Pariat
Corona has torn the world asunder. It has destroyed the way societies organise their masses, it has disrupted the way Healthcare is doled out, it has shaken – to their core – the foundations of global businesses and corporations. In other words, it has offered us a great opportunity for Change. It would be tempting to listen to Liberal and Conservative narratives around this virus. The former as usual will concentrate on the tremendous human cost of this Pandemic which is of course real and really felt by millions. The Conservatives on the other hand (as they have neither soul nor heart) will instead look to vent their ire on external perceived threats, in this case, China. There in a nutshell is what these factions are up to these days.
One thing, however, unites them both: their vision of the Future. Libcons (let’s call them that for short) have a shared goal for a world after COVID 19 and that is, simply put, a world of “business as usual.” Libcons want us back to work, that is, back to the saddle and the yoke; back into the service of our Corporate Overlords. Because, for these people the disservices of COVID 19 must not continue and must not infect their precious system – a system which has exploited and abused millions of people the world over; a system of lifelong hardship and back-breaking serfdom. As slaves who have tasted a little Freedom, will we go back to the Master’s House or will we go deep into the Wildlands to forge our own paths? This then is the question.
Right now, the powerful Libcon engine is working overtime – discussing projections of deaths, billionaire donations and Chinese pangolins. I don’t know if they are simply scared of Corona or of the reality they might find. Hardly any news trickles up from the Ground. They discuss the hardships of Labour and Farmers on-screen and immediately bring in some super-sanitized CEO to weigh in with his opinions. But this is tried and tested stratagem. The reality is perhaps a lot darker for them. COVID 19 has been a great reset of the world order. Things are not going to be easy going forward particularly for those who have benefited and enjoyed the fruits of the past. For them, this has been a great jolt but this moment also represents a great opportunity for the rest of us. An opportunity to put power back into the hands of the People!
COVID 19, far from being a germ, is actually a socio-economic phenomenon. It has made organizing for corporations very difficult, and if one cannot do this fundamental activity, how then does one control the means of production? Control is the keyword. These entities need it like a drug addict needs his fix or else they’ll shrivel up. Conversely, COVID 19 has accelerated and prioritized organizing for community. Various volunteer groups and helpers of all hues have sprung up like tender mushrooms after the first rains. They will need care and assistance from here on end. Yes, most might not survive but the Human institutions they represent must endure. These are institutions that symbolize the best of what we as people stand for. Institutions like caring for others, helping the poor and needy, helping the aged and ailing have all been sidelined for a long time now because we were always kept busy by the owners of this country. Today so many heart-warming stories flood in regarding community efforts to thwart and battle COVID 19. The Kerala government’s efforts to provide food consignments for each of its citizens is an example of this. Another example is when the headman of Pomlakrai delivered a powerful message of solidarity with infected people in a video gone viral.
For a very long time, we were wheezing and out of breath. We felt ill and feverish. We never identified what that sickness was. It didn’t have a name that was easy on the tongue. There were no people singing “Go, Capitalism, Go” or “Go, Corporate, Go”. The people of Delhi yearly, choke under a cloud of toxic gases coming out of chimneys run by unregulated companies. Many people die because of this, yet there are no songs. This brief period of Human Inactivity has given us some breathing space. What do we do now? Should we go back to the gas houses or do we make a clean break? Will we risk the pain of new possibilities or will we run back and embrace the leg of the Old Order?
The Libcons will tell you that we need to get back to work. That is all they are worried about now. They talk about Depression or Recession frequently. Their great trick is their ability to weave clever narratives. So for instance, they are able to frame the fall in a billionaire’s net-worth as a source of concern that India’s citizens should be worried about. But in reality, why should farmers or labourers care about Mr Ambani or Mr Adani? If the Banks are directed to get off their backs and government schemes actually reach them, there is no Ambani or Adani who would be more powerful than our agrarian class? If, as we have seen in past decades, land holdings are drastically redistributed and reassigned, millions of poverty-stricken people can be brought back from the dead. Couple this with Progressive Education and you have a recipe for true prosperity.
It should be the highest government policy now, even if only out of their fear of losing control, to place the tools of economic empowerment in the hands of these people. It should be a fundamental right to enshrine the type of work that ensures that it is Labour that manages these big companies not these current owners. Like any great crisis – be it Famine, War or Economic Collapse – the Corona virus has rebooted the system. I see immense potential here and even with the insidious interference of many politicians, there is a real hope that the breaches in the system will bring about fundamental overhauls.
It is time to act!