Will the post-pandemic economy continue to create inequalities that poison our politics and undermine any sense of national community? Or will it honor the dignity of work and share the risks of ill health and hard times? https://t.co/EkuxrTk8Ig— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) April 14, 2020
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
All in it together?
The ubiquitous public service announcements that keep telling us "we're all in this together" imply more social equality than our country has ever enjoyed. Will that change, post-pandemic? (What would Marx say? Or Darwin?)
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Nothing unites human like a common enemy. Though history, there has never been a stronger rallying cry then "lets all get this one bad thing." Will it break up the huge political divide? No, I don't think so. Will it narrow the gap? Yes, but it will take more to get it completely closed.
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I think as long as reflection of how well the economy is doing is based on wall street, the inequality will keep rising because it does not truly reflect how the middle class is doing.
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I have seen a lot of people talk about this. I've seen many people get upset when celebrities say "we're all in this together" when they're actually in a different situation. First of all, they have enough money that businesses being shut down and many people losing their jobs doesn't apply to them. They also don't necessarily have the mental struggle of being stuck at home and bored. It's a lot easier to stay entertained at home if you have pools, tennis courts, vineyards, etc. I saw a quote from Lady Gaga talking about how she thinks it's important to recognize, and that she wants to honor that the struggle she has vs the struggle a single mother who just lost her job due to corona isn't the same.
ReplyDeleteDarwin would definitely use the current situation as a symbol for his "survival of the fittest" philosophy. This would fit in place with how some people are ignoring the safety and health regulations by going in public like everything is fine.
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I agree with Daniel, humanity has always been together to face common threats. A simple example of this is the Army, people in my shop could pick fun at each other but any other shop we'd group up on them. Each echelon higher would group together.
ReplyDeleteSomeone who is making millions a year is not struggling the same way someone who is low- income is struggling right now. Wealthy people have access to better resources and are able to stay afloat in this time and even after. However, someone who is low income already may struggle to make ends meet, and if they are unemployed or have lower hours currently due to this crisis, it makes it even worse. I have read of cases in the state where people are not able to apply for unemployment because they don't meet a specific criteria or the unemployment website shuts down constantly due to so many people filing, therefore not attaining any money for themselves or their families. Other cases include college students who work and pay their own bills not able to receive the $1,200 promised due to their parents filing them as dependents on their taxes. All of this is an issue now and needs to be fixed for future purposes, as it is further causing a divide among the wealthy and the working class. We are not truly "together" if people are struggling to feed their families.
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Even though it doesn't make everyone come together, there is still definitely a sense of everyone needs to do their part to get over this and return to some sort of normality. On the flip side it is very frustrating to see some people not only break quarantine, but post it on social media for all to see. Personally, it makes me feel like they really do not understand what is actually at stake
ReplyDeleteI think this pandemic is the true turning point for American Society. I believe we will see a boom in socialized medicine here in the states as well as a possible minimum wage increase. Section 6
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice if we could all come to see our "common enemy" in so-called normal times as hunger, disease, inequality of opportunity, injustice,...? I want to believe it might happen sooner than later.
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