There seems to be a battle going on all over the world, at the moment, although today I’m mainly talking about the UK.
So what is this battle? The battle against the virus?
Well, that’s one battle going on out there, but not the one I was thinking about.
The battle that I was thinking about is the one between doctors and economists – and the politicians are in there somewhere as well!
So what is this battle?
Well, on the one side there’s the medical fraternity, led by the doctors, believing that the way forward is to close the world down, hopefully stopping the spread of the virus.
On the other side are the economists, champing at the bit to, at the very least, loosen the lockdown and at best, get back to a world where business is flourishing, people are spending and capitalism is thriving.
On the face of it, the medical fraternity have the better argument: ‘save lives at all costs’, they say.
The economists look as though they have no humanity whatsoever: ‘money and business comes before lives!’ is their mantra.
At least on the face of it…
But let’s take a closer look.
It might just be that for once, the economists are taking a more holistic approach.
The medical world is trying to keep its head above water, trying to ensure that it doesn’t drown. The medical world wants to ensure that it has the capacity to support those in need, that it can provide enough beds to care for those unfortunate enough to fall ill to the virus, that it can save lives.
The economists want the world to get back to normal, the economy to start functioning, people to go back to work and start spending again – even if it means that people will die. This seems a fairly heartless approach, but there’s so much more to it than that.
The lockdown has been implemented to save lives, but it is causing so much damage:
People are struggling with depression and mental illness. Suicides are up, as is domestic (and sexual) abuse. People are too scared to go to hospital, and are dying at home as a result – heart attacks, strokes…
Surgeries are being cancelled, as are cancer treatments.
Children are no longer going to school, and so losing out on their education. They aren’t seeing their friends, they aren’t able to go outside.
In fact, there is a whole social disconnect going on: people can’t touch, hug, or kiss. People have to stand 2 metres away from each other. Grandparents aren’t allowed to see their grandchildren, adult children are unable to see their parents.
Loved ones in hospital are left with no support from their families because visiting has been disallowed. People are being buried with no one to witness their last moments above ground.
Exercise is limited, and sport no longer exists. Cinemas and theatres are closed.
Democratic freedoms are being eroded. The police are asking for the right to break up house parties. They’re stopping cars without due cause, stopping people from going out for non-essential reasons, telling them to get off the streets. Neighbours are spying on one another, reporting so-called breaches of lockdown regulations.
And of course, on top of all this, we have no idea what the economic fallout will be as yet. Are we walking blindly towards a precipice? Quite possibly.
Unbelievably, some companies are actually benefitting from the lockdown.
Amazon is making billions: I read on the BBC the other day that Jeff Bezos had added $24billion to his personal fortune, though his shares in Amazon.
Netflix has had 16 million new sign-ups in the first three months of the year. Even at a conservative average of $10 per customer, that’s the best part of a $2 billion increase in revenue annually. Netflix even had to agree to turn down the quality of its Internet to protect Internet bandwidth for other users.
This is all well and good – fair play to them really. They are in the right market to profit from these scary times.
But some businesses are profiting unfairly, whilst those that they prey on struggle, moving closer to the brink with the strong possibility that they will not survive at all.
A case in point: the pubs, in the UK.
Many are still being charged rent by the PubCos (PubCos such as Star, the EI Group, Punch, Greene King), whilst being unable to make any money themselves. Hence the #nopubnorent campaign*.
All pubs have been forced to close their doors by the government to protect the public from the virus. The pubs cannot possibly earn money to pay their rent.
Surely this is all wrong, isn’t it? Pubs are being charged for providing a service that they legally cannot provide.
How do the PubCos have the audacity to insist on payment at this time? They should be pouring money into the pubs, ready for when things return to normal, not taking it out.
It seems like madness to me.
As a result, one of my big concerns is that many of these pubs will disappear from the British landscape forever if they don’t receive help soon.
Which brings me to the point of this piece.
Maybe the real battle is not about the virus, maybe it’s not about whether we save lives, maybe it’s not about whether we have a lockdown or not.
Maybe it’s simply about the soul of each and every nation affected by the virus.
What is more important? Saving a large number of lives or saving the soul of a nation?
Maybe the economists are right?
I really don’t know.
I’ll leave that for you to answer.
*Please don’t think that all PubCos are taking the piss. Many (for example Admiral Taverns, Fullers, Wadworth’s, and St Austell) are doing the right thing!
If you want to read more about my experiences during the Coronavirus lockdown of 2020, click on the logo below – this will take you to viralchitchat.com
