The pandemic has put much of the
world into a kind of limbo of inactivity, as we wait for the virus to run its
course, or to come under our control. This stasis brings an abundance of both
problems and benefits. Problems in terms of the personal, social and economic cost
of lockdown which, as ever, are likely to impact most severely on the poorest
in our global society. Benefits in terms of the immediately positive
environmental consequences, and the timely reminder that governments are well
able to instigate structural & systemic changes when they deem them
necessary.
Tempting though it is to indulge in
a snark-fest about the latest outrage from Westminster or the White House, and
there is certainly no shortage of opportunities, a better use of our time might
be to think about what happens next.
The economic cost of the lock down
is massive, both in lost revenue and in the burden of loans carried forward by
businesses. Whilst governments have been pouring money in to stop the system
from falling apart, the longer term payback could easily cause a worldwide
depression similar to that of the 1930s. Big corporations and hedge fund
managers will already be working on their survival strategies. In such a
context the transition to a system which is revolves around respect for the
global biome, instead of around exponentially increasing consumption of
resources and short term profiteering, just got harder. Harder, but not
impossible, if we stay focused.
In their excellent book, The
Future We Choose; Surviving The Climate Crisis, Christiana Figueres &
Tom Rivett-Carnac put forward the concept of stubborn optimism. If ever there
was a time for stubborn optimism, it’s now.
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