राइट ए लेटर टू योर फ्रेंड टेलिंग हिम ऑल द नेसेसरी प्रिकॉशंस टो बे टेकन केयर ड्यूरिंग सेकंड वेव आफ कोरोना पांडेमिक
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Hi David,
Nice hearing from you, I'm glad to hear you're getting by okay in these grim times.
You asked how’s it going for us back here in New Zealand.
You would have heard that the whole country is locked down and with breaks for exercise and shopping, we’re all living under a sort of voluntary house arrest.
The start of the lock down triggered in me an old feeling from past years.
From those car assembly strikes we took back in the ‘70s. The feeling at the strike’s onset; after our vote to stop, the conflicting feelings, the element of excitement, dare I say it, of fun. The usual boring routine suddenly wiped away, all of us together on the brink of an adventure, with a strong sense of collective purpose. A feeling of being vibrantly alive.
I think at such a time we need our critical faculties more than ever. As my friend Renée Anna put it:
“The state is made up of a network of institutions and those institutions are simply not basically “nice.” Asking questions about the response also does not amount to minimising the threat that COVID-19 represents or thinking it is a conspiracy, or even that it’s being purposefully exploited right at the moment or whatever. The destructive systems we live under are bound to produce epidemics, and it’s surreal but it’s not really surprising to be facing a global pandemic. It would be weirder if we *didn’t* experience that, really. The thing is that it is totally possible to realise it’s reasonable to adopt extreme measures because of a pandemic, while still seeing that those measures have their own relationship to other political trends, and also have their own momentum and possible long term implications”
Already in the short term, different class interests here have sharply asserted themselves. For example, some employers have insisted on unsafe work practices and there’s been workers strike action in response.
In the new circumstances there’s a sudden social awareness of low paid workers vital importance. Society's dependance on rubbish collectors, drivers, cleaners, hospital workers and, not least, checkout operators.
Today the working class is in from the margins, it’s value strongly apparent.
When we get through the present stage of the drama, will these realisations translate into a revived socialist current? During the last few weeks, the capitalist class has shown they can make radical decisions. I’m hopeful that our side can too.
Best to your and yours,
Don