By Takura Zhangazha*
A now common phrase that has come with the global Covid-19
(corona virus) outbreak has been that ‘things will never be the same/normal
again’. It is one laden with many
attendant questions as to its full meaning.
Key among these would be, ‘What was normal in the first place?’ Another
being, ‘What is actually obtaining/happening?’
Even if we fail to get a satisfactory answer to the
foregoing we will also still have to ask ourselves a third question, ‘What
should/will change?’
The first question is perhaps the easiest to answer. Before the outbreak of Covid219 there were
multifaceted ‘normals’ in our various countries. Largely by way of class. And I am really
going simplify this here.
The rich
could normally expect to get sick and get the best medical treatment. The middle
classes while still aspiring to be rich could enjoy the consumerist lifestyles
that come with neoliberal economics (purchasing cars, small properties, having
access to private health care, education, fast food, movies etc).
The working class
(urban and rural labour) in both their formal and informal indenture had a
normal that was characterised by job losses, low incomes and lack of access to adequate
basic social services like health, education and affordable public
transport. All with the continued
dangling of a neoliberal populist carrot claiming that the free market works
for everyone. When in reality it does
not and was never designed to do so.
In considering what was normal before Covid19 it is fair to
argue that it was not an equitable or just state of global or economic affairs. A point that may be lost to many of us in the
global south because once again, we are going to be subjected to a barrage of ‘solutions’
as defined by the global north.
The other critical question that needs to be answered relates
to what is obtaining in the pandemic moment. This is specifically with regard
to the fact that what occurs now will have a tremendous impact on a post Covid19
‘normal’.
The global shutdown of capitalism
has not necessarily meant it is dead or dying.
Instead, what is apparent is that, with the help of government ‘stimulus’
packages, it is gearing up for a more robust return.
Be it in the airlines, mining, manufacturing and financial markets.
In our African contexts, a number of governments’ have
adopted a corporatist approach to Covid19.
Courting private capital, they are functioning within the parameters of corporate
social responsibility. While we need all
hands on deck we should be cautious that we do not let our government lead us
to an unpalatable ‘disaster capitalism’.
The latter being a system in which private capital takes complete advantage
of a crisis to gain a foothold on social services for profit.
Or the decimation of the informal sector in
the name of restoring ‘urban normalcy’ (read as elite normalcy) to trade or economic activities.
Private capital has also begun downsizing and laying
off workers particularly in the tertiary sectors. The issue being that because
of weakened unionism, the workers have no choice but to be furloughed with the
promise of potentially getting their jobs back if things return to ‘normal’. A highly unlikely development. Even if companies get ‘bailout’ from central
governments, the likelihood that the money received will be for workers’ wages
or livelihoods in the short or long term is limited. We saw that in 2008 with the global financial
crisis.
In other circles, religion has taken a back step to natural
sciences on this one. Even if
reluctantly. While social activities
such as sports have had to re-look at their profit making models and even
debate, as in the case of football, the reduction of player wages. In arts and culture,
the lock-downs have had a debilitating effect on incomes for creatives and in
the African context where internet access remains comparatively low and highly dependent
on the Diaspora, this is even more challenging.
What is apparent particularly in Zimbabwe is that it is a myth
to claim that Covid19 is an equalizer.
Far from it. It is exposing class
and lifestyle divisions. Hence arguments
about what really is ‘social distancing’ and for whom does it work?
The final question to be answered is in two parts. The first being the more analytical
perspective on what is likely to happen. The second being more normative, what should
preferably happen for a new progressive normal.
What is likely to happen where Covid19 is globally contained
is that initially private capital will try and cash in on it. Debates on hospitals, medical equipment will
become the main lexicon of many countries for fear of a return of Covid19. But
with a populist admiration for philanthropists as being either the ones with
the solution or at least the medical equipment to ‘keep us safe’. While not
understanding what they truly represent both in terms of their countries’ foreign
policies and their own personal profit motives.
Furthermore, there will be increases in digital
surveillance. Again as technically proposed
by the major telecommunications companies with their high tech equipment
(including your mobile phone). The right to some sort of digital privacy will
be sacrificed at the altar of assumptions of the public health interest. In our
African contexts, this may not matter as much as in the global north but it
does not mean that it will not happen.
The second part of the question is with regard to what
should happen in a return to a ‘new normal’.
Those of us on the left are quite straightforward on what should happen.
The state must return as the primary guarantor of all public/social services
such as health, transport, education, access to water and free expression. I deliberately mention free expression
because that is always in the public interest.
At the moment it remains controlled either by state functionaries or
media oligarchies. Globally.
Post Covid19, we will still be faced with the historical challenge
of ensuring the rights of all human beings to a life of dignity and
equality. In the midst of lock-downs, we
must sharpen our ability to pursue these values in their organic universality. All I know for now is that Covid 19 may not
be an equalizer in its occurrence, but either way, we have been, will always
be, all equal as human beings in our response and recovery from it.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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