The pandemic has shown us what a village the world is. It’s forcing social decisions upon us that, before, politics would never have contemplated. And maybe we’ll all be the better of it. The past few weeks have shown how important it is to have a properly funded and functioning health system and how we can live without rampant consumerism.

Our private pensions which feed off capitalist investment may be taking a hammering

We need a functioning economy, too, which requires consumer spending in order to generate taxes to pay for public services, but it’s proving a lesson in where our priorities should lie.

It is time for a rethink. Hard-left political ideology is never the answer but a more equal society has to be the way of the future.

Our private pensions which feed off capitalist investment may be taking a hammering as a result of crashing markets but this pandemic is demonstrating just how equal we all are. It doesn’t distinguish between rich and poor. But it does discriminate against the elderly, those most in need of public care.

The reality is that the politics of the next five years has been mapped out regardless of who is in power

There will be an argument in the coming weeks about the formation of a government. Those who didn’t vote for Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, those who “voted for change” as they’ve characterised Election 2020 may feel hard done by.

But the reality is that the politics of the next five years has been mapped out regardless of who is in power. And maybe it’s the wake-up call these two parties needed at the right time for their own sakes.

We titter on the brink of austerity. We hope and pray that the wheels of the economy can be oiled sooner rather than later to avoid a catastrophe, but one thing is certain: this has been a reminder that we are nothing if we’re not together regardless of class, creed or generation.

We have not been listening to the warnings on climate change

It means paying more attention to the needy in society and this requires a more socialist attitude. We have not been listening to the warnings on climate change: “Oh, that is for somebody else to fix, I’ll just carry on the way I am thank you very much.”

Maybe this is Mother Nature’s way of knocking us into shape in preparation for the combined efforts of us all to make the world function properly and fairly. We are in a moment of history that will be talked about for generations to come; for hundreds of years to come (if civilisation lasts that long).

As I write, we are at a crucial stage in the process of controlling the pandemic in Ireland

Now there’s a sentence that would have been deemed ridiculous not that long ago. As I write, we are at a crucial stage in the process of controlling the pandemic in Ireland. All going well, thoughts will turn to trying to reboot the economy next month. It will require very delicate planning in order to strike a balance between nurturing public health and public finances in tandem. The worry is that people who have it to spend will not spend. Absurd as it may seem, isn’t that the very vestige of excess consumerism?

If we can alter that mindset; if we can halt the rat race which creates societal inequality, if we can lower expectation, we can build a united resilience to expunge such fears and ensure a steady return to supporting small and medium local businesses that need it most.

The mantra in recent weeks has been, “We are in this together.” Shouldn’t it be the mantra forever more?

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