These chaotic times we are experiencing have shone a light on the cracks in the empty “how good is Australia” mantra. Catastrophes like the Covid-19 emphasise the inequalities in health care and job security to name two. But in the midst of growing uncertainty and pessimism, a short article caught my eye in the Guardian  entitled ‘Nature is taking back Venice.’
Evidently because of the banning of cruise ships and the disappearance of tourists, the waters of the canals are becoming clear and wildlife, like cormorants and fish, are returning. Could this be the sort of metaphor of planetary renewal we are seeking in these bleak times?

It’s too soon to see the light at the end of the tunnel as our journey is only beginning but we do need some signs of hope if we are able to survive mentally and spiritually too. Is it possible that at a time we see the wholesale reduction in polluting carbon- based industries and less vehicles on roads that we could be enticed to see solutions to curb global warming when recalcitrant governments, broken promises and even demonstrations have been sidestepped by the changes being forced upon us? We’ve been outsmarted by Reality. Massive reductions in industry may in fact benefit the planet.

 

The economy is changing before our eyes with Keynesian economic principles being enacted by a Liberal government. Who would have thought this government would be ditching its sacred surplus in a bid to support welfare recipients at all costs? CEOs of major corporations ditching pay for now and even footballers forced to accept half their pay. Could it be a slippery slope to a living wage or is that already beginning to happen out of necessity? And could nationalisation of crucial assets be far behind? Be still my beating socialist heart.

 

Since January this year our firies have outplayed our politicians, becoming the true heroes of public life. Soon, regrettably, our front-line medical workers are likely to be elevated to the highest public esteem as the COVID-19 virus rolls on. Will we then learn to reward them with equitable wages equivalent to their service? And what of our teachers, our child-care workers and others, all emerging as crucial to the cohesion of society? Questions of just remuneration will need to be rethought when we emerge from these challenging days.
Another structural change we might consider is the implementation of The Green New Deal (inspired by President Roosevelt’s New Deal of social and economic reforms addressing the effects of the Great Depression) which came to prominence during the 2020 Presidential campaign in the US.

 

As part of this deal if Australia electrifies all sectors, Professor Mark Jacobson from Stanford University the co-founder of the Solutions Project, says that because 12.6% of all energy demand worldwide is used to mine, refine and transport fossil fuels, therefore, in a wind/water/solar scenario, he deduces, that “because the wind comes right to the turbines, the solar comes right to the panels … we don’t need to mine, refine or transport fossil fuels”, so that’s 12.6% of worldwide demand dissolved.”

At a time when we are being forced to judge how existing structures serve us, could be the time to take further dramatic steps to restructure for the common good. Even the most right-wing governments are being forced to make changes they would never have considered even weeks ago. With a huge cohort of unemployed looming should we be retraining them in new solar/wind industries?
There are other areas of daily life that we once took for granted that now deserve deeper scrutiny. For example the trapping and sale of wild animals should now stop. In fact our whole attitude to the natural world is ripe for re-examination. Many of our certainties are not set in stone. I’m sure each reader will have their own list of failures.

 

Cataclysmic events such as the one we are experiencing have the potential to change the world. When we begin to emerge from these immediate threats perhaps we could see the COVID-19 catastrophe as a sign that it can never now be business as usual for conservative capitalism and that 2020 is a time in history to make drastic changes to the world’s systems for a more just and spiritual regard for the earth and a return to communalism. For now, the nation and the planet face these challenges head on.