The collateral damage caused by the pandemic is beginning to be revealed. Few now believe that we will be returning to normality anytime soon.
Media coverage of brave healthcare workers all over the world fighting the pandemic in under-resourced hospitals is extensive. We are also following stories of patients struggling to survive this pestilence and of those left behind by its victims.
As one would expect in a democracy, partisan political squabbling only adds to the misery of a multitude of people who feel they have been left on their own to deal with this existential crisis. Undoubtedly, the poor are paying the highest price of this unexpected scourge. But many others are seeing their hard work over the years being destroyed in a few weeks of economic turbulence.
Understandably, hard-working people are asking for help to see their lives restored to some sort of normality after this pandemic is over.
After decades of political thinking that defined the big state as an obsolete concept that destroys the individual’s innate desire to climb the social ladder, many are realising that the state is, after all, the only underwriter that can guarantee survival in times of national calamities.
The government has launched schemes intended to lighten the burden of those directly hit by the pandemic. These schemes are a good start to the country’s defence of its economic infrastructure.
But the number of human stories that are emerging is a clear indication that more courageous efforts need to be made to rescue thousands of families from a new kind of poverty.
It is not only those working in the tourism sectors that have been affected. Part-time employees, journalists, home helpers and cleaners, various self-employed service providers and a multitude of other workers are seeing their source of income dry up as the spending power of consumers takes a knock.
The financial plumbing of the country is steadily being blocked as many struggle to pay their utility bills, their children’s school fees, and even their subsistence expenses.
No country has put a ceiling on the amount of financial resources needed to preserve the cohesion of the community after the pandemic is over.
We should not be the exception. The government needs to keep its ears to the ground to hear the cries for help of ordinary hard-working families who are deeply worried about their future.
Uncertainty remains the primary risk in this nightmare scenario. While the government cannot guarantee a painless future for any section of our society, it needs to make sure that every family is guaranteed the necessary support, which for many means continuation of employment. The financial resources of any country are limited.
But the distribution of these resources can be planned so that in a time of crisis those who have wealth support those that do not.
This strategy is not built on an ideological vision of how we should plan the future of our society.
It is a pragmatic way of making sure that our community is indeed a fair one and that our political leaders are inspired by the common good when they decide how to allocate the nation’s resources.
The human stories that are emerging from this crisis do not always grab the media headlines. But this does not make them any less urgent and deserving for the support of the state.