Life after Coronavirus
As to what the ‘new normal’ might look like after the virus is ended or got under control, how about this, loosely sketched in list:
1. The majority of companies become worker cooperatives, where ALL the staff have a say in what the company does and everyone benefits in a fair way from the wealth produced. No bosses and no managers with unquestioned power. That one change would see a huge improvement in the quality of life for 100s of millions.
2. Reform of the housing market away from a neoliberal one where landlords and people with houses already see huge benefits and power and the majority of the country becomes powerless and can’t afford to buy. How? Several ways, including: a. build a LOT more council houses and make them nice places to live, both the houses and the areas (which depends on other factors), to take away the stigma of them being bad places or a sign of a lack of success. b. Put very firm controls on house prices, to take it out of the ‘free’ market principle. In fact decrease the price of houses, by as much as 50%, to allow young people to afford to buy them. With a central fund existing to give owners the other 50%, so they are not out of pocket, but still get the current market price. That done to reduce resistance to the progressive changes among conservative minded folk. c. Put similar systems into places for rented accommodation and hugely increase the rights of tenants in ways that are actually applied.
3. Make university education 100% free, with no student debts whatsoever. Increase the focus on education towards the ‘critical pedagogy’ model which encourages the ability to critically analyse and decide things for yourself and to take part in how society is run.
4. Place large and universally applied penalties on companies that damage the environment. Strongly apply various of the good plans already in place and the ideas not yet being implemented to decrease environmental damage.
5. Make all companies pay a fair share of tax, really - strongly enforced.
6. Devolve more government to local areas, (in the UK including North of England and Cornwall etc), both regional and district. Give those councils greater ability to decide spending criteria and be less under the sway of central government funding. Make all the people who comprise those councils elected, pay them more, encourage people to vote in such elections more. Better yet make anyone in the areas eligible to contribute to council’s discussion and decisions and the 'leader' chosen on a yearly sortition type system or other system as deemed best. Make their decisions more transparent and increase the firing of corrupt or inefficient members. Make them truly democratic. Tie them into the workers cooperative of the companies in their area.
7. Ban all advertising geared towards cheating people into mindless consumption as a cure for dissatisfaction. All advertising to become purely information giving.
8. A massive campaign at local and national level to decrease violence of all types. Domestic violence, school bullying, but also in pubs, of young men against other young men. To fundamentally change the way we think of violence.
9. A massive campaign at local and national level to change the way we think regarding gender and age and disability and racial issues, towards a society in which all people are treated with respect and can be actively involved in the running of society (in tandem with the other points mentioned here).
10. The uncoupling of artistic efforts and the ‘free’ market. Books, movies, music etc will no longer have to ‘sell to survive’. Such artistic, creative work to be funded at a hugely higher level than now (as in 100’s of times higher) but public funding, as is education and health, etc.
11. A huge increase in the national health system, in terms of numbers staff and facilities. Have hospitals also run as workers cooperatives, in which all staff get to take part (meaning cleaners as well as doctors!)
12. The creation of a disaster preparation unit (DPU) that is properly funded and holds stocks of food, medical equipment etc, and prepare plans to deal with various disasters. Presume that such would already be in place etc…but apparently not, given the poor uncoordinated and slow reactions to the virus.
13. Huge coordinated campaign to restructure the transport system away from petrol/gas cars and towards electric transport, bicycles, walking, trains and buses. Make public transport much more enjoyable and pleasant an experience (by such things as increasing the size of seats so large enough for adults to use without touching the next person, increasing safety and courtesy to others, etc) and… free! All buses and trains too be free for all. Much larger and stuffer fines for cars and motorcycles that injure and kill people (a problem which kills 6 times more people every year than coronavirus yet has).
14. Reform of political party system towards being more democratic, transparent in funding (public funding on equals terms to all parties, with no private funding being allowed at all). Have a proportional representation system. Reducing the power of the ‘leader’ in all parties, to make them based on groups of representative with specific areas of responsibility who decide things according to debate and voting, not presidential decree or prime ministerial authority, etc. Given the growth of local councils and work councils, of direct democracy in various ways, the role and power of central government would decline anyway.
15. Reform sport so that big football and baseball etc clubs have to give at least 50% of their profit to benefit the community in which they are based. So that multi-million earning sports stars have to give at least 50% of their earning to locally run sports clubs, youth associations etc.
16. Crime: reform the police so that they are not employed as the bully boys enforcing elite control against protestors and strikers and people of different ethnic groups etc. This will involve far more community control of the police, far more accountability to local councils and people. It will mean a situation were officers that abuse their power are very firmly dealt with, including losing their jobs and and jail sentences. The various other changes above will probably lead to a decrease in crime, via a decrease in poverty and powerlessness.
17. Large increase in work place safety, since accidents at work kill more people per year than even cars do.
18. Reform the 'sustainability' movements to make them center on the fundamental role of capitalism as a source on UN-sustainability and the need of deep economic reform, rather than just making people 'better' capitalists.
Etc…there is a lot more to say and more specific things to note about how this will all be done. But, if done, all that would result in, goes, what an actually better life for all. or as i call it, a BESS (a better economic and social system).
Oh yes!
How is all that to be paid for? Big point there is: it can be, so dont waste our potential with ‘magic money tree’ silliness. We can see that right wing governments all over the world have suddenly found huge amounts of money to cope with the coronavirus. The finance needed can be generated. It's a question of how we organise things. Austerity was always an ideological point, not a practical reality. The whole way we organise economy and society needs to change, and funding it all will be part of that changed way of doing things.
As to what the ‘new normal’ might look like after the virus is ended or got under control, how about this, loosely sketched in list:
1. The majority of companies become worker cooperatives, where ALL the staff have a say in what the company does and everyone benefits in a fair way from the wealth produced. No bosses and no managers with unquestioned power. That one change would see a huge improvement in the quality of life for 100s of millions.
2. Reform of the housing market away from a neoliberal one where landlords and people with houses already see huge benefits and power and the majority of the country becomes powerless and can’t afford to buy. How? Several ways, including: a. build a LOT more council houses and make them nice places to live, both the houses and the areas (which depends on other factors), to take away the stigma of them being bad places or a sign of a lack of success. b. Put very firm controls on house prices, to take it out of the ‘free’ market principle. In fact decrease the price of houses, by as much as 50%, to allow young people to afford to buy them. With a central fund existing to give owners the other 50%, so they are not out of pocket, but still get the current market price. That done to reduce resistance to the progressive changes among conservative minded folk. c. Put similar systems into places for rented accommodation and hugely increase the rights of tenants in ways that are actually applied.
3. Make university education 100% free, with no student debts whatsoever. Increase the focus on education towards the ‘critical pedagogy’ model which encourages the ability to critically analyse and decide things for yourself and to take part in how society is run.
4. Place large and universally applied penalties on companies that damage the environment. Strongly apply various of the good plans already in place and the ideas not yet being implemented to decrease environmental damage.
5. Make all companies pay a fair share of tax, really - strongly enforced.
6. Devolve more government to local areas, (in the UK including North of England and Cornwall etc), both regional and district. Give those councils greater ability to decide spending criteria and be less under the sway of central government funding. Make all the people who comprise those councils elected, pay them more, encourage people to vote in such elections more. Better yet make anyone in the areas eligible to contribute to council’s discussion and decisions and the 'leader' chosen on a yearly sortition type system or other system as deemed best. Make their decisions more transparent and increase the firing of corrupt or inefficient members. Make them truly democratic. Tie them into the workers cooperative of the companies in their area.
7. Ban all advertising geared towards cheating people into mindless consumption as a cure for dissatisfaction. All advertising to become purely information giving.
8. A massive campaign at local and national level to decrease violence of all types. Domestic violence, school bullying, but also in pubs, of young men against other young men. To fundamentally change the way we think of violence.
9. A massive campaign at local and national level to change the way we think regarding gender and age and disability and racial issues, towards a society in which all people are treated with respect and can be actively involved in the running of society (in tandem with the other points mentioned here).
10. The uncoupling of artistic efforts and the ‘free’ market. Books, movies, music etc will no longer have to ‘sell to survive’. Such artistic, creative work to be funded at a hugely higher level than now (as in 100’s of times higher) but public funding, as is education and health, etc.
11. A huge increase in the national health system, in terms of numbers staff and facilities. Have hospitals also run as workers cooperatives, in which all staff get to take part (meaning cleaners as well as doctors!)
12. The creation of a disaster preparation unit (DPU) that is properly funded and holds stocks of food, medical equipment etc, and prepare plans to deal with various disasters. Presume that such would already be in place etc…but apparently not, given the poor uncoordinated and slow reactions to the virus.
13. Huge coordinated campaign to restructure the transport system away from petrol/gas cars and towards electric transport, bicycles, walking, trains and buses. Make public transport much more enjoyable and pleasant an experience (by such things as increasing the size of seats so large enough for adults to use without touching the next person, increasing safety and courtesy to others, etc) and… free! All buses and trains too be free for all. Much larger and stuffer fines for cars and motorcycles that injure and kill people (a problem which kills 6 times more people every year than coronavirus yet has).
14. Reform of political party system towards being more democratic, transparent in funding (public funding on equals terms to all parties, with no private funding being allowed at all). Have a proportional representation system. Reducing the power of the ‘leader’ in all parties, to make them based on groups of representative with specific areas of responsibility who decide things according to debate and voting, not presidential decree or prime ministerial authority, etc. Given the growth of local councils and work councils, of direct democracy in various ways, the role and power of central government would decline anyway.
15. Reform sport so that big football and baseball etc clubs have to give at least 50% of their profit to benefit the community in which they are based. So that multi-million earning sports stars have to give at least 50% of their earning to locally run sports clubs, youth associations etc.
16. Crime: reform the police so that they are not employed as the bully boys enforcing elite control against protestors and strikers and people of different ethnic groups etc. This will involve far more community control of the police, far more accountability to local councils and people. It will mean a situation were officers that abuse their power are very firmly dealt with, including losing their jobs and and jail sentences. The various other changes above will probably lead to a decrease in crime, via a decrease in poverty and powerlessness.
17. Large increase in work place safety, since accidents at work kill more people per year than even cars do.
18. Reform the 'sustainability' movements to make them center on the fundamental role of capitalism as a source on UN-sustainability and the need of deep economic reform, rather than just making people 'better' capitalists.
Etc…there is a lot more to say and more specific things to note about how this will all be done. But, if done, all that would result in, goes, what an actually better life for all. or as i call it, a BESS (a better economic and social system).
Oh yes!
How is all that to be paid for? Big point there is: it can be, so dont waste our potential with ‘magic money tree’ silliness. We can see that right wing governments all over the world have suddenly found huge amounts of money to cope with the coronavirus. The finance needed can be generated. It's a question of how we organise things. Austerity was always an ideological point, not a practical reality. The whole way we organise economy and society needs to change, and funding it all will be part of that changed way of doing things.