During this period, all over the world, people are procrastinating, falling further into debt, and delaying as long as they can the economic and social collapse that will result from this pandemic. However, as is often the case, when we do not act lucidly when faced with a threat and when we hide the immensity of an impending crisis from people, the most fragile and poorest pay the price for our action or lack thereof.
If we continue down this path, we are heading straight for a revolution, which the middle classes will be the driving force of, before they too, along with the poorest, will become the main victims in the end.
In a much more impactful way than other crises, the current crisis that we are living today, which is of a particular type, penalizes the most fragile among us. For a thousand reasons that are obvious.
Contamination, which presupposes the multiplication of contacts, is connected primarily to people: it is easier to isolate yourself when you are rich than when you are poor. Even if rich people can be infected and die from the virus, many more poor people are prone to be victims.
During this crisis, which is only just beginning, throughout the West, especially in Europe and in France, the population has received support, particularly in the form of partial unemployment schemes. However, though huge sums are distributed to large companies, much less has been disbursed during a much shorter time to smaller companies, and even less to the self-employed. Moreover, no budgetary support will be able to compensate on a lasting basis for such massive losses of income. Meanwhile, shareholders will rush to the rescue of large companies.
The stock market has never been better and will continue to increase the value of financial and real estate assets, while jobs and salaries will decline. The level of precariousness of those who are not protected by virtue of some form of status and who depend on their clients or employers for their livelihood will be aggravated. Unemployment, precariousness, homelessness, and hunger, has affected or will pose a threat to countless families in Europe, most of whom are not yet aware of these risks.
Finally, life in the post-crisis era will favour the rich and make the lifestyle of the people more expensive. In other words, the life of the mass, from whom the rich like to stand out: public transportation will take longer; tourist trips will be more expensive; public beaches will be more difficult to access. Food will be more expensive.
There is still time to prevent a vertiginous and planetary aggravation of a thousand forms of precariousness, proletarianization, and misery; and prevent angriness and despair. We can do that if we distribute state aid much more evenly. Moreover, we can relaunch, as a priority, the sectors that are useful to fulfil the needs of the most fragile.
Will we execute these policies? Particularly, in the areas where the state has shown itself incapable of thinking, planning, deciding, doing; and where there is nothing more than a random juxtaposition of bureaucracies obsessed with their own survival. It appears that we are very far from it.
j@attali.com