To all the people out there who keep saying the economy is just a bunch of numbers, I have some news: it’s a lot more than that. The economy is not just about the stock market and 401K’s or how much money is in your wallet. Those who dismiss the economic consequences of this shutdown as insignificant, or accuse those who worry about the economic toll more than the virus of being cold-hearted and indifferent to human life, or think anyone who raises this concern is either a businessman who only cares about money or a right-wing nut job who doesn’t believe in science, have collectively demonstrated an ugly display of class privilege and a shocking ignorance and lack of empathy for those less fortunate than them.
For in reality, the economy is all about people’s lives and livelihoods. Every job loss that comes from this shutdown is more than just a number, it is another person who is no longer able to provide for themselves. For working families and those struggling to get by, this could mean no longer being able to feed and cloth themselves and their families or affording a place to live. So when people worry the economic impact from this shutdown could do more damage than the pandemic, they are not just talking about their wallet or the stock market, they are talking about the actual human toll. This is not just a fringe view, but one that is shared by many prominent people of all political opinions and by many medical experts and infectious disease specialists.
This idea of shutting down entire countries and economies has been implemented and advocated for by those who are the most privileged, from wealthy leaders and government elites to health professionals whose jobs are secure and whose careers may benefit. Those who have been the most supportive of these measures, whether in America, Europe or any other country, have been those best placed to afford to weather any economic downturn or depression. Those whose jobs are secure, have money saved up, or have friends or family members who are well enough off to support them if they do lose their jobs.
But it has come at the expense of billions of working poor around the world, who have had these measures forced upon them by the wealthy. It is something that is exacerbating class divisions and inequality. But what is even worse than this is the number of people who heap scorn and ridicule on those who continue to go about their lives, whether out of resilience and determination or out of necessity, or both, and accuse them of being selfish and failing to comply with social distancing guidelines. All this is, in reality, is the wealthy expecting the less wealthy to put their lives on hold and make unprecedented sacrifices for them so that they and their own families do not get sick. It is an every man for himself mentality, with the wealthy sacrificing working people to protect themselves. Now that is the height of selfishness, and all this social distance shaming is shameless hypocrisy from society’s most selfish and fearful.
Here in Hong Kong, few support the idea that people should have to sacrifice their jobs and businesses to fight the coronavirus. From what I have heard talking to people here, most fear a lockdown more than they fear the virus itself. This sentiment is echoed by billions around the world.
In India, where the entire country has been placed on lockdown, millions of migrants have been made homeless and are attempting to return to their villages. Many are being forced to walk hundreds of miles as public transport has been shut down. Millions are no longer able to buy food and as one put it, “I fear that hunger may kill many like us before the coronavirus.”
In Africa, the story is the same. As one Nigerian woman said, “It is hunger I am worried about, not a virus. I even heard it doesn’t kill young people.” The loss of livelihood has left many fearing how they will feed their families. As one Africa expert wrote, “For Africa’s sake, hopefully, the world will do a better job at coordinating the relief effort than it did at responding to the virus.” Also, take a look at the Sky News video in that last link, which demonstrates how enacting a lockdown in overcrowded slums is practically impossible. When millions of people live in neighborhoods that are already overcrowded, most in one room shacks the size of a parking space that house entire extended families, how is forcing everyone to stay indoors supposed to reduce crowds?
In Mexico, people are spending hours waiting in lines for financial assistance. Most of these people no longer have any other source of income. The article is in Spanish, but the headline roughly translates as “I Am More Afraid of Not Having Money Than of Getting Sick (from Covid).” The quote is from a woman in a wheelchair, who tells the reporter that “The fear of not having any money is bigger than the fear of getting sick from a pandemic that at the moment I have not seen, I only hear about it in the news.” This sentiment is widely held by the billions of working poor around the world in countries that have imposed lockdowns and deprived them of their livelihoods despite very low numbers of infections. The virus hasn’t effected them, but the shutdowns have.
But it is not just in poor countries where this is happening. It is happening throughout the West as well, where millions from all different socio-economic backgrounds have lost their jobs and face uncertain futures. But it is the poorest who have suffered the most. In Italy, which has been on lockdown for weeks, thousands of people are no longer able to afford to buy food and other necessities. This has led to scenes of chaos at grocery stores, where many people have been desperately trying to buy groceries but have no money to pay for them. There are growing concerns of unrest and a possible revolt in the country, with people saying they can’t hold out for another week and threatening “revolution” if the lockdown continues. As the (Center-Leftist) Mayor of Naples said: “We will soon need something close to normal economic activity. Otherwise, not only will we have thousands of coronavirus deaths, but we will also have millions unemployed.”
In America too, where millions already struggle to put food on the table even in a good economy, the impact of this shutdown on the poorest Americans is devastating. But few media outlets seem to be talking about this. A few articles have highlighted the record increase in demand at food banks, which are saying they have never seen anything like this before, raising fears of an impending hunger crisis in America. But most media outlets have paid little attention to this. It seems, in the midst of this coronavirus induced hysteria and every man for themselves mentality that has emerged and been circulated in the media, these “forgotten Americans” are now more forgotten than ever before.
One of the best articles highlighting this crisis actually comes from a Guatemalan newspaper (the article is in Spanish), which highlights the impact the shutdown has had on undocumented workers in the U.S. In New York, many are now out of work and unable to buy food for themselves or their families. Worst of all, because of their lack of legal status, many are afraid to seek assistance and none are eligible for any federal relief. Many are now homeless and having to beg on the streets. Many are attempting to return to their home countries, but with much of Latin America under similar lockdown measures causing great economic pain to millions, undocumented immigrants caught up in this crisis are left with few options.
But despite the appalling humanitarian crisis this shutdown is causing, many health professionals continue to praise these measures and are showing little concern for the impact they are having. Rather than criticizing governments for subjecting their people to such hardship and human rights abuses, health officials have touted them as examples. India’s lockdown has been celebrated as a historic attempt to save lives. One American health expert told the BBC that “it needs to be implemented early and for a long time. Stay the course-and we’ll save lives together.” (At the bottom of the article in the last link).
Yes, what better way to save lives than to expose millions, and possibly billions of people around the world to possible hunger, starvation, famine, financial destitution and homelessness? The callous ignorance and naivete of so many of these health experts really does show just how out of touch they really are. Their indifference to the human toll of this shutdown raises serious questions about their morals and judgement and certainly raises the question of whether these are really the right people to entrust with leading the global response to this pandemic.
I am sure the likes of Marx and Engels would have a thing or two to say about this shutdown if they were still alive. I am not a Marxist, but I find Marx’s analysis of class divisions to be very accurate, and it certainly applies here. We are effectively witnessing the wealthy bourgeoisie exploit and sacrifice the poorer proletariat, and many Western Marxist sympathizers who have supported this shutdown have demonstrated that they are very much a part of and on the same side as the bourgeoisie. But on the bright side, maybe the fallout and unrest resulting from this will finally lead to the global revolution and end of history so many have been waiting for, but I fear it will more likely just lead to more chaos.
Then there is the mistaken belief held by many that it can be both ways: that the global economy can be shut down indefinitely and governments can spend money to keep everybody afloat. But despite record breaking stimulus packages in North America, Europe and elsewhere, unemployment has skyrocketed. So to keep the entire global economy afloat while it is shut down, governments around the world would be forced to borrow and spend an untold trillions of dollars per month. That is not sustainable. Most countries do not have the means to burrow and spend that much money and many are at risk of going bankrupt trying. The aftermath of this could lead to a massive global debt crisis with many countries needing bailouts, some of which may be in the “too big to fail, too big to bail out” category. Again, it is the poorest who will suffer the most from this.
My last point is that this does not downplay the seriousness of the outbreak. The rising number of deaths is quite alarming and tragic, but this is occurring despite lockdown measures that are taking a disproportionately larger toll on billions around the world. So clearly this strategy is failing to slow the spread of the virus. There is no denying that this outbreak will have an adverse effect on the economy and people’s livelihoods no matter what, but that toll should be more proportionate to the effects of the pandemic. The threat this virus poses to most people is very minimal and simply does not justify these shutdowns. There are plenty of preventive measures people and businesses can take to slow the spread of the virus while continuing to work and operate. People should not be forced to sacrifice their jobs and businesses, they should be allowed to keep working and businesses should be allowed to remain open. Hong Kong, South Korea and other parts of Asia show how this can be done, and how targeting and isolating carriers of the virus is a far more effective strategy than shutting everything down.