Like many people I think it is really important that COVID-19 is taken seriously. Not being an expert in the subject I won’t make pronouncements about what specific measures governments should be taking, but I hope they are prioritising the advice of doctors and epidemiologists over that of spin doctors and economists. Unfortunately in light of its slow and contradictory response, it is hard to be confident of this.
Having said all of that, can I also ask people to keep their experiences of the pandemic in perspective? It is frightening and its myriad consequences will be far-reaching and hard to predict, but not every consequence of the virus is equally horrifying. The two things I worry most about are obviously the direct (and potentially fatal) impact on the health of millions of people, as well as the financial impact on people in insecure employment areas.
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I’m not going to join in the chorus of contempt for those hoarding for the COVID-19 apocalypse. While it certainly causes problems and doesn’t show a lot of rationality, should we really hate people for their stupidity? Yes Australians are easily scared and when they are scared they can act stupidly. That was demonstrated very clearly at the last federal election so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I don’t know what else to tell you. It makes me angry too, but I have to remember no one sets out to be deliberately selfish or stupid. Moreover, in our embrace of neoliberalism and trickledown economics, this country often lionises greed. It seems odd for a PM who uses ‘socialism’ as a derogatory term to suddenly ask people to show a socialist attitude towards their groceries. So before we rant and publicly shame these people for their ‘unAustralian behaviour,’ and lack of empathy for others, perhaps we owe them some empathy ourselves. I’m sure most people know what fear and stress feel like to some degree, but not everyone experiences these emotions in the same way. |
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