Toward a new world

Submitted by Lindsay
Melbourne Australia!

So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being Kind
Is all the sad world needs.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

(5/2020) The world will never be the same again.

Well, the world will be, but we wont. The winds of change have been gathering for quite a while, but now their force has begun stripping away the facades we blithely sheltered behind. You might think I’m talking about Covid-19, the virus purgatory that has arrived, and although it is the worst pandemic the earth has ever seen – not yet about numbers, but social devastation and trade – but about two far more serious problems.

The first is finance, and the first part of that is the straight out cost of containing the plague. Throughout the world this is such an enormous issue, yet only a few academics have studied possible outcomes, and no government, whether democratic or not, has any good answers. Some, like Italy and Spain have been caught by cultural norms, unable to act quickly, so are paying a heavy price. Britain has had other problems, the NHS doing its best, but proximity was always going to be a difficult. You, in the U.S., have problems stemming from your system of government and a basic addiction to money.

The second part of finance is work. All non-essential work has had to close, (or should have), meaning the unemployment rate has skyrocketed. Britain came up with a radical idea which we have copied – a guaranteed wage for all employees on the books at the time of closure – theirs was 80% of the wage earned, we a payment $1100 per fortnight. Our unemployment rate is expected to reach 10% soon, and the bill for the scheme could reach a trillion. We are also giving most of those with assets less than 50,000 and an income below $500 a handout of at least $750, and small businesses with a turnover of less than (I think) 50 million get about $135,000.

The third part of finance is exports and supply. With May oil futures in the negative, around $-35 a barrel, medical supplies and medicines coming mainly from China and India, markets are way down, industry moribund, money is not flowing as it has done since trade was invented.

We depend on iron ore, coal and gas exports. They are dropping fast, and our pipe-dream of getting the economy into the black is just that. How about your exports?

Fourth in finance is that many areas driving federal income have shrunk; tourism, travel, education, tariffs, sales taxes, rates and wage taxes. Money is not flowing in as it used to, beloved profit has gone with the wind, yet the stock market has rarely done better.

Gamblers bet on luck, hope and guesses, and the master gambler is touting return to normal within a few weeks. Wow! Things will be frantic, sales will skyrocket, and we’d better get in while we can. But, as in 1939, they will be caught, and window jumps will be the order of the day. The great depression will be like a minor dip; this one is going deep, will affect most places and people, and no amount of smoke and mirrors will make it go away.

The reaction in 39 was to close shop and weather the storm, which was exactly the opposite of what was needed. International trade, no matter how narrow, is the only way. The big players will have to if they want to survive, and there is one area it could happen.

Europe. The sanest, most down-to-earth mob there is will at least get together with the rest of the free world and trade, trade, trade. Austraia, Canada, India, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand.

China? They will be hard hit, their export market collapsed, their domestic market their only hope.

America? You will have to learn a very hard lesson: Profit must not be measured in cents and dollars alone. It has to be assessed in community structure, well-being, pride in product, and above all, honesty. The idea that if something can be purchased a few cents cheaper from overseas, then buy it, is stupid. Profit is not the only way to make money, there is greater profit in happy people who are willing to pay a bit more providing it is made in their country by their people – even if some greedy-eyed czar finishes the year a few dollars poorer than he might have been.

Will your government be able to get this happening? Past experience says ‘No’, but maybe Biden will have some ideas.

One thing for sure is that Donald Trump won’t be there. The downturn will be so great that the market will nosedive, and all his frenetic tweets, boasts and hopes will go with it. People will see that the magic bag is empty, and boo him off stage. Reality will set in, hard, bitter reality that will strip away the make-believe that so many have lived on. They will become one with the poor, those discards that inhabit your cities and unloved areas. Millions of them.

The second overall part is political relations. We have relied on you for protection, as have many countries, and have been dismayed by your return to isolation and withdrawal from peacekeeping. We see that this has given China a green light to push up influence and impose a subtle ideology on less developed or financial nations: Africa, the Pacific islands, parts of South America.

Your president has blustered his way to idiocy, dismayed friends and made enemies snigger, torn up treaties and imposed sanctions against the advice of those who see the bigger picture.

The tectonics of politics has made new power bases, and Trump has shrugged.

Like true narcissists he has only one aim: be the centre of attention. To be seen as the greatest success the world has ever seen, to preach confidence, ignore anything that diminishes him, blacken opposition and those who do not accept his egocentric ways.

This pandemic is altering the state of everything international, so here is how it appears from here.

We will survive, stronger and wiser, for which we thank you. You will suffer from a broken system, which will take years to reform.

I’m just sorry that you, friends, acquaintances, word with friend friends, Facebook buddies will be in great pain.

Only you can do anything about it. Getting rid of Trump is a first step.