COVID-19 has highlighted the weaknesses and the need to move away from a capitalist society where profit is put before people. It is not the big businesses or banks that are seeing us through this pandemic. It is the underpaid workers; the nurses, teachers, carers, waste collectors, lorry drivers, shelf stackers. Workers who were previously told they were unskilled suddenly became invaluable at a time of crisis. Things we were told were not possible, such as everyone having access to broadband, suddenly were essential. Climbing the career ladder for more status and more money abruptly was not as important as our loved ones. As a society we have begun to question whether in our life do we want to spend five days out of seven away from our loved ones. The pandemic has highlighted the great inequality the UK sees due to capitalism. The working class and BME have experienced higher stress levels due to financial concerns and died at a higher rate in this pandemic. People experiencing homelessness were told to self-isolate with no home. Coming from a working class background, all my family and friends continued to work whereas I (an academic) was able to stay safe and work from home. We were not all in this together. Countries with socio-democratic Governments (e.g., New Zealand) have led the way on how to protect people in a pandemic. The leaders identified with their citizens and created lockdowns where people could stay at home without fear of losing their home or job. Capitalism did not cause the pandemic but the pandemic has highlighted how amazing socialist policies (such as our NHS) are and how we need to move forward with people in mind not profit.
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