It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the world is screwed. Just take a look around you. The empty streets, packed supermarkets and the economy on life support. The infection continues to spread, people are still dying, albeit at slower rates. All telltale signs that everything that could have has gone wrong.
Yep, we are fucked.
Why so morbid, you ask? Relax, take it easy, right! Yeah, ok, down in the Antipodes we are breathing easier, for now. But here's the thing. The number crunching birdies tell us the worst is yet to come. Talking heads are painting dark clouds all over the picture.
But tell me, when was the world not screwed? If it's not a pandemic, then it's a global financial meltdown. If it's not a financial meltdown, then some form of armed conflict or mass violation of human rights. Oh and did we forget about global warming? You know, the melting icecaps and rising sea levels. The vanishing ecosystems and extinct species. That's still happening. The nuclear arsenals are sitting in their piles as their hoarders eye each other with suspicion.
And yet, here we are, after all the pain and suffering. Somehow, we live to fight another day. Call it luck, because I'm finding it hard to describe it otherwise.
For many the world may have come to a grinding halt, but in the background the show continues to run. As people work from home, essential workers continue showing up to perform their part. The medical staff, supermarket workers, government employees, all report to their in charge. But that's not the case for everyone. The planes are still forbidden to take off and people are still stuck outside their homeland. Everyday service providers are shut, which reminds me, I really, and I mean really, need a haircut.
And with that comes the huge cost on the global economy as national Gross Domestic Products (GDP) get whittled down day by day. Bankruptcies and redundancies pile up on national statistics. The economic storm is only getting stronger and in some nations, ravaged by conflict, all indicators are trending southwards; just today I read about how things will get worse for Syria.
Being interconnected comes at a price and sometimes it's as high as this.But will be able to foot the bill? How far do we have to go?
Various governments, international organisations and think tanks have been churning out report on the economic cost of Covid 19. The monthly decline in GDP for as long as the lockdowns continue is no trivial matter. If not for the government providing much needed stimulus, everything would have gone to hell a while back. And should this life support be taken away too quickly, well, we run the risk of flat-lining for a very, very long time. Should that happen, what hope would there be for a resuscitation? After all, if you're dead for long enough, there's no coming back. There is no life after.
What's that? You say you can hear feathered harbingers chirping about some positive developments? Surely, the falling number of infected in the Antipodes is a good sign. Surely, containment could be achieved in Australia and New Zealand at some point.
But the rest of the world is very much screwed and if they are so are we. They are after all our trading partners. They are after all are the people who buy our good and services. They are the ones who consume our wine and lamb. They are the ones who fly down to our tiny island nation to enjoy summer when it's cold in their hemisphere.
On top of all this, there are those who are doing their best to undermine the lockdown. Toting guns and wielding megaphones, they are protesting against the one thing that is designed to keep them safe. Sanity is not their preference, just like sanitizing is a joke for them; a made up thing that the establishment is trying to ram down their throats apparently. And then there is the blame game going around. Whats that I hear about vital funding being cut for World Health Organisation, the very people who protect us from these sort of things?
Yeah, we are screwed, but it's all our doing. We got ourselves into this mess. well, to be fair, saner heads are trying to get us out of it. But I fear the sane might have to shout even louder to be heard.
So, what happens in the next few months? We don't know exactly, I mean, policies are being formulated. Economic packages are being drafted, plans are being made to keep infections levels low. Borders may remain shut for a very long time, so that puts my travel plans on hold till this shit gets sorted. So each day, I continue to wash and sanitize my hands. Each day I keep a two meter distance from anyone outside my bubble. The curve is flatting in our part of the world, hopefully it stays that way.