No.135 - Spend the Unspendable, Think the Unthinkable and Do the Impossible. Today, Everything is Possible James!

Dear James,

We are living in historic times. Nothing quite like this has been experienced in recent generations and, rarely before, has such a natural disaster caused such chaos and disruption. The Coronavirus emergency has become the Great Disruptor amongst many smaller disruptors. But if there is one thing that this crisis is already teaching us, it is that everything is possible and that good can come out of bad as long as we all behave well.

Human beings are a fragile species and, counter-intuitively, we have become even more fragile with the complexity of systems and institutions that we have developed to protect ourselves from calamity. In effect, although we live in a relatively quiet part of an inherently violent universe, natural disasters are never far away. Coronavirus is testimony to that. But Coronavirus has its twin. It is called Global Warming and it was created by us. 

Unlike the climate catastrophe, the world is throwing the kitchen sink at Coronavirus because we are actually living its consequences. Thousands are dying before our eyes. In the last few weeks, actions and ideas that would have been anathema to governments only a few weeks ago have become mainstream. Suddenly it has become possible for governments to shut down airlines, to ban people from gathering in groups larger than two, to close roads, to shut off whole towns and cites. It has become possible for a Tory government to virtually nationalize the railways, The 1.3bn people of India have gone quiet. Even implacable opponents in the Syrian civil war have agreed to an indefinite ceasefire.

Where has all this sudden focus and determination come from? From governments around the world being confronted with the reality of the big picture and being willing to change ideas, to alter perspectives and, perhaps, most of all, to spend. Three months ago, our very own Tory press was ridiculing Mr Corbyn for his ‘profligate spending plans’. Today a Tory PM is promising to spend many times more than Corbyn to save the nation. It has become possible for banks to bail out companies at vast expense and to bankroll workers both employed and self-employed. The state has become massively bigger as it usually does after great crises. Unheard of sums of money are being spent. In other words, it has become possible to spend the unspendable, to think the unthinkable and to do the impossible.

And yet politicians are talking about ‘returning to normality’ one day? There is no way that this can happen. Once initial actions have been taken, there will come the reckoning. Firstly the economic impact. Indebtedness will have mushroomed and will threaten every aspect of international trade and nations’ fiscal systems. Secondly there will be the political upheavals. Nations with simplistic national agendas will find those agendas turned on their heads by such events. Everything political will become fluid. Everything will become politically possible. But finally there will be the upheavals in thinking, in philosophy, in social perspectives. In 1347 the bubonic plague caused a basic restructuring of our society and marked the end of feudalism. In 1755 the All Saints’ Day, Lisbon earthquake killed many thousands at prayer and caused a revolution in thought and the beginning of a secular approach to European politics. Natural events have consequences, most of which are unforeseeable at the time of the events.

Which brings us back to our own government James. It is based on the premise of Brexit which is already being invalidated by events. Your front bench has been eviscerated by Boris when he sacked your high flyers to bolster his voting majority in the Commons. It is a bit like Stalin’s purges in 1936. The consequences were only revealed in the disastrous response of the Red Army in the first eighteen months of the German offensive prior to Stalingrad. We can’t wait that long.

At the risk of sounding over dramatic James, we are perhaps at the point of our own global Stalingrad in which the exit phase will either be a new and just political settlement or a retreat into the fascistic hell of the 1930s. Such historic times require competence, transparency, honesty and openness. 

We are at war James and in wars nations need to harness all available competences and have all parties represented. Such a response is called coalition government.

Any thoughts James?

Kind regards,

BH - Your Concerned Constituent