Although it is true that capitalism has placed itself in a sorry state to respond to a pandemic, there is more than mere incompetence at play. It is apparent that workers face significant hardship because of the disease. Many workers live paycheck to paycheck and this crises only exacerbates the hardships that they are facing; meanwhile capitalism enforces an individualist ideology suggesting that people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. It must be understood that the pandemic is also a crisis of capitalism. Now governments are stepping in to rescue capitalism, not workers. Workers have been placed in a difficult position as many casual workers were screwed over at the start and demands for a people focused approach were met by a business stimulus package6. The push for workers to apply for “sickness allowance” was atrocious; sickness allowance is only for Australian residents over the age of 22 and is similar to a disability claim. Fortunately, the government quickly changed Newstart to Jobseeker and increased the payments; however, while this increase was necessary, it merely shows that the previous payments were unacceptably low. While workers stay at home unable to sell their labour, their landlords enjoy themselves in isolation since they receive income from rent and live their lives in relative stability.

“Workers lives operate like a hamster on a wheel: they are racing through life taking on every challenge there is. Capitalism creates such precarity that nobody can stop”

Capitalism enforces an individualist ideology which is in direct contradiction to what is necessary for overcoming lockdown and isolation. This will have severe psychological impacts the longer that workers are forced into isolation7. Workers lives operate like a hamster on a wheel: they are racing through life taking on every challenge there is. Capitalism creates such precarity that nobody can stop. While it is clear that a main source of anxiety is that many workers live paycheck to paycheck, there are further issues in society that are compounded by isolation. As commodification permeates society, relationships adopt a transactional nature, there is no stability in the lives of workers, and this becomes apparent when they are forced to a standstill. There are some workers that are going against the grain and cooperating to support all members of society; we need mutual aid and a collective ideology to overcome the crisis for our physical and mental health.

The pandemic severely affects workers and it must be understood that any crises will disproportionately impact those that are struggling in society. After all the rich stay rich while the poor get poorer. Moreover, homeless people are struggling the most through the crises and it is because the state systematically discriminates against those without property; many essential services have been closed or told to move on8 as they lack the professionalisation of the well-funded charities. While there is a strain on homelessness arising from COVID-19, it is important that we remember that the policies of the Victorian state government have been to demolish public housing, while building “social housing” which is nothing more than private housing. Furthermore, similar to how the jobseeker payment has been increased, people are forced into an understanding of what life is like for those struggling under capitalism. When we finally overcome this crisis we will emerge into a new society, where the greater portion of society has faced significant hardship directly resulting from the capitalist system.

Bibliography



1 https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059502

2 https://www.vox.com/2020/3/30/21195469/coronavirus-usa-china-brazil-mexico-spain-italy-iran

3 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/31/egypt-coronavirus-transparency-sisi-crackdown

4 https://isreview.org/issue/94/neoliberal-restructuring-healthcare-us

5 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-27/inside-australias-only-medical-mask-factory/12093864

6 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/12/australian-unions-accused-of-opportunistic-response-to-coronavirus

7 https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/covid-19-is-likely-to-lead-to-an-increase-in-suicides/

8 https://www.facebook.com/Sydney247StreetKitchenSafeSpace/posts/1175225619495467﻿





