May 31, 2020
Reflections on a Global Pandemic
I have imaginary conversations with our Toyota Kluger vehicle. These conversations changed in early March. From asking “Where are we going?” Kluger asked “Where the bloody hell are you?” Which was a surprise because it never dawned on me that Kluger had any consciousness of Lara Bingle and the then Tourism Minster boss, Scott Morrison. However, I did understand Kluger’s anxiety. The sudden lockdown on travel posed a question about the very meaning of Kluger’s existence. If there was no travel, Kluger had no valid reason to exist.
From the aggressive “Where the bloody hell are you?” in early March the questions have become more of a whimper, a pleading. There is no “Are we there yet?”, rather plenty of “Are we going there yet?”.
In truth, our government, our society, our world does not know where “there” is at this moment, having been forced by the pandemic to enter upon multiple roads that are being constructed and re-structured as we go. All the usual roads of human interaction suddenly became “No Through” and “Closed” roads.
Since the Second World War we have not experienced such a complete and radical interruption of human interaction as being wrought by Covid-19. Indeed, we are at war, but with an enemy invisible, an enemy that is among us, that gets within us. This enemy came upon us like a night raider, hooded and ghostly, without sound or form. Long into the future our children and children’s children will be referring back to this time as a great marker in human history. As of now we have no idea what their recollection and understanding of this period will be because we are still locked inside of it.
All forms of what was normal human interaction have been shut down, truncated or substantially changed: be it employment, business, social interaction, sport, entertainment, education, buying, selling and trading, travel. In the ways we did prior, we can no longer play or pray together, we cannot be present with the dying nor fully grieve for the dead. We cannot have a drink at the pub, eat out at our favourite restaurant or attend a show. An abrupt Full Stop, the plug is pulled, the power switched off.
When all these “roads” of interaction were suddenly closed, other myriad roads were opened by government intervention, by natural default or through the energy of our fear, panic and bias.
The Toilet Roll Road. The earliest road travelled by many was that to the toilet, amassing sufficient tissue for many a long sit. We may now have a little giggle about that, yet it showed how quickly in a time of panic and fear we can turn into scavengers with scant thought for the good of the whole herd.
The Hand Sanitizer Road followed soon after, and quickly became clogged by fearful travellers, many of whom had forgotten about an invention called Soap
The Desperately-Seeking-Food Road (also referenced as the “Haven’t-Got-Enough-Stuff-Road) overtook the Toilet and Hand Sanitizer Roads as we feared mass starvation in a land of plenty, only to discover that our Supply Roads are narrow.
The Road Home for those caught away from home when the gates closed has been hard-fought and arduous. Air roads were scarce – and costly – as airports closed down. An alarming number stumbled back home over sea waves become treacherous as happy holiday cruise ships became hospital-ships laden with virus carriers.
The Quarantine Road emerged out of the fog of previous roads becoming a challenging journey without companions, a locked-away ride into a desert landscape of loneliness and anxiety.
The Full Stop Road
Two young jillaroos from Deniliquin in southern New South Wales wished to help in the annual cattle muster in the Kimberley region of West Australia. Travelling some 4,000 kms through South Australia and the Northern Territory to the West’s border town of Baines they came to a full stop. The border was closed, no negotiations possible, so they drove back home. Their total journey pushed past 10,000 kms. A pandemic parable.
The Abandoned Road forced upon refugees such as Priya and her family from Biloela in Central Queensland, now in isolation on far-away Christmas Island. How can we as a people and nation allow a family to be thrown into such isolation? Under cover of the Covid-19 shadow, Home Affairs Minister Dutton is seeking new legislation that will enable mobile phones of refugees to be confiscated.
The Implosion Road is a No Through road for apprentices whose training and job prospects have come to a full stop.
The Dependence Road is one that has long been in existence, only now we are so painfully aware of its consequences as we faced crippling shortages of medical supplies, ventilators, PPE, chemicals, fuel and many other essential items that are sourced from overseas, so many from China.
The Where-Are-Those-Ships Road Lane is one we awoke to upon realization of our paucity of fuel supplies. Ships carrying oil were during figure eights on the high seas, a virtual storage facility, and unable to land come to port because of lockdown.
The Heightened-National-Anxiety-Road gradually appeared out of the dust caused by the Dependence Road and the mist caused by the Ships Lane.
The Go Home Road was created for overseas students whose enrolments sustain our universities. Many of them found the “Road Closed” sign greeted them at airports, so they now languish upon the Abandoned Road.
The Blame Road is the first of three China Roads. It was constructed and continuously fortified by the Non-Leader Trump seeking a distraction to cover his own failures. After a telephone conversation with Trump, Scott Morrison and a number of his Ministers jumped upon this road in support of our Great Ally.
The-Appeasement-at-All-Costs Road is the second of three China Roads. It is fashioned by billionaires from Western Australia, Kerry Stokes and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, who have massive business investments in China and fear these being adversely affected by negative statements toward China from the Australian government.
The Think-Twice-Before-Speaking-Road is the third of three China Roads, taken by a number of European Leaders who also search for the Road to Understanding and Accountability. However, they believe there are better tools than a sledgehammer for constructing this Road to China.
Not so much a Road, as a Dual Highway is the JobSeeker and JobKeeper Roads which seek our economic survival in this Pandemic Age. Regardless of the initial massive mis-calculation of cost to the economy, this dual highway has prevented a total economic collapse of our nation. It required a great deal of courage for the government to establish this road, and will be remembered in history if only it is now extended and widened to assist those who are now upon The Stranded Road(side).
The Terribly Vulnerable Road (also known as the The Sitting Ducks Road) is travelled by temporary migrant and asylum visa holders who have no access to support. Ineligible for JobSeeker or JobKeeper support if they have worked less than 12 months, they are stranded without family or social support structures, dependant on local charities for food and basic living.
The Swallowed Up Burning Road is travelled by the 3,000 families who lost their homes in the pre-pandemic bushfires which burnt 12 million hectares of land and left 33 people deceased. The pandemic left them hanging in the charred air of ruin.
The Stranded Road(side) is travelled by a multitude ineligible for JobKeeper or JobSeeker benefits. Casual and part time staff, those at the mercy of labour hire companies, the self-employed in the so called “gig economy” and the arts, a wide swathe of society left without a road to travel.
The Terrible Grief Road is travelled by hundreds of individuals and families unable to be at the bedside of their dying loved ones and unable to properly mourn their death and celebrate their life in pandemic lockdown.
The Highly Exposed Road is travelled by frontline line workers: paramedics, nurses, doctors and medical facility staff, who by their profession are at heightened risk of being caught by the virus.
The Explosion of Abuse Road is travelled by women in abusive relationships, forced into lockdown without reprieve from abuse and unable to find The Escape Road.
The Mental Health Road has long been travelled by many. During this pandemic their number has radically escalated as they are unable to find any meaningful road out of the chaos of imposition and loss.
The Caring-For-Children Road leads both to schools and childcare facilities. It has its share of chaos and uncertainty, for children, parents and especially teaching/childcare staff.
The-Chasing-The-Revenue Road has long existed and now becomes highly visible during the pandemic, highlighting the way our universities and businesses have given prime importance to the Dollar in chasing overseas (predominately Chinese) students and business partnerships (predominately with China) without considering the long-term impact upon education, employment and manufacturing in Australia.
The Cancellation Road is affecting our entire social structure and cohesion. We are a country properly addicted to an immensely wide spectrum of sports, music gigs, country shows, rodeos and tournaments of endless variety. We suffer multiple withdrawal symptoms and long to taste the good drug soon. Especially those myriad artists and back-room support people who have been travelling the Abandoned Road.
The Social Divide Road is another road that has been increasingly used and now has been deeply exposed by the home learning experience. When 60% of students from one school do not have access to the internet and are asked to home-study with devices, a picture is painted of a widening ravine within Australian society.
Reports have also emerged of schools where one out of three students do not have access to devices.
The Despicable Road is travelled by Australian companies such as Mosaic Brands who have huge contracts with clothing manufactures in countries such as Bangladesh. They have sought to cancel clothing orders, reduce payments already agreed upon or abscond from any payment to people already working under harsh conditions.
The High Stakes and Good Hope Road. A new road under government construction, bringing together Sally McManus of the ACTU and Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter to work out a better way forward for Australian workers and businesses. While outcome expectations are being dampened down, this type of chit-chat was unheard of in previous eras, so gives rise to the possibility of shedding much needed light upon a dark and muddled yet so vital area of our national life.
There is a collision between The Science Road and The Anti-Vax and Allied Conspiracies Road. Opportunists march their own path calling out Covid-19 as a hoax, a sham. Having forgotten to read their books long ago, and ignoring the science, theirs is but a scam and that is such a shame.
There are a multitude of roads travelled upon arising from the Covid -19 pandemic.
What then are we to say about The Future Road? The Road to Recovery.
Will our society – will WE – have the resilience and cohesion to arrive at a new place, an invigorated place, a more resourceful place as we emerge out of the pandemic?
There is a saying that a person, a couple, a people cannot endure a major upset in life, a trauma, a hardship without being changed. We are changed, either for the better or for the worse.
Thus, we would do well to seek The Challenge Road. To challenge ourselves as individuals, as residents of a rural place, a town or a metropolis, to ensure the change is for the better. That we do the hard yards in discourse and dialogue, we raise our energy levels to contribute to what sort of Future Road we will travel upon.
Surely there is opportunity for us to travel upon A Healing Road:
- Provide resources to care properly for our land and its waterways, to reduce our abuse of that which sustains us, all that is of the earth and nature.
- Seek out those – so very many, so too many – who have travelled those bad roads, who have been abandoned, left by the wayside, caught up in violence and trauma. We endeavour to build Roads of Resource and Meaning
- Seek ways to renew our energy and energy levels: on a personal, social and national level. We will examine the climate of our individual lives, the climate of our social interaction and the climate/energy status of our nation. All our Life is One!
- Search without pause for ways to ensure proper skill training and full employment opportunity for all. This entails guarantee of work and a full stop of the casualization of employment.
- Find a Spirit for this Nation that welcomes strangers and rejoices in diversity of cultures, beginning with a Full Reconciliation and Empowerment of our First Peoples who will receive constitutional Recognition.
