The rich man’s pandemic
https://arab.news/pr56w
The Black Death gets a bad rap. Sure it killed millions worldwide and wiped out anything from 30-60 percent of Europe’s population, greatly upsetting the world order and changing the very course of history, but turns out it had its upsides too. For one, the Black Death is notable among global catastrophes in that it actually changed the power equation between the very rich and the very poor in favor of the latter.
Prior to the arrival of the plague, most of Europe’s population comprised of bonded laborers and peasants locked in eternal servitude to their feudal lords who, quite literally, had the power of life and death over these teeming, powerless masses. Then came the Death, and so many millions died that the lords and ladies of Europe found that the endless supply of supine manpower that they exploited to enrich themselves no longer existed.
Suddenly, the Lord of the land found that he could not till his fields himself, which meant that he could not pay for his own upkeep, let alone pay the tithes and taxes to the King and Church — the very institutions that vested him with the power that he exercised over his now-dead serfs. The serfs and laborers that survived found that, after countless generations, they were now in a bargaining position that allowed them to demand better wages and conditions. Thanks to the dynamics of supply and demand, wages skyrocketed due to the short supply of workers and land rents plummeted due to the surplus of land. In turn, this led to upwards mobility for the lower classes and the birth of what eventually became the Middle Class. Granted, the upper classes didn’t take too well to the revolting masses getting uppity, but the tide could no longer be turned back and attempts to do so were met with resistance and revolt. The seeds the Grim Reaper had sown had taken root.
When the coronavirus pandemic came upon us, some optimistic takes held that perhaps this modern plague would also act as a Great Equalizer given that in many ways, the situation then and now isn’t all that different: overpopulation, climate change, financial crises and the concentration of wealth in the hands of an elite few were all markers of pre-plague Europe, where the richest 10 percent held close to 70 percent of all Europe’s wealth.
But the novel coronavirus has done the exact opposite of what the Black Death did: far from being an equalizer, the pandemic has in fact accelerated inequality. In short: the poor have become poorer and the rich have become even richer. How much richer? According to an Oxfam report, billionaires the world over saw their overall wealth increase by $3.9 trillion between 18 March and 31 December 2020.
The UN’s International Labour Organization calculates that the economic blows from the pandemic cost workers around the world some $3.7 trillion dollars in lost earnings. It is of course a coincidence that the two figures are nearly equal but then, someone’s loss is certainly someone else’s gain.
Zarrar Khuhro
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but then also consider than in contrast, the UN’s International Labour Organization calculates that the economic blows from the pandemic cost workers around the world some $3.7 trillion dollars in lost earnings. It is of course a coincidence that the two figures are nearly equal but then, someone’s loss is certainly someone else’s gain.
The poor got the worst of it for obvious reasons: while white-collar workers were working from home (they had the ability and resources to do so), the blue-collar workers did not. Beyond blue collar jobs, note that many of the low-paid workers were employed in tourism, hospitality and restaurant sectors that faced prolonged shutdowns, many of which still continue. Even those who kept their jobs faced risks as many of them were in positions where they, unlike their richer counterparts, had to be in direct contact with people making them more prone to contract the virus and thus not only be rendered unable to work, but also face crippling medical bills.
The rich, on the other hand, have the ability to not only weather storms but also profit from them and a look at every major crisis, barring the Black Death and (in some instances) the Great Depression, the rich always come out better. You can of course read and write volumes about why this always happens but for a simpler explanation you need look no further than the late, lamented British author Terry Pratchett. That’s right: Abandon Adam Smith, kick out Keynes, don’t even mention Marx and heed instead Pratchett’s “boot’s theory of socio-economic unfairness.”
In this, he uses the example of a really good pair of boots that cost $50 but would last the owner years and years. By contrast an affordable pair of boots costs ten dollars, but would fall apart in a season or two, forcing the less well-heeled purchaser to buy several pairs over the course of his life, ending up spending more than his richer counterpart. In effect: ‘The reason that the rich were so rich,” concluded Pratchett, “was because they managed to spend less money.’
Thus, the world the virus will leave behind will be even more unequal than it was before.
*Zarrar Khuhro is a Pakistani journalist who has worked extensively in both the print and electronic media industry. He is currently hosting a talk show on Dawn News. Twitter: @ZarrarKhuhro
