Dr Liz Gordon: Snapshots from an era of anxiety

Today (Sunday) is a year since that unspeakable atrocity perpetrated in Christchurch on a population bent only on worship. The wounds are still very raw.  In some senses it is worse, because the shock has worn off and we are left with the knowledge that racist movement of white supremacy are among us all, in numbers.  Muslims report today that things are not better for them, despite the call of ‘we are all one together – tatou, tatou’. The opportunity for real change has perhaps passed us by.

It is notable that, while we have mobilised swiftly to contain, reduce and distance in response to a deadly virus, the same cannot be said for the containment of that deadly and noxious belief system, in the superiority of some humans over others.

The response to the covid-19 (the 19 refers to the year, not to 18 other such coronaviruses, although there are others) requires the removal of certain civil liberties for the greater good.  While China is not a liberal democracy, New Zealand is. The question of the citizenry is important. One can support and embrace the measures or chafe under them. A consent to be ruled is important, and especially so when liberty or economic measures are at stake. 

The test must be whether the interests of the state are also the interests of the people.  This is not dissimilar to the issues Christchurch went through after the earthquakes a decade ago when certain liberties were curtailed for a period.  The lessons from that event have been that there are always winners and losers. And anxiety and mental illness.

I had a lot of fun in Wellington last week – the capital of handshakes – practicing social distancing.  From bumping forearms, to tapping elbow bones, through clamping one’s hand on heart to the adoption of the Māori ‘Hey Bro’ (a simple lift of the eyebrows, so elegant!). I personally have always liked the Vulcan ‘Live Long and Prosper’, but I doubt it will take off in the 2020s. The fun is in the second of negotiation that must take place prior to the formalised greeting (i.e. you can’t smash an elbow into someone’s hand over heart!). I don’t think the handshake will ever be the same again.

I have had a number of conversations that start with “isn’t covid-19 good for planet Earth?” The reduction in emissions due to reducing air traffic, city traffic and production will impact, however slightly, on global warming and make people healthier in the short term. I wrote last week of a potential massive worldwide death toll, and the data has made it clear that those dying are mainly older persons and the sick – not the young and healthy.  Would such a death toll, then, wipe out the burden of baby boomer retirement costs and health care, leaving younger people to rebuild the world? And would they do a good job of it?

As one of those boomers at a slight risk of death from the virus, I am of course not advocating such an approach, but, after the initial grief, there is certainly the attraction of a small reset of the problems and conditions that burden our Earth. There is also the thought that perhaps ‘ole covid is somehow a nemesis delivered on the world; the revenge of the Pangolins.

I would like to congratulate the government on its response, which is the right one for New Zealand. A senior official told me that other day that there is a strong feeling of how high the stakes are, and the need for our leaders to make the ‘right’ decisions when there are so many unknowns. As always, in the midst of this, the main citizenship goal is to live the best lives we can.

Dr Liz Gordon is a researcher and a barrister, with interests in destroying neo-liberalism in all its forms and moving towards a socially just society.  She usually blogs on justice, social welfare and education topics.