The second tsunami of this pandemic will be an economic Chernobyl – why we need a new Aotearoa Green Deal  

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
32
1969

“The Magnitude…Is Pretty Overwhelming”: Wall Street Confronts an Abyss Without Precedent

“It’s a shitshow,” the senior Wall Street executive tells me. “I have a thousand balls in the air, trying to manage this, which is not easy.” His biggest concern? “A worry of the unknown.”

It will be far worse than the GFC, the Greater Depression is coming.

Westpac forecasts unemployment will climb by 200,000, and the nature of the virus being able to re-infect means businesses must be prepared to shut down again if new quarantine measures are required.

The hegemonic structure of neoliberalism will be destroyed beyond repair.

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This Pandemic is a direct symptom of the climate crisis. As more habitats are destroyed with cheek to jowl over population, viruses that can spread between different species will increase not dissipate.     

A vast reimagining of the economy with self sufficiency at its heart will replace globalised free market dogma as an economic philosophy.

A UBI replacing all benefits with fully funded public services designed to help and not punish will be required with enormous investment into a self sufficient economic Tino rangatiratanga.

The realisation that we need economic sovereignty to empower a functioning State that has the resources to protect us from external shocks in a world being defined by external shocks can have powerful consequences politically, culturally and economically.

A new Aotearoa Green Deal is a good starting point…

 

  • Capitalist monopolies in energy, transport and finance have to be brought into public ownership and control. They should be subject to democratic plans drawn up by the whole community. Workers should have much stronger decision making powers within them.
  • All economic sectors to be made take steps needed to decarbonise the economy as much as is needed to reach zero net emissions by 2030.
  • Free and frequent public transport on electric buses and/or trains in all main cities.
  • Health care and education for life should be free and universally accessible.
  • Welfare, pensions, child allowances, should be universal wherever possible.
  • Taxation should be on wealth before income.
  • Public housing at fixed and affordable rents should be a right of all not just the desperately poor.
  • All workers should have a right to a job and the workweek reduced with no loss of pay to make that possible.
  • Local communes should be supported for control and delivery of as many functions of the centralised state as possible – including housing, education, health care.
  • Local communes to support cooperative forms of production of food, solar and wind energy,  electric transport, and media.

The Left have an opportunity in front of them to reshape the neoliberal structure, the question is do we have the courage and intellect to be able to do it? Ever since Labour betrayed us in the 1980s, the Left have refused to reengage with the free market debate because they are fearful of the vicious idealogical war it inspired, this crisis demands those fears are pushed aside for serious reconsideration.

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TDB Team 2020.

32 COMMENTS

  1. Nothing will happen unless we fight for it. Let’s all put it out there. It’s the workers who are on the front line of this virus keeping us all fed and cared for if we get ill. Not the rich who have decamped to their bunkers or holiday homes.

    • As well as beginning a massive online recruiting drive. It is time for the Unions to start flexing their muscles.

      The demands on working people have never been harder, working people have never felt more insecure. On the flip side working people have never been in a potentially more powerful position. The need for unions has never been greater.

      Suggested Demands:

      1/ A government ordered nationwide moratorium on all mortgages and rents until the official declaration of the end of the crisis.

      2/ No sackings, no dismissals, no forced redundancies.

      (Excepting negotiated redundancies with job loss compensation to the satisfaction of the workers and their representatives).

      3/ A union chair on the committee that discusses the return to work and the end of Lock-down.

      4/ Danger pay for all essential workers to be negotiated with their representatives.

      5/ Close of the Supermarkets on week ends to give these essential workers a break.

      Failure to agree to these demands may entail workers being called to stay at home for their health and safety.

      First step. A CTU (and non-affiliates) all up on-line leaders strategy planning conference.

      First order of business agreeing to a massive coordinated on-line recruiting drive across all media platforms.

      Second order of business to present the Prime Minister the united union movement’s minimum list of agreed demands.

      (not necessarily the ones I have suggested above, but I would suggest the inclusion of at least 1/ and 5/)

      If the government refuse to accept these demands: Especially clause 5/.*

      Then the unions must call these workers to self isolate every weekend, for their own health and safety for the term of the lockdown.

      *5/ Close the Supermarkets on week ends to give these essential workers a break.

  3. Looks good Martyn. Watch out for the local commune thought. Their heads are often filled with hopeful drivel, or they masquerade as being community minded but not willing to walk the talk.

    When looking at the co-housing idea, I wanted a system where there is a limit on house price inflation; they wanted a village but they wanted to participate in the rising housing prices as well. I thought we have got to a stage where any joint thing has to be done with the market in mind, but the seller of a house or unit would be hobbled, perhaps have to sell back to the Housing Trust for an agreed system of value, and then put back after painting and repairing.

    • We need smaller houses to live in. They are to live in not act as opulent status symbols often filled with junk.

      Many single men and women could do well in a single roomed house designed to have all functions, or a group of simpler single roomed houses and shared communal facilities.
      Nothing new but seem to have been forgotten.

      • We used to have that with boarding houses and flatmates… Compass seems to be providing a boarding house type service at great cost for social housing. The premise of the low cost housing has gone, but the lack of amenities for tenants has been adopted. Not sure if that is a win. Sarcasm.

        Not to mention the growing Meth and dysfunctional people needing accomodation.

  4. Not much environmental ‘green’ in your list.

    As people normally under the business umbrella, are allowed to destroy the earth under the guise of capitalism, communism or even the new Labourite speak ‘green deal’ (sounds like greenwashing) there doesn’t seem to be much attention to what happens when the frequency of natural disasters, viruses/plagues, decreased natural diversity, decreased healthy/safe food and increased air, water and land pollution and increased human population does to the ‘green deal’.

    Report reveals ‘massive plastic pollution footprint’ of drinks firms
    Report says plastic from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever products could cover 83 football pitches every day

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/31/report-reveals-massive-plastic-pollution-footprint-of-drinks-firms

  5. ‘Green deals’ can’t work under the current climate of large multi national polluters ‘gaming’ the system in a harmful way, then profiting from it, and avoiding responsibility through prolonging litigation and hiding documents while lobbying (and paying off via donations and future jobs) governments and officials. (The Tobacco strategy).

    Internal documents describe how to profit from farmer losses and desire to oppose some independent testing
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/30/monsanto-crop-system-damage-us-farms-documents

    Also the above Monsanto/Tobacco strategy is used for for leaky buildings in NZ, where the product makers hide behind the same excuses, it was not our fault, it was the operators (weird how practically every house that was built with the faulty products, failed no matter who built them).

    With leaky building government also gave free rides to the haloed construction industry and glossed over their officials own role in approving not fit for purpose construction products and ways of building that were not fit for purpose (aka using non tantalised pine/soft woods for framing, no cavities, external cladding that is not watertight for very long and need replacing extensive maintenance within years, still happening with Grenfell style cladding that actually spreads fires, Skycity burning down recently which seemed to rely solely on fire sprinklers not actually having fire retardant materials or good practise in constructing the building).

    A few headlines showing big business going strong or asking for/about to receive government handouts.

    Coronavirus: Cigarettes are essential, MBIE confirms
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120654996/coronavirus-cigarettes-are-essential-mbie-confirms
    (not doctors prescribing nicotine patches to save our health system!)

    Emitters offered extra time to report footprints
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/120686469/coronavirus-emitters-offered-extra-time

    Government looks to fund large ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects after COVID-19 lockdown
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/04/government-looks-to-fund-large-shovel-ready-infrastructure-projects-after-covid-19-lockdown.html

    Coronavirus: The shocking numbers that reveal how tough Air NZ’s fight for survival is
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2020/03/coronavirus-the-shocking-numbers-that-reveal-how-tough-air-nz-s-fight-for-survival-is.html

    Coronavirus: Paymark figures show 50 percent increase in spending in days before lockdown
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2020/03/coronavirus-paymark-figures-show-50-percent-increase-in-spending-in-days-before-lockdown.html

    Ruby Princess passengers deemed ‘low risk’
    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/ruby-princess-passengers-deemed-low-risk

  6. This is the stupidest public movement ever. We are sacrificing the low paid, the underemployed, the struggling small business owner, the gig economy worker purely to save the boomers. The most spoiled generation in history. Free education, including uni, while those who have to borrow can’t work to pay it back.

    Let them go. They’ve had the opportunity to save enough to afford self isolation in one of their many homes.

    The rest of us need to be able to save for the future while building immunity. Shame on jacinda for pandering to the boomer vote. She knows better

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