Coronavirus: social, economic and other changes as a result of the pandemic

[french frank]

Was it ever really fashionable?

Many people were shoe horned into jobs by their parents, or other circumstances. Many people chose courses not because they wanted to do them, but because they thought it would lead to a good job - or better circumstances - or their parents did.

Maybe few people really felt they had the luxury of being able to do what they themselves wanted.

Maybe 'fashionable' was the wrong word: just 'not how people think so much nowadays'. I think a university should be for bright kids who have the intellectual ability to cope with the work. A place where they are presented with options they never thought of, opportunities they never dreamed of. Where they learn to think for themselves not be 'shoe-horned' into what their parents want (and they don't want). Where they meet peers from different backgrounds and learn about a wider world than their own. Where they learn the skills that make them adaptable, develop their curiosity and a work ethic.Where they think, discuss and argue. Where they discover what they want to do. Getting to university is the luxury that enables them to choose. It shouldn't be a place where all law students become lawyers, all medical students become doctors. If it was only about getting a well-paid job at the end, who would study music, or philosophy, or the Classics, or English literature?

The whole point is to free theselves from other people's expectations, be it becoming a doctor or going to work in the local pit.

[Dave2002]

This article from the Guardian, by Max Brooks, is worth reading - https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...r-z-devolution

[Dave2002]

Here is an article about catching the virus, what it's like, and a view about what the impact on sport should be - https://www.latimes.com/sports/story...-19-experience

[oddoneout]

Some employers will not have been slow to realise the opportunity offered by Covid-19 to 'review' their workforce. Now it would seem government is endorsing compulsion to aid the 'review' process.

A report in the Telegraph said the campaign would push the emotional and mental health benefits of mixing with colleagues but also said that ministers would warn that those working from home could be more vulnerable to being sacked.

My bold, and a caveat that I don't have access to the Telegraph original; the quote comes from here https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-amid-pandemic
When this sort of attitude is added to the longer term threat to workers' rights from Brexit ideology the future for employees, already grim, looks even worse.

[teamsaint]

Perhaps the government would like to persuade the GPs to join in their " back to the office" drive.

Time for the liberal left to take a lead in saving some vestiges of the things we hold dear.

[Dave2002]

Another view of the connected nature of what most of us do - from the USA - and the problems faced there which look very familiar even in the UK - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...ng-work/615457

[Serial_Apologist]

Another view of the connected nature of what most of us do - from the USA - and the problems faced there which look very familiar even in the UK - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...ng-work/615457

Similarities are inevitable, this being just one example of how things need to be done differently. Under globalisation (synonym for late capitalism) countries are "advised" to copy each other's models in the perpetual race to stay afloat/ahead.

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks for that. Can you offer a link to where you found it on FB, please? At first, I was a little wary of the "Here is something you are unlikely to learn via the BBC.", but then I noted that the BBC appears to have failed to make much mention of yesterday's far-right organised anti-lockdown demonstration in Trafalgar Square (conspiracy theorists Piers Corbyn and David Icke in prominent attendance).

Which is unusual, given that normally either the BBC totally ignores demonstrations organised by the left, unless numbers in attendance force the closure of half of the West End, or meekly accepts police or MSM figures for those attending as "gospel".

[teamsaint]

The calls for a “ return “ to work are getting more and more desperate.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/aug/30/no-return-workers-offices-could-cost-uk-economy-480bn-pounds-cebr

A serious change in working practices and use of city space is well under way, and we are going to have to adapt quickly.

[Dave2002]

Similarities are inevitable, this being just one example of how things need to be done differently. Under globalisation (synonym for late capitalism) countries are "advised" to copy each other's models in the perpetual race to stay afloat/ahead.

I found the idea that the government has more resources even that some very rich individuals interesting. This is probably true for some of the richer countries - though the nature of resources will differ from country to country.Having “wealth” in monetary terms is one thing, but sometimes that needs to be backed up by physical resources, particularly if there are urgent requirements.

In the kind of economies we belong to, and have some knowledge of, governments may simply effectively print money in a crisis. Many countries will be doing the same thing, but internally the currencies will be devalued. At least that’s my view of things - creating “virtual” money to fund activities will work up to the point where people lose faith. It does mean that people who have savings will effectively find that their long term value goes down, but that won’t in the short term be anything which governments will worry about.

[Bella Kemp]

Which is unusual, given that normally either the BBC totally ignores demonstrations organised by the left, unless numbers in attendance force the closure of half of the West End, or meekly accepts police or MSM figures for those attending as "gospel".

To be fair, many of the other Corbyn clan went along too - family gatherings must be very odd in that household. Both brothers are deeply eccentric but oddly lovable now that we are no longer threatened by them.

[Cockney Sparrow]

10 pm radio 4 news. Corbyn's brother has been given a £10,000 fixed penalty fine as a Co-organiser.

[Bella Kemp]

10 pm radio 4 news. Corbyn's brother has been given a £10,000 fixed penalty fine as a Co-organiser.

This is dreadful and quite a sinister development. I hate his views and think them dangerous, but no-one should be fined for holding a demonstration.

[Bryn]

10 pm radio 4 news. Corbyn's brother has been given a £10,000 fixed penalty fine as a Co-organiser.

Good news, that. However, please do not confound the two brothers. Piers is a very different kettle of fish from Jeremy. I'd be interested to know what the former's old comrade Tariq Ali might have to say about Piers, these days.

[oddoneout]

This is dreadful and quite a sinister development. I hate his views and think them dangerous, but no-one should be fined for holding a demonstration.

Was he fined for holding a demonstration though, wasn't it for breaching the various restrictions on gatherings?