CoVID-19 Day 28
My day started with the question, “What am I going to eat?” I had little more than eggs in so I made an omelette with a few non-foody things in it. Sorted. The sky was blue again. Again. It has rained once since the lockdown started and then for only a few minutes. We’ve seen the sky cloud over but that was just to let us know that we are not in a Truman show. It all adds to the strangeness as if there was someone in control of this which, it would appear, is not true.
What is obvious is that the government certainly isn’t in control — of anything. The coronavirus might be novel, invisible and strange but its not mindful. Its not trying to outwit anyone or deliberately target certain types. While being more potent than we probably thought, its not omnipotent. Its nothing more than a string of information wrapped in a coat of grease. It relies on host cells to multiply which is why its difficult to fight. Its also very vulnerable to the most simple of cleaners, household soap — nothing fancy or modern. Its less effective in small doses because that gives our immune systems a fighting chance.
We have a vacuum and nature doesn’t like vacuums
We know how to deal with viruses in general and CoVID-19 is a virus. What’s different is that we don’t have a vaccine because there is no such thing as a general vaccine. We know how to protect health workers but, as Matt Hancock so pithilly put it, we don’t have a wand to magic the equipment out of thin air. And that’s what we are dealing with. We have a government that has made no preparations for such an event (which it planned for 4 years ago but did nothing about). And even when it was clear what needed to be done, what needed to be done wasn’t done.
The truth is that we have something which calls itself a government but has no clue how to govern. The Sunday Times published what many feel is an explosive story of incompetence and negligence on behalf of the Prime Minister, but its been clear for the last month that that has been the case. The General election of 2019 made clear that Boris Johnson could not be trusted in anything he said and when confronted would either deliberately hide the evidence (e.g. a mobile phone) or hide himself in a fridge. The media knew then that his cabinet couldn’t organise an orgy in a brothel.
Talk is, that Michael Gove is being lined up to replace Boris should he be forced to step down which leads some to suspect there is more to the hand wringing than just cottening on to Boris’ incompetence. It seems that whenever something is happening that the public really ought to be aware of, the press deflect with a non story. Then when there’s little that can be done they drop a ‘bombshell’. Maybe someone is in control or maybe its a certain class that manoevres to maintain the status quo. What is certain is that we are not all in this together.
Now we are hearing that a consignment of PPE from Turkey has been delayed. With warnings that many places would run out this weekend it was vital they dropped today but they are not going to and we don’t know why. I don’t believe there is any conspiracy here. While the ruling class have managed to maintain their status for millenia its not through guile, its just that they have their hands on the levers and they know which ones to pull. You don’t need to be a genius to ensure you survive a tsunami while others perish, you just need to ensure that they live on the beach while you live in the mountains.
When it comes down to it, the press are not the Tories’ friend, they are just on the same side. Boris is expendable as is Michael Gove. All that matters in the end is that the ruling class maintain their status. Everyone else can go to hell. But just as world powers can be humbled by a microscopic virus that can do little more than find a cell to corrupt, so they can be overthrown by seemingly insignificant humans. The main killer with CoVID-19 is viral load, where the victim is not just exposed to the virus but overwhelmed by loads of it. That’s why those on the frontline are so vulnerable.
What an ineffective media does is lesson the load of public opinion on those in charge. By delaying judgement on the government they have effectively done that just as the government have tried to protect the NHS by flattening the curve. We have also seen the dismantling of collectives such as unions which further protects the government from a loaded attack. But what is most disappointing at this time is the lack of effective opposition from what is Her Majesty’s official opposition.
Ideally we would have a good government and an effective opposition holding it to account. A poor government with an effective opposition might still be functional. What we have is a useless government and no real opposition. We have a vacuum and nature doesn’t like vacuums.