Corona virus exposes a society that knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing

There was an interesting recent Facebook posting that juxtaposed a nurse alongside an international celebrity. Above the pictures were the income of the two individuals – the nurse earning £25k, the celebrity £72 million. Underneath the pictures were the captions priceless and pointless.

The post summarised a truth that many people are coming to realise, which is just how screwed up the values of our society have become. NHS staff, care workers, haulage drivers, shop staff, bus drivers and refuse collectors are the people who really count when something like the Corona virus hits. They are the ones putting their lives on the line, whilst others sit helpless at home.

Some would argue it has always been thus. I always remember my Dad saying how a lot of people believed after the war that people who did work that was important for society would be rewarded.

Jobs like teaching, healthcare, social care, policing and the fire service. Unfortunately, it never happened. Instead, jobs that really aren’t that important in the greater scheme of things were rewarded with huge pay cheques.

Footballers have come under the spotlight during the present crisis, with their multi-million salaries. Though it is the clubs that should receive the major criticism, as some have tried to avoid paying salaries to their non-paying staff, whilst continuing to pay the millions to the players, who have not kicked a ball in weeks.

But there can be too much focus on football, what of the hedge fund managers, money market dealers and billionaire businessmen, who no doubt are working at this very time  to see just how much money they can make out of this crisis. People who go out of their way to avoid paying the taxes required to pay for all those vital services that are keeping the rest of us alive at the moment.

Once this crisis is over there need to be a reckoning as to just what and who we do value as a society. The key workers mentioned earlier need to be paid properly and put on stable secure contracts. Contracts that provide security for them and their families. Not the zero hour contracts that are so commonplace in the care sector at the moment.

The crisis provides an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our own personal lives but also what sort of society we want to see in the future. Hopefully, a society that values people for themselves and what they do. A society that works for the common good of all, not one based on bottom line economics.