A year on

A year on, people are talking about the necessity of 'moving on', of 'getting back to normal', of the advantages of this period, from the point of view of working from home, getting in touch with nature, etc etc. I find this all extremely glib, crass and insensitive.

What of the thousands of avoidable deaths, of the many more grieving, of the many, many more who have lost their livelihoods and their homes ? We need to acknowledge the huge waste, the loss of hope and potential, before we can even consider the possibility of 'moving on'. This is a huge wound at the heart of our society which needs to be healed with patience, humility and compassion. Cliches about 'building back better', 'bouncing back' and 'prospering mightily' are merely insults to those for whom these phrases connect to nothing whatsoever in their daily experience. There is an understandable desire to put this 'behind us', but the scientists say that there will probably be more of this in the future, so we might just have had a taste of things to come. I know the common assumption is that 'normality' is that state of affairs which is most congenial to us, but might it just be possible that this 'normality' has, from every point of view, become unsustainable ? I do not know the answer : I merely know that the question is worth posing. One thing I do know: we have to cope with emerging threats to 'biosecurity' much, much better in future. That is why a public inquiry (or more than one) cannot come a moment too soon.