What is the use of wealth if a country cannot provide protective equipment for its doctors and nurses?
According to it, the coronavirus pandemic “erased the thin layer of prosperity that covered the rusty and battered British state”. She also emphasizes that coronavirus is far from the only explanation for the huge death toll. The number of victims could be less if not for the incompetence of the government.
“But even if the government imposed restrictions earlier, many never had a chance. The poor, the low paid and the powerless have neither labor rights nor the ability to protect themselves from the virus”, -Malik says.
“People in poor areas die twice as often as in rich ones. Blacks and ethnic minorities, who are more likely to be in key high-risk jobs, die more often than the general population. Many of these deaths were the result of gross structural inequality”.
The author emphasizes that the economic prosperity of Great Britain was accumulated over the years of aggressive liberalization, privatization and sacrifice of the health, safety, dignity and life of others.
“For a vulnerable British precariate, this was obvious a long time ago. For them, there has always been a crisis, she continues. As their deaths increase the overall mortality rate in Britain, we can no longer look at ourselves as a nation and see any indicator of wealth, which we should be proud of. With every death that could have been avoided – because the systems that could have prevented them were erased with austerity – we must ask ourselves what is our national wealth for?”