Consequences

I’ve been thinking about how COVID is changing the way we live as a society. At first it was all about lockdowns and masks, freaking out about what was happening in China (if you were unlucky enough to see the banned video, which I did) and thoughts of staying alive. Then it was about people losing their jobs, struggling businesses, COVID payments and the mass exodus of city dwellers to the regions. After that we moved into vaccinations, and lately (and tentatively) into vaccine mandates, the promise of ‘freedom’, opening up, soaring cases, more lockdowns, business owners about ready to give up and more government handouts.

One of the most indirect but drastic consequences of the pandemic has been the effect on international travel, and flowing on from that the inevitable hit to the economies of many countries because apparently we are a species obsessed with keeping ourselves distracted from our miserable lives on the treadmill of neo-liberalism by going on overseas holidays. I’ve often thought that COVID is the evolutionary antidote to excess. COVID is the fun police – if you think you are going to party, tear around the world burning up fossil fuels and generally have a great time – forget it. Sorry to be a wowser* but this has actually been good for the planet. It’s even been good for humans – many of whom reluctantly admit that staying home, spending real time with family and yes, even being comfortable with your own company, is beneficial. Of course it’s been a nightmare for many who live alone – they’ve been terribly isolated – and those who can’t connect up with family and friends because of border restrictions.

Most of us thought we’d be out of here by now but after 2 years COVID is still with us and I’ve noticed some other, perhaps unforeseen, consequences of this pandemic. In the race to either get vaccinated or avoid it like the ‘plague’, we are dividing into a society of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. The ramifications are proving to be quite serious. Apart from long term friendships collapsing under the weight of conspiracy theories – there is definitely some other weird shit going on.

The influx of city slickers running from COVID lockdowns and mask mandates to the regions is worsening the rental crisis that already existed as they

1. Sell their city homes, evict tenants in their second property which until now has been rented out and move in themselves, or

2. Buy properties that were rentals and move in. Rentals in my town are at crisis point.

Locals can’t find anywhere to live which means there is an insufficient workforce to support tourism. There are no houses for sale either. We often see notices posted to the local Facebook bulletin board asking resident home owners if they want to sell. For years others have been asking for places to rent. Many cafes and restaurants are now operating under reduced hours because they can’t get staff. This is in a tourist town where you can’t normally eat out on a Monday and Tuesday night – even in peak season! Last Tuesday we ended up at the pub** having fish and chips. 

One restaurant is paying $48 an hour for staff – and I think that is just for floor staff who usually get around $25. Good baristas are being head hunted - I assume they are being offered more money to work for switched on businesses. Some people haven’t been as lucky. Many people who don’t want to get vaccinated are losing their jobs and Foodbank*** in Albany has been extra busy because of all of the above - even more so because many volunteers don’t want to be vaccinated.

Several businesses I know of have been or are being sold because their owners either don’t want to get vaxxed, or don’t want to deal with angry customers when they try to enforce COVID rules. I can’t say I blame them for the latter. A couple of people I know of with highly successful businesses in the city have chucked it all in to move to the regions and go on the dole****. One of the local wineries, which is famous for its very popular Sunday afternoon music events, has lost its right to hold them. I think the issue was the new COVID regime for businesses, or perhaps a business owner who is ideologically opposed to the vaccine.

Lurking just under the surface of all of this is the scary statistic that Australians have one of the highest debt to income ratios in the world and it’s predominantly because of housing. I watch programs about people buying or renting in Europe or the USA and I can’t believe how cheap real estate is. Housing in Australia is way over-priced. I think this example is proof of how dire the situation is – this is not uncommon either. A property up the road from us on the hill we lived on for 10+ years recently sold for around $900,000. Soon after the new owners were advertising to buy second hand school uniforms (you can’t get away with anything in a small town). People in this country are borrowing way too much money because the housing market is insane and they are freaked out that they won’t ever get a foothold in the market. Our right-wing neo-liberal government is directly responsible for this very broken system. Popular TV shows where people compete in a game of home ‘make-overs’, with titles like ‘Fixer to Fabulous’ and ‘Flip or Flop’ are further fuelling the problem. Years after I first posted about housing it is still a house of cards waiting to collapse and I can’t help but feel the higher the card house gets the bigger the collapse will be.

Back to COVID. Recently I’ve realised that anti-vaxxers will probably get away with not being vaxxed - in Australia at least – because soon we won't have to worry about COVID. Although Omicron is more contagious, it is less severe and will morph into a common 'flu' as expected. Until the next one comes along of course, and then we start all over again. It's always been about timing and not overwhelming the health system. I’d like to remind anti-vaxxers that 6 000 000 people around the world have died from this virus, and a lot who survived have ongoing debilitating health issues. Whether you were one of them depended on a lot of random things - one of which was your good luck in living on a bloody big island. 

Australia's useless Prime Minister.

Australia has a couple of dominant cultural myths and one of the most powerful, and dangerous, is that we are the ‘lucky country’. I think it makes a lot of us a bit smug. It will be interesting to see what 2022 brings. Our government is reassuring us that our economy is back on track, but it’s very obvious it isn’t for many. There’s supposed to be an election around May and we really need a new government, but I have little confidence we’ll get one as Aussies try to cling on to the Australian Dream just a bit longer, even though it is time to wake up. The lucky country has to run out of luck eventually. 

And when it does, there will be some dramatic consequences.

* wowser – an Australian colloquialism for someone who disapproves of people enjoying themselves, particularly if it involves alcohol.
** pub – Aussie slang for a Public Hotel
*** Foodbank – a charity that provides food for free for people who are struggling
**** dole – unemployment benefits which are well below the poverty line

Top image: Mad Fish (author)