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The Covid -19 Pandemic – Widening inequality or a call to bridge inequality?

The Covid -19 Pandemic – Widening inequality or a call to bridge inequality?
 

The Covid-19 pandemic presented two realities; how vulnerable we are as human beings. Secondly, Unlike the Climate change crisis that have not particularly affected the entire globe at the same time, this pandemic hit the entire globe affecting all humanity – poor, rich , children, old and young. Without any critical analysis, one would assume that the pandemic impacts everyone equally. However, a critical analysis would reveal very glaring undifferentiated impacts. At least the global response to this pandemic has been unequal in many ways. While global measures have been adopted in almost every country, both North and South, the inequalities within society has made it impossible for all humanity to respond in similar ways.

 

While it has been argued that the “normal” was the problem and that the “new normal” is bound to stay with us for a long time, what has not been considered is who would be unable to survive in this “new normal”? During these lockdowns, the poor, people of color and migrants, continue to serve the rich through jobs that pose a risk to their lives in the face of the pandemic. It is worth questioning: “If they must stay at home, who is going to do these jobs? can they survive without these jobs? What alternatives are available to them? What is apparent is that, in these times, the rich are equally dependent on the poor. Therefore, I argue that while it is true that the pandemic continues to widen inequality among the poor and rich, it also presents a more apparent need to bridge these inequalities. 

 

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