The inequality revealed by the pandemic cries out for a new vision for our land
Use crisis to bring about the structural changes for an inclusive economy
● We are entering a special time on the Christian calendar when we celebrate Easter, remembering the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During this time Christians meet in large gatherings across the world to celebrate.
This year will be different. The coronavirus pandemic has forced big and small events to be cancelled or postponed.
As difficult as this time is, it is encouraging to see churches across the world find new ways of worshipping together. It is during a crisis like this when leaders give new vision, and do not allow us to be discouraged; it is a vision that gives hope. As Christians, let’s turn our homes into places of worship and reach out to more people with the online platforms we have available.
The pandemic challenges the foundations of society. With businesses, factories and mines standing idle, and working people obliged to stay home, it shakes the socioeconomic foundations of our way of life.
Long-standing problems
More importantly, the pandemic reveals the reality of social inequality. The less you have materially, the more difficult it is to practise social distancing and cope with the economic impact of the lockdown. But this, too, shall pass.
Apart from coping, we need to have a vision for the future amid the storm. If we do, we might be able to address long-standing problems.
The Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard said: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”
To many, the pandemic does not make sense and has caused them to focus only on what has happened and what is happening now. It has made them stare at the present, instead of looking to the future.
What Kierkegaard meant was for us to step into the uncertainty of tomorrow as we progress through life, day by day. When we look back on the events that have shaped our lives, we are often able to make sense of them.
Sometimes a pattern emerges and we realise why something happened, and what meaningful outcomes there were.
As people of faith, we are often able to look back at the painful parts of our journey and say, “There was a reason I had to go through that.” We see how negative experiences can bring out the best in us. We may even recognise how these experiences “worked together for our good”. We call this providence. But that is about looking back.
This crisis brought about by Covid-19 will be such a situation. While it is tempting to focus on the present, it is better to look to the future with a bold resolve that says, “We will overcome.”
We need a vision of better days to lift our spirits and set our sights on the outcomes we desire.
The economic and social impact is already being felt; it is now up to us how to respond. That requires vision. We need new ideas about how to look after the vulnerable, new approaches to doing business and how to breathe new life into old ways of doing things.
Right now we have an opportunity to serve those closest to us, to send support to a needy neighbour or acquaintance. What is needed as well is vision for solutions.
For some, this will be much more challenging and may involve mourning the loss of a friend, a loved one, or a much-valued business or job. But the loss is not the end of the road. It is only a point along a journey, and we cannot stop our progress by failing to look to the future.
A lack of vision will be disempowering and will cause us to sink into fatalism, believing that only the worst will happen.
Vision, the act of seeing with the eye of the invisible as some call it, is empowering. It gives us the energy to establish new ventures, to reform old structures and rebuild our lives, our businesses and our communities.
In the short term, we will need vision to imagine ways of how to safely return to our lives. The doctors and researchers working on cures and therapies for the disease need vision to keep going, to keep trying, until they have a breakthrough. While they strive on our behalf, we need to do our part and open our eyes to a new reality.
This new reality is fraught with risks and challenges, but it is also full of potential and opportunity — if we can summon the vision to see them.
One of the practical ways of doing this is for our leadership in the government to start thinking and planning how we will deal with the inequality in society that this exposes. We cannot allow the scenes seen on our television screens to continue.
Structural changes
We have seen our government respond decisively regarding the homeless people during this pandemic, but this is the time to have a long-term plan for homeless people and solve this problem once and for all.
Our economy has been struggling for the longest time now. Why not use this crisis to bring about the structural changes we need in the economy and build an inclusive economy that benefits everyone, not only the few?
We have been debating the issue of land long enough now and this pandemic has exposed how people suffer in the informal settlements and just how difficult it is for people to observe the hygiene recommended to defeat the coronavirus.
Yes, while we deal with the situation let’s have vision for a better future.
We will overcome this pandemic, but we had better be ready tomorrow. That requires vision.
To all the people in SA there is always a better tomorrow. We must not lose hope but have vision for tomorrow. God bless Africa.