COVID-19 is a crisis in the original medical sense of the word, for ‘crisis’ means a turning point in an illness: either things get worse and the patient dies - with society deteriorating further towards authoritarian neoliberalism - or they get better and the ‘patient’ lives by rallying around a renewed social solidarity.
Some countries like the US seem to be on the former path, as manifested in the scapegoating of China, attacks against migrants and refugees, the spread of 'emergency powers,' language that emphasizes a 'war' against an 'invisible enemy,' and angry crowds, some armed, demanding that the economy be re-opened.
Others like New Zealand and Germany are moving in a more hopeful direction through the mass mobilization of power and resources for the common good. Many employers continue to pay employees, banks are giving mortgage holidays, and utility bills, rents and evictions have been at least partially suspended.
