I sometimes read economics columnist Jessica Irvine in The Age, but of late, it’s hard to consume any media without noticing one glaring fault: there’ s bugger-all coverage of the colossal human cost of the lockdowns.
The billions of dollars of lost wages, lost revenue, the abandonment of dreams, liquidations, foreclosures and in some cases, marriages and relationships going down bow first.
Irvine’s article on middle class guilt was curious. She defined it as that “sense of unease you feel sometimes as you settle onto the couch, clutching a piping hot cup of tea, to watch the daily press conference from the comfort of a living room you own (albeit with a bit of help from the bank) on a welcome break from the permanent job you still have, modified to facilitate you working from home.”
She equates the middle class with people who own their own homes and who still have jobs. They may live in Unley, Parkside, Paddington, Rose Bay, South Yarra and Toorak. The fairly well-to-do.
She thinks restaurant owners, tourist businesses, in fact a whole raft of retailers involved in commercial activity, are not middle class. They’re lumped in with those who work as cleaners, meal delivery services, etc.
Wrong.
The middle class is being smashed by the lock down. If you’re lying on your couch in your ‘comfy womfy’ house, you should ask how long you’ll have a job for because the economy is tanking.
You can’t shut down Sydney and Melbourne without some serious shit hitting the fan at light speed.
But no one is reporting the knock on effects. For example, retailers can no longer can pay commercial rents. As very few small businesses in CBDs across Australia own their bricks and mortar, they’re history.
Get that cuppa in to you while you can.