Potential POSITIVE effects of corona virus

[moka]

One of the potential benefits of the Coronavirus crisis is an opportunity to look at reform, what isn’t working, what to change, how to change?
If there’s one thing the coronavirus fiascos show, it’s the need for radical change. Britain's claims to being a functioning democracy are only skin deep.
As the government blunders from one disaster to the next, there seem to be no effective ways of holding it to account.
The great majority of money for the Conservative party comes from a small number of very rich people. Just five hedge fund managers have given it £18m over the past 10 years. The secretive Leader’s Group grants big donors special access to the prime minister and his frontbenchers in return for their money. Courting and cultivating rich people to win elections corrupts our politics, replacing democracy with plutocracy.
Our political system has the outward appearance of democracy, but it is largely controlled by undemocratic forces. We find ourselves on the wrong side of the portcullis, watching helplessly as crucial decisions are taken about us, without us.
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...s-public-power

[moka]

We must not let this opportunity for reform pass. The likelihood remains that Australia will return to a well-worn “business as usual” as the pandemic recedes. Privileged groups will continue to prosper; little progress will be made on climate change; ordinary citizens will continue to feel they have little say in how the country is really run. While nobody should welcome this, the current state of our democracy – our political economy, if you like – makes it hard to bet on any other outcome.
Our prime ministers and premiers wield far less power than most people believe. They are not the only, or even the most, powerful actors in Australian policymaking. They’re simply the final link in a chain, albeit the point at which influence is most intensely targeted.
Instead, power is distributed across multiple actors – business leaders, media, unions, peak bodies and political factions in addition to the individual political leaders. Most leaders today operate a never-ending mental calculus of how they accommodate the competing demands of these groups in a way that will extend their period of office. Simple as that.
The group of actors who have been able to influence political leaders has narrowed dramatically. Those who currently hold most sway over leaders’ behaviour are big business, the media, unions and internal political rivals, with Coalition governments weighting business interests and Labor favouring union ones.
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...r-the-pandemic

[ynot]

If nothing else this has been a great time for reflection. Stand back, take a good hard look at ourselves as individuals and as nations. Will we learn, can we change.
I suspect not.

[jonu]

We must not let this opportunity for reform pass. The likelihood remains that Australia will return to a well-worn “business as usual” as the pandemic recedes. Privileged groups will continue to prosper; little progress will be made on climate change; ordinary citizens will continue to feel they have little say in how the country is really run. While nobody should welcome this, the current state of our democracy – our political economy, if you like – makes it hard to bet on any other outcome.
Our prime ministers and premiers wield far less power than most people believe. They are not the only, or even the most, powerful actors in Australian policymaking. They’re simply the final link in a chain, albeit the point at which influence is most intensely targeted.
Instead, power is distributed across multiple actors – business leaders, media, unions, peak bodies and political factions in addition to the individual political leaders. Most leaders today operate a never-ending mental calculus of how they accommodate the competing demands of these groups in a way that will extend their period of office. Simple as that.
The group of actors who have been able to influence political leaders has narrowed dramatically. Those who currently hold most sway over leaders’ behaviour are big business, the media, unions and internal political rivals, with Coalition governments weighting business interests and Labor favouring union ones.
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...r-the-pandemic

This desription of the Australian democracy could be transposed onto any democratic or semi democratic regime of the last 2500 years. Competing interests jostling for attention and power. A number of groups mentioned are there to represent the average Joe. Whether they do it well or not is another question.

It's a long way from perfect and in need of continual tweaking, but given that the alternatives are an iron fist or mercifully a benign dictator, we should be careful what we wish for.

Many agendas will be pushed emerging from the pandemic. We will need to remain watchful that our civil liberties are not trodden under the feet of supposed equality. Equality of Opportunity does not mean Equality of Outcome and to force it to become so has never ended well.

[IAK]

Good article by Liam Dann, "Government has the right formula for the path forward." https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12337391

The closing sentence... "It's a difficult balancing act but one that, so far, seems about right." Pretty much sums up my feelings right now.

[moka]

This desription of the Australian democracy could be transposed onto any democratic or semi democratic regime of the last 2500 years. Competing interests jostling for attention and power. A number of groups mentioned are there to represent the average Joe. Whether they do it well or not is another question.

It's a long way from perfect and in need of continual tweaking, but given that the alternatives are an iron fist or mercifully a benign dictator, we should be careful what we wish for.

Many agendas will be pushed emerging from the pandemic. We will need to remain watchful that our civil liberties are not trodden under the feet of supposed equality. Equality of Opportunity does not mean Equality of Outcome and to force it to become so has never ended well.

We need to focus and increase Equality of Opportunity, because it is not a level playing field and becoming more tilted in favour of the haves.
Many groups of people have privilege which is often invisible to them. It helps if your parents were white, well-off professionals; your chances of succeeding are much higher than someone whose parents are working class Maori. It is unearned privilege.
Unearned privilege is a tailwind. Those who benefit from this tailwind are making headway. Unseen forces make each of their efforts count. Because the tailwind is invisible, it is easy to assume that individual effort alone is what is producing that progress.
Structural disadvantage is a headwind. Unseen forces are working against them, each effort exhausts and moves them forward little. You can see others sailing past, revelling in their success and oblivious to the prevailing wind.
No, there is nothing wrong with being white. But it comes with unearned privilege which makes progress through the world easier.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/01...-of-privilege/

[Balance]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/mon...-how-to-invest

One big positive from the lockdown - more NZers used the time to learn to invest (hopefully wisely).

And what a great start for them in the last 2 months - they certainly left the professionals in the dust.

But now comes the hard part - do they stay the course, take their profits or do a bit of both?

[stoploss]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/mon...-how-to-invest

One big positive from the lockdown - more NZers used the time to learn to invest (hopefully wisely).

And what a great start for them in the last 2 months - they certainly left the professionals in the dust.

But now comes the hard part - do they stay the course, take their profits or do a bit of both?

This was another massive positive.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121...-nospend-april

[Arthur]

That could be great news. If the punters can keep that up that is $200 million a year in interest saved. It was interesting in the Turners communication that they said arrears were down. Easier to track down people during lock-down, less money being spent on petrol and presumably booze and takeaways meant that car payments could be caught up on.

[Yoda]

American stocks seem happy.DOW, NASDAQ etc ... Should be Greens all round tomorrow. Long term looks grim though. NASDAQ now close to its ATH .