Writer Anand Giridharadas filled in as guest host of Peacock's "The Mehdi Hasan Show" on May 28, 2021. (Photo: The Choice/YouTube/Screenshot)
Watch: Anand Giridharadas Shares What 'We Learned' From the Covid-19 Pandemic
"The question before us now is: What will do with these lessons?"
Writer Anand Giridharadas on Friday shared key lessons from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on and wondered whether the "collective memory" of the crisis will compel the U.S. government and public to significantly invest in care infrastructure, pursue "real racial justice," and embrace an approach to live-saving healthcare that prioritizes global security over corporate profits.
"It is possible at this hour to be consumed by despair," Giridharadas said while filling in as guest host of Peacock's "The Mehdi Hasan Show," as the U.S. death toll from Covid-19 neared 600,000. "But there is, in moments like this one, a possibility of tearing open a hole in the universe and marching through it."
"I will tell you some of what I think we learned" since the lockdowns began, he said. "That child care is a shared societal burden, not a private good. We learned this year how much harder it is to work, how much harder women in particular have it, how much female brilliance we sideline, when we make child care a luxury product."
"We learned that we're only as healthy as the person next to us--so when they don't have access to healthcare, we all suffer," he continued. "We learned, at the same time, that there are no great equalizers, not even viruses--that inequity is a preexisting condition, and viruses, like so many other disasters on record, hit people according to their position in the caste hierarchy."
Watch:
"We learned that work wasn't working for workers," Giridharadas added. "We learned how our hyper-capitalist grind culture has starved our relationships, leaving us so little time at the end of the day... We learned that when we allow monopolies to corner every market, we become vulnerable to shortages and supply issues we usually associate with the Soviet Union--even as the owners of those monopolies profit from crisis."
Giridharadas went on to reference lessons from "Black Lives Matter" demonstrations sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others. He also emphasized that "there can be no democracy without a shared belief in facts" and "a worldwide mobilization of the kind that will be required to fight climate change is possible."
"We learned that mental health is health, and mental healthcare is healthcare... that we in America so often fixate on a childish understanding of freedom," he said. "We learned we need a safety net that can catch people... that a system that privileges bipartisan consensus over actual problem-solving ends up with little of either thing and risks the very death of democracy."
"We learned that the activists our society so often resists listening to--the ones who provoke us--are often pointing us to truths hard to see in the present," he added.
According to Giridharadas, "The question before us now is: What will do with these lessons?"
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Writer Anand Giridharadas on Friday shared key lessons from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on and wondered whether the "collective memory" of the crisis will compel the U.S. government and public to significantly invest in care infrastructure, pursue "real racial justice," and embrace an approach to live-saving healthcare that prioritizes global security over corporate profits.
"It is possible at this hour to be consumed by despair," Giridharadas said while filling in as guest host of Peacock's "The Mehdi Hasan Show," as the U.S. death toll from Covid-19 neared 600,000. "But there is, in moments like this one, a possibility of tearing open a hole in the universe and marching through it."
"I will tell you some of what I think we learned" since the lockdowns began, he said. "That child care is a shared societal burden, not a private good. We learned this year how much harder it is to work, how much harder women in particular have it, how much female brilliance we sideline, when we make child care a luxury product."
"We learned that we're only as healthy as the person next to us--so when they don't have access to healthcare, we all suffer," he continued. "We learned, at the same time, that there are no great equalizers, not even viruses--that inequity is a preexisting condition, and viruses, like so many other disasters on record, hit people according to their position in the caste hierarchy."
Watch:
"We learned that work wasn't working for workers," Giridharadas added. "We learned how our hyper-capitalist grind culture has starved our relationships, leaving us so little time at the end of the day... We learned that when we allow monopolies to corner every market, we become vulnerable to shortages and supply issues we usually associate with the Soviet Union--even as the owners of those monopolies profit from crisis."
Giridharadas went on to reference lessons from "Black Lives Matter" demonstrations sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others. He also emphasized that "there can be no democracy without a shared belief in facts" and "a worldwide mobilization of the kind that will be required to fight climate change is possible."
"We learned that mental health is health, and mental healthcare is healthcare... that we in America so often fixate on a childish understanding of freedom," he said. "We learned we need a safety net that can catch people... that a system that privileges bipartisan consensus over actual problem-solving ends up with little of either thing and risks the very death of democracy."
"We learned that the activists our society so often resists listening to--the ones who provoke us--are often pointing us to truths hard to see in the present," he added.
According to Giridharadas, "The question before us now is: What will do with these lessons?"
Writer Anand Giridharadas on Friday shared key lessons from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on and wondered whether the "collective memory" of the crisis will compel the U.S. government and public to significantly invest in care infrastructure, pursue "real racial justice," and embrace an approach to live-saving healthcare that prioritizes global security over corporate profits.
"It is possible at this hour to be consumed by despair," Giridharadas said while filling in as guest host of Peacock's "The Mehdi Hasan Show," as the U.S. death toll from Covid-19 neared 600,000. "But there is, in moments like this one, a possibility of tearing open a hole in the universe and marching through it."
"I will tell you some of what I think we learned" since the lockdowns began, he said. "That child care is a shared societal burden, not a private good. We learned this year how much harder it is to work, how much harder women in particular have it, how much female brilliance we sideline, when we make child care a luxury product."
"We learned that we're only as healthy as the person next to us--so when they don't have access to healthcare, we all suffer," he continued. "We learned, at the same time, that there are no great equalizers, not even viruses--that inequity is a preexisting condition, and viruses, like so many other disasters on record, hit people according to their position in the caste hierarchy."
Watch:
"We learned that work wasn't working for workers," Giridharadas added. "We learned how our hyper-capitalist grind culture has starved our relationships, leaving us so little time at the end of the day... We learned that when we allow monopolies to corner every market, we become vulnerable to shortages and supply issues we usually associate with the Soviet Union--even as the owners of those monopolies profit from crisis."
Giridharadas went on to reference lessons from "Black Lives Matter" demonstrations sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others. He also emphasized that "there can be no democracy without a shared belief in facts" and "a worldwide mobilization of the kind that will be required to fight climate change is possible."
"We learned that mental health is health, and mental healthcare is healthcare... that we in America so often fixate on a childish understanding of freedom," he said. "We learned we need a safety net that can catch people... that a system that privileges bipartisan consensus over actual problem-solving ends up with little of either thing and risks the very death of democracy."
"We learned that the activists our society so often resists listening to--the ones who provoke us--are often pointing us to truths hard to see in the present," he added.
According to Giridharadas, "The question before us now is: What will do with these lessons?"