On Getting “Back to Normal”

It is quite understandable that after five months of one unprecedented event after another people in the United States are experiencing Covid fatigue and yearning for a return to normal. But what exactly is “normal?” And should we be wishing for a return to it? The question reminds me of a comedian I saw almost exactly four years ago who was discussing the 2016 contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. “Clinton or Trump,” he mused, “it’s a little like deciding how we want to die; Trump would be like self-immolation, and Clinton would be like sleeping pills.” It is important to bear in mind this analogy, perhaps even more accurate than the comedian realized at the time, in the present context. I would submit that in “normal” times things were remarkably unwell, and that Trump has merely laid bare the multiple dimensions of this reality. One could even credit him with forcing a much-needed moment of national self-confrontation, however unintended.

If you’re reading this post, you might not need convincing. But if you did, where could we begin? It is well known that existential threats like climate change, nuclear proliferation, runaway AI, and cybersecurity (or lack thereof) have long predated Trump. Likewise, the grotesque inequality the world over that, to be sure, continues to worsen. Racism and patriarchy? While the current administration certainly has done plenty to fan the flames, such problems exist since the founding of the country. And as recent events testify, we’d be dead wrong to congratulate ourselves on the progress we’ve made in addressing them. Arguably the greatest challenge – and perhaps the one I’ll have most to say about in future posts – is our wholesale conversion, over the past half century, of the U.S. economy from a productive to a mostly redistributive one. It is a crucially important development because, among other things, it explains stagnant middle-class wages, the explosion of household debt (necessary to sustain consumerism), the growth in unproductive and speculative investment as profitable opportunities in the real economy dry up, and the proliferation of bullshit jobs so necessary to keep most of the labor force busy. In light of the above, Nesrine Malik is correct that far from being an aberration, Trump more represents a culmination of these multifarious challenges.

In recent months you have likely heard platitudes, possibly from varying perspectives, about crises being opportunities not to be squandered. Yet here we would all do well to heed Naomi Klein’s warnings, in her landmark Shock Doctrine, about elite leaders of “disaster capitalism” swooping down to exploit the masses stupefied by an unexpected calamity. There has surely been no shortage of appalling examples around the world to validate her thesis. I would nevertheless venture that, leaving aside the obvious and acute health crisis, there is reason for hope – indeed reason to work at turning Klein’s hypothesis on its head. The Covid crisis could just as much present an opportunity, finally, to start reversing some of capitalism’s worst ravages. As eloquently stated by none other than Arundhati Roy, we should be viewing the current pandemic as a portal to something better.

The months of simpler living required by our governments’ reactions to the pandemic have permitted tens of millions to contemplate why we would even want to return to the gerbil wheel of incessant consumption that intensifies climate change, inequality, and other problems. We have begun to appreciate, like never before, the personal connections and relationships on which we miss out when overly focused on being “busy.” We are also forced to reckon with the fact that, with so many of our jobs classified as non-essential, they probably are also expendable. Numerous progressive futurists, starting possibly with Keynes, have waxed sanguine at the possibility rather than believing it a threat. We might even come to recognize, as noted by Rebecca Solnit, that that there really is sufficient food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and education for all and that access to them does not require capitalism (quite the contrary!). The present crisis is, indeed, not an opportunity to be squandered.

I have for many years been pessimistic about substantial progressive change in the future and believe there remains ample reason to be. Yet the recent coming to a head of major national and global crises juxtaposed with the immense popularity of Bernie Sanders and the success of other left politicians has given me renewed, even if somewhat restrained, optimism. The popular clamor for a Green New Deal or Medicare for all is a clear signal that many millions are simply fed up with the status quo. And here’s the silver lining in the impending economic depression: that number only figures to grow over time.

There is no question that progress would be dead in the water if we fail to reckon with all the ills of which Trump is a mere symptom. But unlike earlier challenges, this one has granted us the time and opportunity to contemplate such deeper issues and has laid the foundation for a “reboot” of sorts. We must remain hopeful – not about a return to “normal” times, but about a better future for all after we finally emerge from the present pandemic portal.