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66th Year -- No. 3621 Tuesday, October 20, 2020 www.mauritiustimes.com facebook.com/mauritius.times 18 Pages - ePaper MAURITIUS TIMES l "The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow." -- Seth Godin The Problem with Politics Interview : Thiruthiraj Pather “Plus nous jouerons aux autruches, plus le réveil sera brusque et plus les réformes Politics is increasingly viewed as being prone to corruption, and another opinion I seront dures” have come across is that 'rich countries are morally bankrupt and are ruled by power elites'. But why rich countries? Are we, for example, a rich country? + Voir Pages 8-9-12 By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee + See Page 3 From Covid-19 to the climate emergency Que reflète la consommation d'alcool Lessons from this global de certains étudiants en milieu crisis for the next one universitaire aujourd'hui ? By Linn Biorklund Belliveau + See Page 2 Étudiants, qu'ont-ils à faire Les nombreux appels des membres du sur LinkedIn ? public à certains membres desinstitutions By Géraldine Galindo + See Page 11 scolaires/universitaires indiquent clairement Why international que le seuil de tolérance face à la students are choosing the consommation de boissons alcoolisées a UK - despite coronavirus été atteint. Faut-il attendre que le pire By Jenna Mittelmeier, Miguel Antonio Lim se produise? + Par Vina Ballgobin + Voir Page 4 & Sylvie Lomer See Page 18 Mauritius Times Tuesday, October 20, 2020 www.mauritiustimes.com Edit Page facebook.com/mauritius.times 2 Capitalism has become even worse The Conversation From Covid-19 to the climate emergency he Covid-19 pandemic looks like being widened, in other words that there were gro- the next worse global crisis that we are wing inequalities between the rich and the Lessons from this global Tfacing after the financial crisis of 2008- poor in rich countries? He adduced a large 2009. Similarities are already beginning to body of evidence which he laid out for the pub- emerge between the two, and as the pandemic lic with graphic detail (graphs, charts, statis- rolls on -- for ‘roll out and off’ nobody knows tics) in his blockbuster book ‘Capital in the crisis for the next one when, except it is going to be as protracted – 21st century’ that came out in 2013. they will probably crystallize and confirm this Things were supposed to have changed emerging perception of their common impacts. for the better post that crisis, a new normal. As a zoonotic virus, COVID-19 is itself a symptom of human-influ- But this did not happen, the world went back enced climate change. It is also indicative of the humanitarian impact As the magnitude of the financial crisis sur- to the old ways, with the rich becoming richer, faced more and more, observers only then of future environmental crises and a new category of social class emerged: realized that the system was broke. And not the super rich. Their club has gone on expan- he Covid-19 pan- one but several of them either individually or ding. demic can teach us as groups after long-winded and comprehen- The one difference about the current pan- many things about sive analyses lamented that economists had demic is that several health experts had years T how climate change emer- not seen the crisis coming – where were all before warned about the possibility of a coro- gencies manifest them- the Nobels? – and secondly, they pinned navirus infection that would be very severe in selves, and how humanita- down the core reason, or driver, of the crisis: a foreseeable future, but governments did not r-ian organizations can greed. Such a weighty conclusion for analysts, pay heed. And they were thus caught unpre- think and do things dif- but such a simple explanation for those lan- pared when the Covid-19 burst on the scene. ferently. guishing at the bottom of the heap in the rich Whether China delayed reporting its first countries, the US leading the pack. cases when they appeared in Wuhan in Covid-19 is itself linked Greed, it was greed and the lust for money December 2019 is now a moot issue. But the to some of the same issues that was the single major cause of the finan- point is that, even when notice was served as as human-influenced cli- cial crisis. Massive fraud and corruption in it were, and while WHO was not yet decided mate change. The outbreak financial transactions relating to real estate about declaring a Global Public Health in humans of any zoonotic and the housing sector were found to have Emergency, there was dilly-dallying and poli- virus, as SARS-CoV-2 is, During the performance ‘Covid today, climate crisis taken place, in collusion with banks, which ticking – which continues to this day – among goes immediately to the tomorrow’ at Sol square in downtown Madrid, Spain, a had advanced loans that could not be repaid. deciders about whether and how to respond. poisonous way in which member of the Extinction Rebellion group walks among Banks went bust and people’s homes went on Meanwhile the bug was spreading and within humans interact with the shoes representing people unable to attend due to COVID-19 on May 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) foreclosure. In plain language, their homes weeks the whole world was reeling under. natural world — habitat loss were seized because of unpaid loans and they Soon the economic impact began to be pushing wild animals closer standing, unaddressed disadvan- were thrown out on to the streets. felt, and it has gone on increasing and dee- to human settlement, remote mining tages. Because banks and huge amounts of pening, along with the social disruptions that and road-building putting more people money were involved, the ripple effect was are being felt. Again, the corporate world has into what were once wilderness areas, Covid-19 has found multilateralism soon felt around the world, and one by one the put pressure on governments to give bail-out industrialized meat production intro- incapable of delivering on its promise economies of countries came tumbling down, and stimulus packages. And the same stake- ducing viruses into the food supply, of co-operation between states to with job losses and intra-country as well as holders are asset rich – as a result of their and so on. overcome global-level threats beyond inter-country impoverishment levels rising. diversifying their profits into other lucrative the capacity of any one nation-state to Some of the worst peaks of the The response of governments is well-known: sectors which generate ever more share- handle. Three examples from many: pandemic have reportedly not been in massive bail-outs or stimulus packages to holder value. In parallel though, they did not the Trump administration’s decision to the Global South but in the north, in banks and large businesses, the smaller fries build up any reserves that would come in withdraw from the World Health rich societies that were ostensibly bet- being left to fend on their own. Further, in the handy for a rainy day, and thus would spare Organization, the scramble for per- ter prepared for a pandemic but that US the Sarbanes-Oxley law was passed; it set the taxpayer money that is now being used for sonal protective equipment including have become unused to facing crises down a new framework for accounting prac- bailouts. And they will still get the better out of export restrictions and even charges and so struggle to cope with them. tices that were to be more transparent and this deal no doubt, as they did in the financial of state piracy, and the political race to Likewise, the humanitarian conse- with provisions for robust enforcement. crisis. Further, the generous and soft condi- secure Covid-19 vaccines. quences of climate change will domi- But what has been the result? For one, it is tions which have accompanied the local nate the lives of all countries, in all Comparable points apply to inter- widely held that the world has not yet got out bailouts are incomprehensible when one parts of the world. national co-operation on climate of the financial crisis. Second – and this may knows how rigorous, even rigid, banks are change. In the short term, the next- be part of the reason for this state of affairs – with applicants for loans. We’re not all in it together stage climate negotiations (COP26) the CEOs of banks and companies/corporate All told, therefore, the new normal will Despite the pandemic’s global have been delayed a year, as have have not only continued to receive their pre- again mean back to square one, to as before impact, any illusion that facing a com- international negotiations such as the crisis salaries, but have even seen their pac- the pandemic. That is, a few will benefit, per- mon viral enemy might bring us Convention on Biological Diversity kages increased! haps even to levels higher than earlier. For the together lasted a short second. As and the High Seas Treaty. In the Is it any surprise, therefore, that Thomas majority, things will only get worse. With no with all crises, COVID-19’s case num- longer term, the accommodations Piketty, the French economist, found that the guarantee that they will get better. Thomas bers and mortality rates have tracked granted to polluting-industry lobbies gap between the rich and the poor had Piketty should get ready to write his next book. the fissures of racism, class and gen- and allied states will only add to the der.

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