Coronavirus is a threat, but not an existential one, nonetheless there are grim days ahead

Mel Gibson in a scene from Mad Max. Picture: Supplied

What should we expect when the coronavirus hits us full force? If the events of the last few days are indicative, it will be something akin to Mad Max II: The Road Warrior. To quote the opening words of the late Harold Baigent in that Australian film classic:

“The leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage, would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a six pack of dunny paper.’’

Admittedly I changed several words in that last line, but you get the gist. If anything was an underwhelming introduction to dystopia, it was people going berserk over a few bog rolls. If you are going to lose it in a supermarket, at least save it for something worthwhile. You know, those people who bang your ankles with trolleys or customers who brazenly separate mushroom heads from the stems in the fruit and veg section. But there is always a positive, even with empty shelves. For some free entertainment, message your socialist friends and acquaintances to ask them if they would be interested in a day at the supermarket to take in the “Venezuelan experience”.

In his 1978 novel The Stand, Stephen King, the doyen of the horror genre, wrote of a super flu that would wipe out all but 0.1 per cent of humanity. Eerily the TV series remake of the novel is due to be released this year. It is the tale of a post-apocalyptic supernatural struggle between the forces of good and evil, the latter led by the malevolent Randall Flagg aka The Dark Man, who causes abject terror and mass panic merely by opening his mouth. A fictionalised version of John Farnham or Guy Sebastian if you will.

Stephen King's The Stand.

The ramifications of the virus are serious. Italy — the entire country — is in lockdown. By law people must stand at least one metre apart in public places. Presumably that means they are also not allowed to wave their hands about when they talk, which for an Italian is a fate crueller than catching the virus. Other countries have had to make significant cultural changes. The Greeks will be smashing more plates than ever, but this time not in celebration.

Before long in Europe people will be told not to go to work. This will inconvenience many, although it will mean very little adjustment for the French. It will not stop the Belgians from drafting a tome of new EU regulations ostensibly designed to combat the virus, but which in reality no-one, not even them, will understand. The Spanish, whose idea of fun is being chased by a herd of homicidal bulls, will not be fazed in the least by a three per cent chance of dying from the virus.

The Austrians, having stocked up on the essentials, will at last discover a legitimate use for their cellars. The Danes will announce the increased burden on the health system means the wealthy can no longer be permitted to get away with paying only 60.2 per cent tax on personal income. The Poles will have a wry chuckle at foreigners who say the virus is the worst thing that can happen to a country, and the Hungarians will shoot anyone who even looks like they are about to sneeze.

The British, traditionally known for their put-the-kettle-on stoicism, will instead announce that an additional 1000 police will monitor social media for any signs of xenophobia. The Germans will come up with a 45-syllable word to describe that feeling when one is number 26 in line to be tested for the virus and has a craving for a doughnut. For the first and only time, the Swedes will order their citizens to cover up. Lastly, no-one is better prepared for a pandemic than history’s greatest handwashers. If anyone can make a quid out of this it will be the Swiss.

If civilisation does collapse and we have to begin again, let’s hope that those who survive are useful types. People like medical staff, engineers, tradies, scientists and farmers for starters. As for all you gender studies lecturers, human rights officials, communication specialists, cultural awareness officers and HR practitioners who survive, you are about to find out how much you are valued.

It is a dark fact that what defines us as a species includes the worst of humanity. Our ancestors survived because they were brutal. They crushed the skulls of fellow humans, snatched food from the mouths of starving children, committed mass rape, burned, pillaged, plundered, and ate the vilest of sustenance. They were resistant to diseases and lived long enough to propagate. As for nice guys, they rarely got to pass on their genes. So when you see ugly scenes of people fighting over innocuous household items, do not dismiss it as aberrant or atavistic behaviour.

That is not pessimism, that is fact. It is not all bad. One of our strengths is our ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. In many ways we have become soft and self-indulgent, but as problem-solvers our skills are never more refined when our lives are threatened. The more people and countries that are affected, the more the impetus and resources to produce a vaccination. This virus is a threat, but not an existential one.

Nonetheless there are grim days ahead. One of the things we should dread most is former Treasurer Wayne Swan, who in response to the crisis has taken to tweeting daily of how he personally saved Australia from the GFC.

When Labor successfully avoided the Great Recession, Australians never felt the bullets we dodged. High unemployment smashing demand & confidence.
The Liberals then & now have failed to learn the lessons of the past & are condemned to repeat it.#auspoI https://t.co/q1UnkVCEBD

— Wayne Swan (@SwannyQLD) March 6, 2020

Not exactly the bashful type, he has devoted the last seven years to composing paeans in honour of his economic wizardry. Stressing his working class credentials a decade ago, he claimed his philosophy was inspired by singer Bruce Springsteen. This seems illogical as that artist has spent a life accumulating a fortune, not blowing one. As for a corona-inspired stimulus package what would be Swan’s theme — something like “Born down in a dead man’s town,” perhaps? Best not go there.

Hopefully the crisis will reinvigorate journalism and remind its practitioners that their job is to tell the facts without fear or favour. Not since the days of the Tiananmen Square massacre have we seen China’s totalitarian government engage in duplicity, misinformation, and suppression of truth to this degree. Thanks to the country’s bungling and cover-ups the world now faces, in addition to thousands of deaths, the potential loss of $1.1 trillion in revenue. Remember only last month China’s deputy head of mission to this country, Wang Xining, accused the Morrison Government of a “vicious cycle of panic and overreaction” in imposing travel ban, and demanded Australia pay compensation to Chinese students who were affected.

Ditto holding the Sino-sycophants to account, particularly the World Health Organisation. Around the time of Australia imposing travel bans, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they were unnecessary and had the “effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit”. Maybe WHO should consider changing its name to the “Woke” Health Organisation. Only last week it was instructing people not to refer to the virus as the “Wuhan Virus” or “China Virus”, saying its official name was chosen to “avoid stigmatisation”.

DO - talk about the new #coronavirus disease (#COVID19)

DON'T - attach locations or ethnicity to the disease, this is not a “Wuhan Virus”, “Chinese Virus” or “Asian Virus”.
The official name for the disease was deliberately chosen to avoid stigmatizationhttps://t.co/yShiCMfYF3 pic.twitter.com/belHrq5HVo

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 2, 2020

Finally, and again regarding the subject of journalism having to rediscover its reason for being, I must mention the case of 338 Guardian employees world-wide, including from Australia, who recently signed a petition that urges the newspaper to cease publishing so-called “anti-trans views”. This was in response to a column by the Guardian’s Suzanne Moore earlier this month which asserted that sex was a biological fact rather than a social construct. “You either protect women’s rights as sex-based or you don’t protect them at all,” she wrote. Not surprisingly, she has been vilified for these views.

Imagine a scenario where some of the signatories to this petition were in a lift with a man who repeatedly sniffs and sneezes. “I got back from China two days ago,” this man would tell the others as he wipes his sweaty brow and holds on to the rail to steady himself. Seeing their horrified looks, he attempts to reassure them. “It’s all right,” he says, “I choose to identify as being perfectly healthy”. Let’s see what prevails: this lunatic embracement of subjective truth, or a sudden rediscovery of biological facts.