What sort of world do we want after the pandemic?

What is needed in the 2020s are strong and transparent institutions and people who are willing to work together to achieve common goals and create a common wealth. Picture: AFP

The US spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year on defence. It has assembled a fearsome armoury as much to intimidate would-be aggressors as to deploy on the battlefield. In 2019, the Trump administration even announced the formation of a Space Force. Yet for all this investment, this whiz-bang new technology, this teeth-baring display of military might, the greatest threat to the wellbeing of the American people has been COVID-19. In the US in recent weeks more people have died each day from Covid than in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The virus has now claimed almost seven times as many US lives as the Vietnam War.

But it’s not just the pandemic that has weakened America. Dissent, social division and hatred are powerful allies. Consider the advantages of fomenting dissent in a nation such as the US, or Australia for that matter. It costs little. Unlike an intercontinental ballistic missile, it doesn’t leave a vapour trail or radar track pointing to a launch site. It allows for plausible denial. From an adversary’s point of view, sowing the seeds of internal division offers the kind of slow-burn impact that’s probably well worth the investment.

I have no doubt that analysts at the Pentagon have war-gamed all manner of conflict with all sorts of countries and yet arguably the greatest carnage inflicted upon the American people in three generations has come from within. Foreign adversaries haven’t had to lift a finger.

Australia’s defence planners and politicians take note. No amount of budgetary allocations for stealth bombers, deadly drones or Space Force armaments will address widespread social unrest. New military technology is pointless if the nation cannot work, pay taxes, agree on common goals and deliver a sustainable, enjoyable and basically equitable quality of life. That’s where we need to get to.

Perhaps the spending required to deliver our national goals should include programs aimed at healing and unifying. Indeed, the post-pandemic world offers a rare opportunity to recreate a society that is more productive, more sustainable, more entrepreneurial and better equipped to offer opportunity for all. Dissenters, from afar and within, cannot get a foothold in a nation that is respectful of alternative viewpoints, inclusive of minorities and listens to all voices but happily accepts the will of the majority.

What is needed in the 2020s are strong and transparent institutions and people who are willing to work together to achieve common goals and create a common wealth. Now is the time for big and bold thinking, not just in Australia and the US but across the developed world, to ensure that the right social structures and values are in place. Qualities such as honesty, fairness, sustainability and creativity should be actively cultivated, for these will be the hallmarks of a successful nation in the coming decade. It’s hard to sow seeds of dissent, leading to rioting and suffering, if everyone basically agrees on where we’re headed.

Just as there are spending programs designed to improve skills and health, housing and trade, transport and culture, there needs to be a greater recognition that our future security very much depends upon our ability to come together, to make sacrifices, and to overcome adversity. These are the very foundations of social cohesion.

A united Australia, a united America, delivering a good quality of life via trusted institutions will deliver good prospects for decades to come. Social cohesion is central to national security and individual prosperity.