Growing Inequality Due To Covid Response Will Fuel Active Rebellions Across The World

The growing virus of inequality under Covid will fuel popular rebellions across the world – and, sadly, an authoritarian backlash

Dr Lisa McKenzie

But the rhetoric coming from the government that better times are on the way is just political BS. The hope of a brighter future is misplaced. There are some dark storm clouds of reality moving in at a fast pace that may well be more deadly that the virus: the spectres of growing global inequality, of widespread poverty and mass unemployment, and of the vast majority of us being under the control of an emboldened elite that through the pandemic has increased its wealth, power and political influence. 

Research shows that those who were already rich have increased that wealth exponentially, while those who were at the bottom have sunk even lower. An Oxfam report earlier this year showed not only that wealth inequality was deepening and becoming more entrenched, but also that policies enacted by governments around the world have resulted in giving even more billions to the super-rich while denuding the poorest. 

In Britain, we have a great deal of research and data on how the pandemic has affected different parts of the UK and different communities. The evidence is stark. It is beyond argument that by whatever measure you take – health, wealth, housing, employment, food, and so on – inequalities have worsened under the pandemic.  

The measures taken to tackle Covid-19 have disproportionately attacked low paid workers and condemned families to live in poor, overcrowded and expensive housing, while those ‘lucky’ enough to still have work have had no choice but to put their health on the line, while continuing to stack the supermarket shelves or finish building luxury apartments for the better off.  

It’s a similar story across Europe and the US.  

As we come out of our lockdowns blinking in the light of our empty and boarded up town centres, global civil unrest seems inevitable. Studies have shown that when inequality worsens, revolutionary fervour grows and states become unstable and unsafe. We can see the first rumblings, from anger in Poland, riots in the Netherlands, to protests in Denmark, Belgium and France and sporadic demonstrations in other countries. 

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