Either Or

I can't help feeling that a Universal Basic Income is the perfect solution to future situations such as this. Having a guaranteed sum of money, sufficient for the basics of life, would also keep many sections of the economy ticking over on life support. Decades, if not centuries of political ideology have been thoroughly consigned to the dustbin and, in the name of social justice, right wing governments around the world have finally been forced, out of necessity, to enact policies which are diametrically opposed to their ideology. They now praise to the rafters - as Boris Johnson did yesterday - the very public servants they have kept on low wages for the last decade/

It can no longer be either life or economy; it has to be both, with the emphasis weighted toward life and society.

Will the current situation halt the gradual privatisation of the NHS in the UK? Hopefully, yes; probably, no. How would the country have coped without a centralised, public health service? Marshalling hundreds of private, profit motivated health companies to act as once would be a monumental task.

UBI won't, however, cure our society's inexorable appetite for debt - it could even fuel it among some sections of society who are not that responsible in the first place, offering them the opportunity to buy even more expensive items than they buy now with their current levels of debt. Limiting debt responsibly has to go hand-in-hand with UBI, and that is the responsibility of the lenders, who must be strictly regulated - another necessity that neo-liberal ideology is antithetical towards.