COVID-19 Highlights, Fault Lines in China, India and the World

Abstract

The on going COVID-19 pandemic has succeeded in bringing before us many social, political fault lines which can no longer be ignored and must be addressed urgently. The first is the phenomenon of inequality in power, status, wealth and living conditions which has been growing rapidly in recent decades within countries and between countries. The second is the clear decline of publicness in society, economy and politics. Inspired by capitalism, individual enterprise and private initiative have been eulogised to such an extent that the state’s investment in basic public goods such as health, education, housing and child welfare has remained woefully inadequate. The third fault line is an over-centralisation of power leading to a clear decline of democracy by manipulating institutional mechanisms and making full use of the technology of mass communication to mobilise votes. If these emerging fault lines don’t engage global rulers immediately then the sufferings faced by humanity the world over will explode.