The world today is ruptured by a natural entity which is infinitesimally small in comparison with the wealth which the masters of capital have amassed. The Covid-19, a pandemic caused by a strand of the Coronavirus has exposed the fragility of the entire system put up by capitalist states worldwide including the crony capitalist one in India. With deaths comparable to that of wars and an ever-increasing number of active cases, the crisis has hit the global economy as well as the global political order with a crisis hitherto unseen with the marginalized classes being the worst sufferers. Cuba, China and Vietnam, all ‘socialist’ states with varying characters have emerged as leaders as far as sustainability and solidarity is concerned amidst this crisis. Covid-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities which the present system inherently keeps hidden within the numerous bureaucratic institutions which have been erected to portray a sense of peace and harmony in the world. The ‘organic crisis’ which has been ushered in has dealt a serious blow to neoliberal state forms, the privatized healthcare system, sectarian and fundamentalist governmentality, among others. A vaccine is important for human life to sustain at this point, but a bigger economic crisis awaits once the pandemic has its day. As the Hegelian Marxist Slavoj Žižek says, “the light at the end of the tunnel is just another train”. Likewise, it is time now to do away with capitalism as a concept and usher in radical socialist struggle with communism as a goal.

Coming to New Zealand, which like the rest of the world resorted to border control at the first instance followed by a complete lockdown for a month, with certain added relaxations and benefits for the marginalised communities, has targeted to completely stamp out the virus rather than waiting to flatten the infection curve. While the supermarkets and pharmacies remain open which more or less cater to all general grocery, medical and eatery demands of the people, people did resort to panic shopping at the last instance in spite of repeated circulars and press briefings from the government. The response from the Labour government has been sound, with unions and left-wing groups constantly putting in demands for forgoing rentals and enforcing wage payments during the lockdown, which have received a good response from the people here. Universities, schools and other nonessential services remain closed, with students, especially international students, being regularly contacted for wellbeing check-ups by the authorities and teachers . The social stability and solidarity which the people in New Zealand have exhibited has been rewarded with New Zealand being relatively safer for the time being with limited community transmission. The country in lockdown though, in a personal opinion, still is in Level 2 resorted to drastic measures by declaring itself as Level 4 and has been able to control the spread, at least for the time being.

Suddhabrata Deb Roy
PhD Candidate
Department of Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology
University of Otago, New Zealand