A better, fairer world when this is over.

Do not forget all of this. When it is over try to retain some of the good parts of lockdown and remember who we really consider "essential" workers. For example:-

- reduce traffic to reduce pollution and make our roads safer
- make the 9 to 5 a thing of the past - it is not necessary for everyone to go to work and come home at the same time - this only adds to "rush hours" and makes it difficult for some people to work
- improve the terms and conditions of employment of those we have recently come to consider "essential" workers such as NHS employees; delivery drivers; etc
- support businesses who wish to offer their staff the option of working from home;
- make our country more self-sufficient for essentials such as food, medicines etc.
- support the NHS by making it an offence to misuse it by e.g. going to A & E with a minor complaint instead of waiting to see the GP like everybody else - give NHS staff the power to refuse to treat such persons.
- build enough homes for everyone so nobody has to live in over-crowded accommodation

I would welcome more ideas on this vein.

Why the contribution is important

To make our society a healthier one and reduce the risks and impact of future pandemics.

by emartinedinburgh on May 05, 2020 at 03:03PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.4
Based on: 20 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Fifer72 May 05, 2020 at 15:20

    No, let's try and get back to normal. There are some good thoughts in there but ultimately you're hanging your personal politics onto a public health crisis. You've still got the ballot box.

  • Posted by Poligrrl May 05, 2020 at 15:24

    How about a 4 day week and a universal basic income for all.

  • Posted by Fletch May 05, 2020 at 15:34

    I agree with the comments above.

    This pandemic has been awful, an economic disaster and thousands of lives have been lost needlessly. However, we need to look to the future and appreciate our lives. Value each other and what’s important. Let’s protect our environment and have a better work life balance. Let’s try and take some good points out of all the bad that’s happening. The comments above are great and I agree wholeheartedly.

  • Posted by Scott May 05, 2020 at 18:33

    #Buildbackbetter

    I agree, and also think that this is the time to think about this, for 2 main reasons
    1) recovery decisions we make now will shape our society for many years to come.
    2) this is an opportunity to trial and learn things that simple wouldn't have been feasible pre COVID
    3) we're not going to be back to normal in a few weeks, this is a marathon, so we cant ignore what the mid to long term reality like.

    I'm not talking about new crazy ideas but where there is convergence between covid recovery and a better future we should be able to identify these and take advantage,

    To do this we might need to think about some, non-partisan, better future principals..

    The document outlines the principals of how we are dealing with the current immediate and urgent phase of the crisis: i.e. Safe; Lawful; . Evidence-based; Fair & Ethical; Clear.; Collective

    But what are the (non-partisan) principals of rebuilding better overall?
    Well-funded backbone services and infrastructure
    Building resilience
    Green economy
    Supporting local economy
    Better recognition and pay for essential workers of the service economy
    Universal income / Shorter working weeks / combined furlough with these two

  • Posted by ROYBENNETT May 07, 2020 at 20:10

    Until the way governance is conducted in Scotland or for that matter across the uk and the world is changed from an ever increasingly centralised city based structure, nothing will or can change simply because there is a fundamental inability or will to understand life outside such structures.
    As a small food grower on an Island of 12,000 folk I have become all too aware of how utterly irrelevant what we are doing is to anyone outside of our market and community despite much PR and platitudes about buy local. This has been driven home by the nature of "consultations" "feed in mechanisms" and the increasing dominance of bigger groups and centralising of voices into sectors and recognised groups. I was told this crisis was a "business opportunity" I should grab, categorised us with plumbers and electricians by a very senior Scottish minister who, by making such a comment, demonstrated they didn`t actually have a clue about food growing and the effect thier colleagues decisions both past and present had had and were having on our business and island life. This from someone who professed to understand rural life, when in fact they only understood a particular very narrow aspect of it. Strengthening food chains starts small and on the land not at the top.

  • Posted by Christina May 09, 2020 at 19:52

    Agreed.
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