… just as in 1945, voices are starting to say “never again”. As in: never again “austerity”, which leaves people helpless in an emergency. Never again the emaciation of the welfare state, and the NHS above all. Come to that, never again neoliberalism. But who will do the politics of “never again” when we open our eyes? Or are these hopes just “prolonged dives into the world of dream”, pathetic fantasies dissolving into “paroxysms of depressive anxiety” as Britain wakes from its corona coma?

The above is from a recent Guardian article by Neal Ascherson that may be of interest, given the debates and speculation about what the post virus world might look like.

After the crisis, a new world won’t emerge as if by magic. We will have to fight for it.

It reminds of the crucial point that if we want things to change, it is down to us to decide the kind of world we want, and to campaign or fight for it.  To show each other it is both plausible and necessary. As a way of building the collectivity and solidarity. That is the basis of social change, as we debate and critique with one another what that might look like.

Please read, ponder, organise, educate and act. With each other and the communities we work alongside. The essential base of any lasting social change.

… a great emergency, like this shared time of pestilence, leaves people sensing their own power, aware that they can act without waiting for yesterday’s leaders. When we finally wake up from the long sleep cure, there is a chance to make those “never agains” more than a fading dream. A chance – but lasting only for a few months of creative confusion as we all stand up again and look around. “Rise like lions after slumber,” said Shelley. There is plenty to do, but we have to do it fast.