As we've all sat at home, unnerved and thrown off balance in quarantine, one this has become increasingly clear: We are witnessing the consequences of neglectful policies and the collapse of the socio-economic conception.
These failures scream out to us: A social security blanket that cannot save families of meager means and at-risk households with other problems; an Education Ministry that hasn't progressed into the 21st century; a labor market that hasn't developed the necessary expertise required of all workers in this century; a housing crisis that could leave hundreds of thousands without roofs over their heads; a depleted and shaken healthcare system. All these were written with blood on the wall even before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
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This conception, however, hasn't only been prevalent in Israel, but in many Western countries, for three decades already. And therefore, here too, both right and left-wing governments believed the state needed to slim down and reduce its scope. The approach was to implement isolated amendments, cosmetic in nature. But now the harsh consequences are being felt across the globe.
Suddenly, everyone can see with their own eyes that there is no alternative to a robust national healthcare system because without it we will all collapse sooner or later. Every country has old people and children who need to be cared for, unemployed people who need answers, and hungry families that need to be fed. Hence countries such as the United States and Great Britain, which have been cutting social budgets for years, are now investing massive sums in bailout packages for citizens and businesses.
That this catastrophe is on a global scale is a reason for hope. When the distress is obvious and tangible in so many countries, it's much harder to deny it and turn a blind eye.
If the entire world has begun to realize the conception has collapsed, Israel, too, must alter course, during the current crisis and beyond. The new government must take responsibility for social infrastructures, for our sake and for the following generations. First and foremost the government needs to manage this business of running a country, establish a budget and find revenue streams, even at the cost of raising taxes for those who have more.
We will need to invest in order to rehabilitate the healthcare system, improve education, and restructure social security. If only a magic pill existed to assure social security. There isn't one. Within a decade we can be in a completely different place in all indices, but for this to happen hundreds if not thousands of government plans, laws, budgetary clauses and regulations must be changed. We need people who are capable of running things differently. It's a complicated task, to say the least, but necessary nonetheless.
The corona crisis has shown all of us that social security is no less important than military security. And if this is the case, what are the options? We can continue slashing social services. We can opt not to change anything. We can also rehabilitate. Which do you choose?
Yes, we are also mired in an economic crisis, which reflexively leads us to think we must tighten our belts. But this would be a Pavlovian response to a recession, in the spirit of the conception that has collapsed, and the price will be immense. Our economy is in good condition. National debt and inflation have dropped dramatically in recent decades. We can increase government spending to fix and bolster our social infrastructures. These, in return, will protect us and develop the economy and society alike.
There is real hope here for a social restart. Anyone who believes in our future here must enlist to foster change, in one field after another, one plan after another. To cement the legislative and budgetary policies to fortify our social defenses, so we are all protected.
