1/10 Reflecting on #Covid_19 pandemic from a #governance perspective: when society faces a real crisis that needs strong coordinated action, it looks to the state and to scientific/medical experts along with cooperation amongst civil society backed up by police enforcement.

2/10 Private sector plays important role in various ways, such as ensuring food supplies in the face of selfish freeriding panic buyers, but many private sector companies look to the state for a rescue package of loans, bail outs, etc. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51956879

3/10 Some libertarians bleat about this being excuse for state control of our lives but few take this seriously as we are facing a real crisis that gravely threatens societal wellbeing. We also recognise need for cooperation amongst countries to provide for international action

4/10 Extremely high risks of zoonotic virus outbreaks were indicated by previous outbreaks & related risks of inhumane wet markets were warned of as a “time-bomb” in 2007, this being seen by many as a facet of global threats to ecosystems and biodiversity https://cmr.asm.org/content/20/4/660

5/10 When things return to 'normal' & calls resume to shrink state, ignore 'so called experts', revert to selfish national isolationism, recognise 'that there is no such thing as society' & rely on dynamism of private sector, etc, remember what we relied on to address this crisis

6/10 Despite warnings from the 1929 & 2008 economic crises, it could take this major international pandemic to really seal recognition of the importance of the state & of international cooperation in achieving stable economies and our societal well-being https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/22/the-coronavirus-is-leading-to-a-whole-new-way-of-economic-thinking

7/10 Also, remember these times when we again start to hear arguments that #ClimateChange best addressed through private sector action, that experts can't be trusted, that state should not interfere in trying to steer society, that societal behaviour can't be changed overnight..

8/10 One of the many lessons from this pandemic is that when we really face a crisis, it is the state we look to for concerted action & the people/civil society that we look to for cooperation & mutual support, contrary to the corporate message from #Marvel #IronMan3

9/10 Given potential for even bigger systemic crises related to threats such as #climatechange & #biodiversityloss, we should see this crisis as a major lesson from which we can learn to avoid/mitigate future such crises ie. it isn't a corporate Iron Man that is likely to save us

10/10 For the full version of this article now published in @the_ecologist - What the #COVID19 pandemic should teach us about governance - see
https://theecologist.org/2020/apr/08/what-covid-19-can-teach-us-about-governance @ProfMarkMaslin @rick7575