Reading Andrew Gamble’s contribution to @MarkPerryman ‘s ‘Corbynism from Below’. This quote seems timely - I hear a lot about ‘no return to “normal” ‘. But, as Gamble points out, in a different context and pre-Covid, there are dangerous possibilities ahead.

Put simply, seems to me there are three scenarios post Covid. Option 1) we DO return to “normal”. This is the most likely - we return to our unsustainable lifestyles and unsustainable lives. Working too hard to consume more ‘stuff’. Wrecking ourselves and the planet.

Option 2) Yet more years of austerity drives further precarity and poverty which in turn fuels the authoritarian populist movements that are already well established. Anti internationalist and anti science - this is the most dangerous outcome, and a real possibility.

Option 3) We do not return to “normal” but we “reset”. We revalue our public services, and crucially, public service workers. We rediscover the value of community and social solidarity. We rebalance work, production and consumption based on the principles of sustainability.

I’m very clear - Option 3 is the only option that offers a long term solution to current problems. But - serious question - how to make it happen? Because there will be no default to “reset”. Very powerful forces will resist reset vehemently. So, if this is a moment to change ...

... how do we make sure that change happens? [because it will not happen unless we make it happen].