Culture
‘Disaster Capitalists’ are Profiting from the Pandemic
Article by Jess Pannese
Giant corporations have time and time again viewed times of mass suffering as a ‘business opportunity’, worlds away from the reality that so many of us are faced with, and the pandemic is no exception from this. The same lockdown that is punishing and punitive for so many is of benefit to billionaires, forcing the question of whether there is any incentive for the situation to change for them.
The UK's Pandemic Response has been Hamstrung by Political Cronyism
Article by Ben Dzialdowski
The high-stakes nature of COVID-19 policy, with its amplified health and financial implications, has exposed the rampant cronyism that runs throughout Johnson’s government. With a string of errors from PPE to free school meals coinciding with huge government contracts going to friends and donors, cronyism will be seen as one of the defining characteristics of Britain’s COVID-19 government response.
We Can’t Disregard Music at the Time We Need It Most
Feature by Kaya Purchase
But when the world is in a crisis, or recovering from such, music is a necessity, not a luxury. Listeners need it for inspiration and comfort. Musicians need something through which to vent their frustration and grief. The world needs an art form that will reflect those areas of society that the news won’t represent authentically.
Unequal Societies Have Unequal Disasters
Article by Ben Dzialdowski
During his speech on the 22nd of September 2020, Boris Johnson used the word ‘we’ 57 times. Johnson’s façade of ‘unity’ and getting “through this winter together” attempts to create a sense of collective struggle against a virus that we are supposedly equally equipped to fight. This fictitious narrative masks the disparity between social classes, ignoring the exacerbating effect that crises such as COVID-19 have on pre-existing class-based inequalities.