The writer and philosopher John Moriarty regarded Moby Dick by Herman Melville as "the best diagnosis and prognosis we have of the Western adventure in culture". Moriarty called it the Pequod culture, the name suggesting it would be doomed. Captain Ahab, who called himself Old Thunder, defied "the omnipotent God-in-the-Typhoon when the Pequod sailed straight into a typhoon, its end-of-the-world tempestuous blackness lit only by lightning".
Moriarty contrasted Ahab’s Old Thunder rebellion against the natural world to the contemporaneous leader Black Elk of the Oglala Sioux in the western prairies. Black Elk reverently climbed Harney Peak in the Black Hills in South Dakota to contemplate the Thunder God for divine intervention for his people.
Outright defiance or contemplation and acceptance. It is a timely debate.
Loss of income, of freedom and of pure fun compared to a lifestyle just two months ago are driving many communities to break their lockdown. The recent VE Day commemorations in the UK brought crowds celebrating escape from domestic confinement. Michigan has seen armed militia break into the state's capitol building. Partygoers are now cramming Wisconsin bars.
In rapidly reducing their lockdown measures, were UK prime minister Boris Johnson and US president Donald Trump fearful of otherwise losing control and popular support? Perhaps there is a macabre assessment both in Downing Street and in the White House just to release the brakes and to see what happens. If everything turns out to be relatively fine and the economy quickly rebuilds, well, the political leaders will be heroes. But if not, then there will be a much bigger stick with which to beat the population in the second resulting wave: you went back to the old ways, and now you see the devastation which resulted.
English and American cultures are founded on being fundamentally different and, yes, superior to other nations. The lessons and observations from other places really just do not apply because, well, there are cultural differences which thus make them inapplicable. Tactics being used in other countries to comply with the new global situation are largely irrelevant, and instead the pandemic can be directly defied. Trump asserts that other world leaders believe America is leading the way. The rest of the world indeed watches (but chiefly with disbelief) the active Pequod culture in America and England.
National coffers
The economic consequences of the pandemic, and of the financial cost of our own government’s response, may last for generations. Our national coffers do need as many of us back to work just as soon as possible. The sheer national cost of wage subsidies is unsustainable, and the economic damage from the pandemic is of very deep concern. Many are really desperate and under severe stress to get back to work. Many businesses sadly may well never open again.
Nevertheless, thankfully here in Ireland we are listening to international advice and to the public health experts. We are watching with attention the experiences of other countries. As the infection and death numbers have dropped here, both complacency and lockdown fatigue may well have set in. The hard evidence will be just how those numbers progress over the next few weeks. Despite our economic and social pressures, a renewed strict lockdown may still be necessary for public health.
Government guidelines for a return to work have been drawn up, and health and safety inspections are probable to ensure employers have reasonably mitigated against the further spread of the virus. Once businesses reopen, consumer and business sentiment may be uncertain and difficult to predict. Perhaps there will be a frenzied backlog of demand, but counterbalanced by a wariness to engage because of concern about health and safety, weak consumer spending power, and whether certain suppliers and partners remain commercially sustainable or will be bad debtors.
With a return to office work, commercial property developers may well be salivating at the doubling of office space that will be required to implement social distancing at work. Desk density will need to be halved, and break-out areas increased. On the other hand, the balance of work location may have permanently swung to the home, or to shared work hubs away from the corporate centre. Employment which facilitates a healthier air quality and safer environment, and not just avoids commutes, may lead staff to actively seek out employers who can accommodate this. It is even conceivable that property prices may recover outside of urban areas ahead of cities, as people actively look for healthier and safer locations from which to work.
Virtual participation
Some sectors may take many years to recover, but can the pandemic be accommodated? Will live sports events complement restrictions on physical attendance, by paid-for virtual participation? In the performing arts – which are so necessary for national well-being – could subscription-only virtual performances, workshops and masterclasses possibly augment theatres and concert venues, especially if the artists involved are accessible for interactive feedback and dialogue? Could some tourist resorts and locations ever become completely self-contained, as protected bubbles for visitors in which staff would have to be prepared to roster for extended periods away from their families? Will people be willing to travel internationally when there is a risk of being stranded as renewed lockdown measures may flare overseas with little notice? Will “repatriation insurance” be routinely added to travel insurance, and a “bring them home” levy introduced across the travel industry?
The biggest business risk is reputation. If a premises or business becomes an outbreak hotspot, with infected staff, suppliers, customers or produce, it may be extremely difficult to recover. Perhaps management demonstrably followed all applicable pandemic guidelines, but that may not matter very much if there is a serious outbreak. A business or property could be effectively become blacklisted by its industry sector and its community, threatening cash flows. Competitive employers and suppliers may quickly step into the vacuum.
Front line
Surely the best way for senior management to convince themselves and to see that the work environment really is safe, is to accept the pandemic and lead by example. Management should go out onto the front line. Management needs to be visible in the same Covid-19 environment in which they are expecting their staff to operate. If you expect your staff to work up and down the aisles, then go join them. If you assert that your production lines are protected against the virus, go walk about. If your front office protects your staff from infected (possibly asymptomatic) members of the public, then go serve on a till for the morning.
Perhaps politicians should do likewise. Do not defy the pandemic, but instead offer public reassurance by volunteering in its midst. We all know and have had to accept that the pandemic is still virulent amongst us. Not many have the medical qualifications of our Taoiseach, but there are numerous opportunities for direct public service in the middle of the pandemic, which could help calm constituents’ wariness and concerns over safety as the lockdowns are eased.
Our sentience, wisdom and learning come from our memories of how things were and how things have come to be. Our past experiences place our present in its context. Moriarty observed that the Irish have in fact little to learn from Zen mindfulness and self-awareness, for it is already a part of our culture. Ireland is returning to work in a state of mindful contemplation.
