Falling Back, 8. It's a Working Class Problem.

Things seem to be getting out of hand with the virus. Locally, there are two children at the primary school in town who are infected, with their respective classes in quarantine. Two people we know have tested positive. Overall, in our region infection rates seem to be starting to go down, but some of those infections are getting too close to home.

In the region of Madrid, chaos has ensued. It turns out that it is the region in all of Europe with the fastest growing caseload. Specifically, in certain townships to the south of the city of Madrid, most of them working class. So, lockdown has been proclaimed for those townships. The only acceptable reasons for leaving the house and the township are: doctor's appointments, visiting the banks, pharmacies or the supermarkets, going to school, or going to work. Most of those who live there work elsewhere, including in many of the richer neighborhoods and townships that have lower infection rates and don't have to stay home. People are angry. These past weeks, infection rates were going up, yet the number of buses and trains remained the same, and at rush hour, they were packed. They continue like that. 

At the Teatro Real, there was an opera scheduled for yesterday evening. It had to be cancelled. The more expensive seats were socially distanced. But the cheaper balcony seating was not. Protests ensued and the opera was cancelled. So, it seemed more important that those who could pay more stay healthy, while there was no problem that those who could only pay a smaller amount might get infected. Money, money, money must be funny, in a rich man's world. 

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the region of Madrid, was in the news the other day because of her views on why the virus was spreading much more in the working class neighborhoods. She said it had to do "among other things, with the way of life our immigrants have in Madrid." ("entre otras cosas, por el modo de vida que tiene nuestra inmigración en Madrid.") So, the richer areas don't engage in risky behavior?

There is an inherent classism in how the virus infects people. Leaving rural areas aside, most contagions in larger towns and cities follow the money. Rather, it follows the lack of money. Those that have to work because their work is deemed essential, are the ones most at risk. And essential workers are those that provide basic services to the population. A basic service is not, for example, investment brokerage. It's a supermarket cashier or a hospital janitor. I'm not saying that we should just shut down absolutely everything; we can't. But we can try to remember that those who risk their health for others often do so for a pittance, and simply can't afford to stay home and lose their job. The least municipalities can do, is acknowledge their effort, and provide them with better services, such as much more frequent transportation, so they don't have to squeeze into crowded buses. Or create some kind of paid rotation of work and rest, so they aren't working every single work day of every single week, constantly exposed. And those who have the luxury of being able to work from home should have the decency of avoiding putting more pressure on them. In a place where contagion is rising, there is no need to visit the supermarket every day. Or of possibly taking the virus with you on vacation somewhere else.

We really don't seem to care much about the invisible people. But if they were to suddenly disappear, we would lament them very much. How about we treat them with respect?

Life continues.