Exultet

It doesn’t seem appropriate at all to even think of singing the exultet hymn of praise at this coming resurrection mass. Exultet iam angelica turba caelorum… More adequate for our times would be to continue Lent and rogations for another year and keep asking: a peste fame et bello libera me domine

There were times — in 541 under Justinian, or in 1347-48, the Black Plague, as recalled by Walter Scheidel in his article in yesterday’s NYT— when the demographic loss was so severe that the survivors could free themselves for a generation or two from the pressure exerted on them by the political or religious elites. Salaries doubled or trebled, no matter the early efforts by kings or aristocracy to reestablish the old order of hierarchical division and labor exploitation. Land redistribution happened by default.

We are unlikely to see the same redistribution of wealth happen this time. The limited size of human losses, from a global perspective, and the solid integration of the economic and political machinery make it unlikely. No matter our efforts to move towards a more just and sharing world, and in particular the generosity and courage shown by all workers in the pandemic, it seems that deregulated market capitalism will continue to dominate our lives during and after this catastrophe. The support given by a Democratic majority to Biden rather than to Sanders shows that most Americans are not ready (or were not ready, a few weeks ago) to reject the present capitalist disorder and its myths. Disorder in the USA: no insurance or security for workers, some seventeen million of whom, to date, have lost their jobs, contracts, and wages (that is about 11% of the non-farm work force, which totaled about 155M recently, according to the department of labor figures). More will lose their jobs, and with them their so often endorsed employers’ health plan. A one-time temporary help has been granted ($1200 per individual, $2400 per couple), but what is that in regard to the coming months of food bills, rent contracts, car payments, heating expenses, and especially eventual health insurance? What is that for people whose sense of isolation and abandonment will only grow? Tax payments have been delayed, but no sick leave, or so little, no insurance in the event of job loss, no affordable universal health insurance in sight, except perhaps some adjustments that will not threaten the income of insurance companies, hospital groups, pharmaceutical companies, or manufacturers of medical instruments. Congress is devising new financial packages to support large and small employers, but what happens if about a third of the total economy cannot restart because many people will have no income for several months?