World 7.3 million Brazil 740K+ Peru 200K+
Vaccine developers in Australia say that funding for research follows a ‘panic and neglect’ cycle. It’s typical of what my wise Pisces grandfather, George Finey, used to call, ‘pocket thinking’; the short term, do as little as possible, spend as little as possible, patch up the problem, ignore it and it will go away mindset that pervades governments and many businesses. Why don’t we invest in permanent solutions? If things were fixed properly and funded properly in the first instance, no matter what the project or service, then there would be a flow on effect leading to less disease, more productivity and better outcomes everywhere, but instead, governments in particular, have this attitude of doing as little as possible. What ends up happening is that short term fixes end up having to be redone at a higher cost later on, or the problem escalates and gets out of hand, causing more issues, but if things were done properly in the first place, it would be a cheaper solution and a better outcome.
It’s the same story with homelessness. For so long the problem of homeless people has been ignored. Government responses here to this pandemic have helped to get a lot of people off the streets and into accommodation, saving a lot of money on health services and fixing a long term social problem. Why wasn’t more done before? Spending more money in the first place is actually cheaper and more beneficial in the long run. Short term ‘pocket thinking’ needs to change, and it can if it’s acknowledged that it’s a practice that doesn’t work. It’s the same in business. Many employers drive their employees hard to be productive, when in actual fact people are more productive and happier when they are not under stress in their work environment and feel valued by their employers. With more people working from home, and finding a better work-life balance, I really hope that this pandemic will lead to some permanent changes in attitude. A four day working week has been adopted by a number of firms and productivity has substantially increased.