Opinion

Alex Kane: When all this is over we'll appreciate what 'society' really means

Alex Kane

Alex Kane

Alex Kane is an Irish News columnist and political commentator and a former director of communications for the Ulster Unionist Party.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said there was no such thing as society
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said there was no such thing as society Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said there was no such thing as society

At times like this it's hard not to think about the role played in your everyday life by so many groups and individuals; people and groups many of us probably take for granted.

We expect them to do things - "sure, isn't that what they're paid to do?"- but only actually notice them when they're not about. Like bin collectors. A week ago, when it was announced that bins mightn't be collected for a while, social media went doolally. Yet I wonder how many of those complainants have ever spoken to the people who collect their bins all the year round, let alone left a little tip for them at Christmas?

And it got me wondering about how many others we take for granted: just expecting them to be there when we need them. Postal workers. Police. Street cleaners. Teachers. Health workers. Carers. Corner shop owners and their staff. Delivery drivers. Social workers. Supermarket staff (indeed staff in all retail outlets). Road rescue services. Service engineers. Newspapers and journalists. Undertakers. That list goes on and on: tens of thousands of agencies involving millions of individuals.

That, in turn, got me thinking about society and what we mean by it. In an interview in 1987 Margaret Thatcher noted: 'They are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours.'

Yet that view of society doesn't seem to include the specific, collective role of the tens of thousands of agencies which are the bedrock of everyday life for almost everyone. Each one of us won't need the help of every agency throughout our lives, but we will need the help of some. Think, for example, of what your life would be like if you didn't have the welfare state and NHS. Remember, too, that the welfare state was built as a direct response to the crisis that was World War Two and a recognition by the government of the debt of gratitude owed to the people of the United Kingdom for the collective and individual efforts and sacrifices required from 1939-45.

Right now many of us can avoid the frontline. Yes, we are having to make sacrifices and endure an array of physical, social, economic and psychological hardships, but we can stay at home. Millions can't. The entire hospital/recovery services staff - which includes everyone from the cleaning staff to the senior medical staff - are on the frontline. As are the security services. As are supermarket staff. As are hundreds of thousands of others, classed as 'essential services', who won't have the relative luxury of being confined to home. I know that being stuck at home day after day isn't exactly a bundle of laughs for most people; but it's certainly a better option than constant contact with the virus or the likelihood of seeing those who may be carrying it.

Looking after yourself first is something that most of us do without needing to be prompted. Even looking after our neighbours is something most of us can still manage. But what do you do when you can't physically meet-up with friends, neighbours and family? What happens when circumstances shut down your workplace? What happens when all the usual payments have to be made? What happens when your life is turned upside down? What happens when you may not be able to get enough food? What happens when we're all in the same boat, facing the same storm? Isn't that when we need a collective society to fall back upon? Isn't that when we realise that 'all' embraces something very much bigger than the individual? And when this is over - and we discover that the economic and psychological consequences could last for a decade - we'll also realise the importance of society.

Maybe the most important consequence will be a collective re-evaluation of what we mean by society and a new understanding that in an increasingly inter-connected world we need to acknowledge that compassion extends far beyond our own backyard. The 'we're all in this together' philosophy shouldn't just be relevant in a crisis, should it?