Time and time again, history shows the triumph of classism and inequality, often at the cost of the lives of the working class. With the loss of ⅓ of the European population after the devastating Black Death of the 1340s and 1350s, the sum of the continent’s wealth started circulating differently - eventually to many of the same small groups that survived because their wealth often enabled them to escape infection. For all the social advances that have been made in the recent centuries, one thing remains clear - there has not yet been a socially ‘just’ outbreak.
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, classism has proved to be an ever-present force in our lives, with those in working class jobs being found to be two or three times more likely to die than those in middle class professions. This can be simply explained by the nature of these positions (which often cannot be done from home) meaning the rate of infection is increased, and therefore the death rate. This is perhaps exacerbated by the negligence of both authorities and the general public who clapped diligently for carers each week but remained ignorant and/or incapable of correcting the PPE crisis that endangered so many healthcare workers at the beginning of the pandemic.
Furthermore, those possibly in the most dangerous environments are largely forgotten by society. Social distancing remains often unenforced in homeless shelters, refugee camps and the notorious jails for undocumented immigrants in America, leaving these often vulnerable populations at risk to death, illness and infection. On a more global scale, the recent development of COVID-19 vaccinations has led to richer nations ordering the vaccine in surplus, whilst poorer nations remain unable to afford enough doses for their populations. Vaccine equity poses a huge moral issue to countries whose vaccine nationalism is of danger to the international community, and clearly demonstrates how our society’s classism underpins a valid and current danger to the working classes.
Written by Imogen Aley
Artwork by Delicia
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