Body building: Sue Newsom and Jo Keogh on pandemic recovery

‘Debt hysteria is much more dangerous than the debt.’

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the deep inequalities of our economic system, where ‘normal’ has been failing millions. Quakers in Britain have joined the Build Back Better campaign, a coalition of over eighty organisations, acting to ensure that the needs of the worst-off are at the heart of recovery. Last month London Quakers hosted a second online meeting on the subject, with Mark E Thomas of The 99% Organisation.

Mark emphasised the need for fact-based policymaking, avoiding the myth that we need to balance the books through austerity. The debt-to-GDP ratio since 1700 has frequently been well over 100 per cent. The debt of over 200 per cent in 1948 built the National Health Service. He argued that debt hysteria is much more dangerous than the debt, and that there are five actions we need to take: a democratic reset, with constitutional reform; make policies on fact not myth; formulate policy for abundance and solidarity – grow the pie and share it fairly; invest wisely in the future; and ensure clean, competitive markets.

We learnt of the three economic growth buckets: the good, the ‘could be good’, and the bad. One example of the bad bucket is extractive industries. Agriculture and forestry fall in the ‘could be good’ bucket, needing major transformation; and scientific and technical activities fall in the good bucket, needing only minor change. The table we were shown indicated where we could direct our actions to help this, such as switching to renewable energy and avoiding the use of meat in our diets.

Mark went on to tell us about five projects The 99% Organisation is working on:

• raising awareness with MPs
• working with local councillors to influence policy
• raising awareness with younger people
• sharing ideas with friends and local communities
• raising awareness about the negative impact of companies externalising their costs (contracting staff so that they do not have to take responsibility for their care and protection).

We considered what we could do individually, in our Meetings, and in our communities. We came back together in worship and discerned this extract from the resulting minute: ‘We agreed that as individuals we could and should inform ourselves better about these important ideas so we can discuss them with confidence. In our meetings we could spread the messages we have received today and share the vision, through our personal and Quaker networks… We encourage Friends to consider joining The 99% Organisation so as to continue learning. We stress the importance of reaching out to younger people and working with them to strengthen their future prospects as well as endeavouring to make society as a whole more equal.’

If you are interested in taking action with them please contact Sue through the London Quakers website.

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