A lot has to change - Corona has only made it visible (to everyone).

A contribution to the discussion by Gisela-Ingrid Weissinger, active in Care Revolution Dortmund, on the call "Learning together from the corona pandemic- for solidarity and sustainable lifestyles ."[caption id="attachment_4181" align="alignleft" width="124"] Care Revolution Dortmund[/caption] I fully agree with the call "Learning together from the corona pandemic - for solidarity and sustainable lifestyles". The following contribution is intended as a supplement to the appeal and as an attempt to name changes that the pandemic has clearly demonstrated are necessary. In the media debate on the coronavirus pandemic, I find the question of whether and, if so, what causes, connections and correlations exist between this pandemic and the previous epidemics conspicuously absent: Is there a connection that might make this virus recognisable as an exacerbation of previous viral diseases (Sars, Ebola, etc.)? Is there a connection between this pandemic and the environmental or climate crisis? It has been repeatedly suggested that there is a link between the restriction of wildlife habitats and the outbreak of the pandemic. If any of this is true, it is an indication that the climate crisis has already reached unprecedented proportions. [caption id="attachment_4187" align="alignright" width="260"] Care Revolution Dortmund stand at the German Protestant Church Congress in Dortmund 2019, photos. Kirchentag in Dortmund 2019, Photos: Martina Reff[/caption] The concern of companies, politicians and employees about the collapse in sales and profits associated with the economic standstill: An economy based on increasing sales and revenue is always and per se equally destructive and fragile. Raw materials are exploited, resources are destroyed. Products are produced that nobody needs. Damaged products are thrown away instead of being repaired. Products that are considered obsolete are also discarded instead of being updated (exported as waste or sold to so-called developing countries). This economic system is a system based on the production of waste and environmental destruction, the damage of which is borne by those who did not cause it. And yet attempts are being made to get this destructive system up and running again with huge sums of money, presumably prematurely, even if this means risking infections and human lives. [caption id="attachment_4185" align="alignleft" width="286"] Dortmund alliance for more staff in the healthcare sector, photo: Verdi[/caption] I believe the following changes are necessary 1. What is needed is energy, resource and environmentally friendly production of durable and repairable products to satisfy the basic needs of all. (Smartphones, laptops and printers must also be durable and repairable.) 2. in addition to learning the ability to carry out simple repairs, it is also necessary (in all schools) to learn manual and everyday skills (e.g. cooking skills instead of fast food). 3. children and young people must be able to discover and develop their talents and interests, which do not solely and primarily serve gainful employment and are not based on an interest in exploitation: Making music, reading, painting, photography, handicrafts, etc., cultural skills and interests. (The so-called ceiling is most likely to fall on the heads of those who do not know what to do with obligation-free time). 4. only a transformation of the economy, which is primarily geared towards the production of goods and profit, into an economy that is geared towards satisfying social needs and protecting the environment and climate can contribute to the creation of fair living and working conditions that meet the needs of all people. 5. all goods of general interest belong in public hands. Which socially necessary goods and services (schools, daycare centres, healthcare, clean water, waste collection, libraries and cultural facilities, etc.) should be organised and produced centrally and which should be decentralised must be reviewed and transparently decided at municipal, district or state level with the participation of committed citizens and experts. Where privatisation has taken place in the past, it must be reversed. 6. general mobility must be guaranteed through the free use of public transport and the abolition of private car ownership. Flights must be limited to environmentally friendly long-haul flights. 7. housing: One of the problems exacerbated by the corona crisis is access to housing. Those who have the opportunity to live in a spacious flat with a garden can bear the restrictions on freedom of movement better than those who are dependent on a small flat without a balcony or garden, especially as a family or single parent with small children. The coronavirus crisis has drastically highlighted the unsustainable distribution of living space and the unequal access to fresh air and green spaces. Solutions cannot be residential neighbourhoods designed on the drawing board. What I have in mind is a publicly subsidised development of multi-generational living projects geared towards climate and environmental protection and energy saving, consisting of a mixture of communal and private space and with the participation of those who will use the space - the realisation of different models (not one-size-fits-all models) that show how things can be done differently: It can be done differently. Solutions include

• Infrastructure (local shops instead of supermarkets, surgeries, pharmacies, etc.).
• Needs-based living space instead of one-size-fits-all, living space instead of sleeping space.
• Intelligent mix of communal and private spaces (communal kitchen: not everyone wants to/can cook every day; cooking instead of fast food or frozen food; spaces for different needs: for children, young people, communal spaces for educational and cultural events, group meetings, celebrations, accommodation for guests)
• Green space for personal and communal use - use as what?
• Mobility issues and access to public transport
• Tenure: Privately used living space that is not used personally within a family falls to the municipality to be passed on as living space.
• City centres must also become living, meeting and cultural spaces again. Rural areas must once again become attractive places to live with the necessary infrastructure, cultural and meeting facilities.

8 Democracy:

• Under Corona conditions, we must experience attempts to "rule through" (example: the attempt by the NRW state government to push through an unconstitutional epidemic law in a rush and without discussion; the legally unsecured use of drones in Dortmund, among other places, to monitor public places; police interventions where small groups can be found in public places or parks: While it is apparently not a problem for the police to patrol in groups without keeping their distance, this becomes a criminal offence where civilians do so)
• Advising the federal and state governments: Over the past few weeks, we have seen that the measures taken by the federal government to contain the virus have been accompanied by recommendations from virologists: Drosten, Streeck, Robert Koch Institute, Leopoldina, without being informed whether and if so, by which stakeholders their work is accompanied. Only in the case of Prof Streeck, who was appointed by the NRW state government to investigate the pandemic outbreak in Heinsberg, was information made public following a question in the state parliament. However, democracy also includes information about who is advising a government. There is an urgent need to expand democratic structures. Proposals have been made: For example, the strengthening of democratic institutions through the participation of citizens (e.g. by drawing lots) from the municipal level upwards, as well as the public appointment of scientists in areas such as climate, transport and health policy.
• Women are also bearing the main burden and risks of the coronavirus crisis. Their work is finally being recognised as systemically relevant. However, they are still not being remunerated accordingly, apart from announced one-off additional payments. The majority of women have to bear the unpaid burden of childcare because schools and daycare centres are closed. However, it is usually men who decide on their income. Similarly, it is mostly men who decide on the measures to be taken against the virus. Here, women must finally be involved appropriately, if necessary through quota regulations, and (as long as no other solution is realised) paid according to their work, not their education or their position in the hierarchy.

9. cooperation and networking beyond national borders: As in the climate movement, there are also numerous projects in the social movement worldwide, supported by committed individuals and civil society groups. In Greece, for example, as a result of austerity policies, solidarity-based healthcare projects and aid for refugees have emerged in many places. At least within Europe, it should be our concern to establish connections and create ways of exchange, cooperation and support. It must not be left to viruses and corporations to operate across borders and internationally.