When we launched Conservatives Global in January, I wrote that our purpose was to “build an international brand to lead the discussion on conservative policy, including the case for free market economics, traditional social institutions and the defence of democratic nation states.”
In just two months, vast swathes of the world have been locked down as people have retreated into a bunker mentality in the fight against the Covid-19 virus.
We have contributors and readers from across the globe, some of whom I know have contracted the virus and many who have family and friends who are seriously unwell.
This pandemic is uniting communities as people adapt to a very, very restrictive way of life. Fundamental freedoms have been taken away by many governments across the globe in order to tackle this crisis and to avoid a catastrophic situation in hospitals and societal collapse. Freedom loving, free market supporting conservative leaders have abandoned their entire belief system and adopted socialist levels of state funding and intervention, as well as the sorts of restrictions and curfews that had previously been solely the purview of totalitarian states.
However, unlike for dictatorships, the actions that governments have taken have been necessary. The willingness of governments to take on unpopular measures will mean that hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved and many citizens will not face economic hardship or unemployment that could have so easily been the result.
Every day we have seen the horrific scenes in Italy and now in Spain. In the UK, where I live, the disease is yet to reach the same levels but we are only too aware of what the next few weeks could hold and the country is anxiously waiting to see what the future holds.
The nightmare may be nearly over in China and others in the region such as South Korea look to be turning the tide. While these Asian nations will be reducing stringent restrictions to freedom in the recovery process, the world will be watching closely in the hope that the virus will not return in a second wave of infections.
In these uncertain times, it feels like we are living in a disaster movie, with each scene lurching from one tragedy to another. However, it is my belief that every one of our nations, all in a state of paralysis, will pull through and make it out to the other side.
It is when this crisis is over that another huge challenge arises – how will nation states salvage the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis?
There is no obvious answer and no shortcut to a quick recovery but one thing is certain – socialism is not the solution to long term economic prosperity. The remedy to this unprecedented economic crash is undoubtedly through conservative policies and free-market economics. We must not allow socialist measures to become the norm or acceptable long-term solutions.
As nations are at different stages of the pandemic, it will be important for governments to analyse what other nations are implementing to aid economic and social recovery and, crucially, to take note of what is working and what is not.
The news agenda is quite rightly completely dominated by the Covid-19 crisis with information of how we should be acting appropriately and safely. Here at Conservatives Global, in addition to continuing to share articles, interviews and campaigning videos from around the world, we would especially welcome contributions from across the globe on how nation states can recover from this crisis, economically and socially, particularly through conservative and free-market principles.