TIME

Now is the moment to change the world

HOW WILL THE CORONAVIRUS change the world? Nobody knows yet. But we do know where we were before the pandemic hit: inequality had reached historic records worldwide, Australia had burned for months on end, autocrats were suffocating democracy in Hungary and Venezuela, and a wave of protests had swept across six continents—from Beirut to Paris, from Hong Kong to Moscow.

And then came COVID-19.

The virus laid bare the world’s extraordinary inequalities and injustices. Lists of so-called vital professions were published all over the world, and surprise, positions such as “hedge-fund manager” and “tax specialist for multinationals” were not on them. Suddenly it was crystal clear who did the really important work in health care

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