Why are most Humanities academics pro-lockdown (VII)

I don’t know where the much-touted phrase “lives vs the economy” came from, but I am prepared to be that there’s a high chance it was a A&H academic. Academics in the A&H can be divided into two groups according to their attitude towards and understanding of Economics (a discipline whose sins I do not need to remind anyone of, I hope): 1. those who are completely ignorant and proud of it (yes, great for an academic, isn’t it?); 2. those who think they have unique insights — in reality they are one-trick ponies whose one trick is the word “neoliberal”, which they apply to: a) anything which is about “profiting” but they think it shouldn’t be (rules are complicated: if a non-white woman or otherwise marginalized person profits from her art, then more powah to her and it should be celebrated, but white male artists simply accumulating “prestige” and “power” but not necessarily money is neoliberal or something); b) anything which is even vaguely right-wing (many think that neoliberal and nazi are synonymous. No really. NO REALLY).

So is it any wonder that in the battle between “lives” and “the economy”, A&H academics — always so keen to be on the right side of history — decidedly supported the former? Back in March 2020, in the first days of lockdowns, a very well-known, very tv-savvy British A&H academic posted the infamous meme about the dinosaurs, the meteorite and the economy, which was duly celebrated by other A&H academics apparently as ignorant as he is.

Another low point which now comes to mind is someone I know tweeting something to the effect of: it is sad that it took a pandemic to make us stop worrying about the economy and focus instead on things we enjoy, like trying new recipes or learning a language. I suppose this person grows their own ingredients and manufactures their own kitchen utensils from scratch, without engaging in commerce with any other human being at any given point. I suppose they also get the recipes orally from their old granny, and they learn any new languages from their flatmates or neighbours, without ever buying any books or using the Internet.

Yes, this is where we are in terms of economic literacy with most A&H academics. I must say, I once was part of group 1 above, then group 2. Then it occurred to me why not educate myself a bit instead of talking shit, and so I did. I cannot claim to be an expert in economics by any stretch of the imagination, but at least I am not talking shit anymore — and I would rather lose a finger than engage in the absolute sophistry which is the “lives versus the economy” line, which (shockingly) many of my ilk are still using almost a year later.

And it’s not even as if would need to spend years studying economics to realize the sophistry they are engaging in; in fact, the most important lesson I learned in this respect I learned in my first week or so of study: that “the economy” is not a thing per se, it is absolutely not a pot of money that the government controls, it is not something that billionaires play at in their free time (the economy =/= the stock exchange). It is rather a set of relationships and transactions that we are all involved in, and as such no one in their right mind would think is something that can be frozen and revived at will.