In this and the six following chapters we will present what we believe are the elements that are required for a better world for humans and for the planet. None of these solutions are new: each one of them has been proposed and tried out in one form or another before. But rarely have they been presented in connection with each other. For example, while politicians on the Left have long argued for an improvement of public infrastructure, they are more reluctant to present concrete ideas to tackle the dysfunctional global financial order. But the latter is a condition of possibility for the former. In the preceding chapter we argued that, next to hegemony, another reason that it is so difficult to get a grip on the pandemic and its fallout is its complexity – not in the trivial, but in the non-linear dynamics sense of the word. Complexity means that everything hangs together in a constantly evolving way. The development of complex systems is unpredictable not because people are too ignorant, unintelligent, or have too little evidence; it is unpredictable because the interaction of the elements in complex systems creates new, unforeseen outcomes. Complexity concerns policy because almost all spaces where humans and other living beings live and act maintain dynamic connections with other spaces. So far, however, policy tends to approach the problems within its purview in a reductionist manner. It typically pretends that we can, or should be able to, act upon complex systems as if they were mechanical devices – often with negative or even perverse consequences, as we saw in Chapter 2. If we want to make better policy, we need to frame problems and design solutions in ways that are commensurate with dynamic complexity.

Thus, what we will do is to present a series of proposals for change as an integrated whole. Each one of them is an element of a new, more just, more sustainable, social-political and economic order. Taken together they embody a utopian vision of human flourishing. This holistic vision of reform allows us to start pulling, instead of foolhardily pushing, the door of neoliberal hegemony. In this chapter we will start with one of the most striking insights from the COVID-19 crisis: the importance of a well-functioning public infrastructure.