FOR those of us working from home while homeschooling in the early weeks of the pandemic, the selective nature of who was asked to sacrifice in the name of “pandemic mitigation” became painfully clear.

It was no coincidence that the pyjama class of workers shared few burdens with the working class in terms of their role in virus mitigation. 

The social media feed of those who earn their living from their dining room tables was contrasted with their social media feed which told of great sacrifice.

Let’s just say a reality check was in order: not having one’s freshly prepared flat white while having to suffer with coffee made by a mediocre home espresso machine is simply not on the same level of “suffering” that the working class was made to experience.

I found lockdown infuriating even while attempting to gain information on the virus as neoliberal publications from the Repubblica to the Guardian were replete with articles uniquely designed for the posherati.

“The family lockdown guide: how to emotionally prepare for coronavirus quarantine” sets up this clinical, totally unreal setting, as Celina Ribeiro of the Guardian Australia writes: “For parents trying to work from home, their ability to do so will rely on various factors from the age of their children and the layout of their home to the nature of their work.

“The temperament of parents and kids will also play a role.”

Sounds nice, if you live in a Disney film and don’t have children of various ages, in closed quarters with different needs and attention spans.

Then there was “‘Let your kids entertain themselves’ with “tips for keeping children occupied while working from home,” “We need to show children we can survive” replete with “expert” advice as if any of us had time to “be centred on … your child” while scouring the sofa for change to buy groceries. 

None of what liberal media covered during the first lockdowns related to real life for most of us.

It’s quite comfortable for the pyjama class to espouse the virtues of staying home while ordering their meals via Deliveroo and sharing on social media the many articles on how to “survive lockdown.”

Meanwhile, most of us were struggling economically and mentally, and in countries like Italy — where I live — and Australia, lockdown devastated the mental health of many, in large part because people were struggling economically.

I noticed how women were made de facto at-home workers with little consideration that if a parent is working 40-plus hours a week, how are we supposed to magically invent time to homeschool children?

In Italy DAD (distance learning) was both a failure and an irony for any English speaker since we knew that fathers were not doing the heavy lifting.

Italian men were suffering with a lack of access to porn hence Pornhub gave them gifts for their lockdown “suffering.”

While women have been expected to do most of the work, paradoxically our inboxes and browsers have been replete with sales of prescription sunglasses and more bizarrely of overseas vacations.

Little mention was made that we couldn’t access our smear tests or access basic medical or dental care for months.

Many still cannot in Italy where the new “Super Green Pass” means that only fully vaccinated people or those who have a proof of recovery from coronavirus can enter most social venues with the larger fallout among the general population resulting in many being fearful of seeking medical help.

In a moment of economic desperation, the stress became so great that I began smoking — and I don’t mean taking up wax vaporizers.

I went out and bought tobacco and rolling paper and started smoking, as they say in Italian, “like a Turk.”

I was one of many freelancers who were ignored by the economic mandates and was left flailing.

The Italian government was more interested in helping out the homeowner class and those with “second homes” in its rush to get football back on track. Renters, the poor, freelancers — we were a class unto ourselves, a sort of postmodern untouchable class.

For those hoping for a global economy recovery in 2022, don’t hold your breath. Italians have noted since March 2020 that lockdown advantaged the super-wealthy business class while bankrupting small business owners.

Those who were spared tended to be those who had no rent to pay because they owned the building site and who had no mortgage due. 

Just last month, Italian restaurant owners asked the government to extend a Covid-19 debt moratorium and a lay-off compensation scheme for workers.

With the Super Green Pass, even those who are vaccinated are in disagreement with Italy’s having created an undesirable social class resulting in businesses being hurt out of political pushback by the masses.

Who is hit by these measures has been for the past 23 months the working class and small business owners.

As news of omicron spreads fear and dread within the Italian media, I spoke to the people on the street and there is a story that the major media is not telling.

One man from the province of Ravenna tells me: “The government is lying to us. They want us to sacrifice our businesses as they and their friends get rich. I see what is going on. McDonald’s was allowed to stay open while I had to close my restaurant.” 

Another former restaurant owner in Liguria reports: “I lost my business because the government didn’t care about workers or our rights.

“We are told not to work to protect the elderly and then we are forced to get vaccinated and to sign away our rights to proceed against the government should we be injured by these vaccines. The government wants to have its cake and eat it.”

The working class and small business owners have lost faith in the Italian government as Italians are tiring of the conflicting stories of public health and the risks posed by the latest omicron variant.

While major media have finally come clean on how omicron is not as dangerous as previous variants, scare tactics are employed warning that in October a more deadly variant could emerge. 

While Italians are worried about the virus affecting their families, the working class and women are enraged by the media misrepresentation which takes their livelihoods and freedoms pitting them against the economic security of those with second and third homes and the mega-rich who were able, for months at a time, to skirt lockdown rules by jetting off to Sweden.