The virus and capitalist society
- Óscar García Jurado, PhD in Economics and one of the founders of the Andalusian cooperative Autonomy Sur, is also a collaborating member of the Talaios cooperative. In the blog Esparragos y Tagarninas has written a five-point clarifying article about the coronavirus and the "irrefutable" dogmas of capitalist society.
One: Coronavirus is one of the most deadly pathogens that will occur in the future. The origin seems to be in the transmission of the virus from animals to humans, where companies seek benefits through intensive industrial agriculture, thus opening meat markets for exotic wild animals.
Two: Let us not fool ourselves, the illnesses and deaths caused by the virus are not worrying for the Capital’s strategies, as are the thousands of annual deaths caused by hunger and preventable diseases. M. Even Roberts has heard the argument in the executive suites of financial capital: if many older and unproductive people die, that can increase productivity… because young people and productive people are going to live longer! ". A capitalist logic. Among other things, for the "sustainability" of pensions, it can be very positive that older people remain to a lesser extent. The focus is on the potential harm that can be done to stock markets, profits and the capitalist economy; if this epidemic can be the cause of a great recession or depression, the first since the Great Recession of 2008-2009.
Three: Although nature may be involved in the virus epidemic, the number of deaths depends on human action: social structure of the economy, level of resources in infrastructure and medicine and government policies. Therefore, in economies where the State hardly provides public services, there is a fear of total deregulation, as in EE.UU, where there is a lot of public expenditure but in the military field.
Four: The solution to this problem calls into question the undeniable dogma of the capitalist economy and society: the goodness of competitiveness and the pursuit of economic profit. Dean Baker has stated: “People around the world are working to get the vaccine developed as soon as possible. It’s bad news that instead of collaborating together, they compete with each other.”
Five: The current health crisis is the right time to attack the capitalist economy: the dogma of the market to fight; the work that is only understood as salaried; the one that aims at competitiveness, the value of exchange, private property and profits. But it happens that a deadly and reactionary virus was already inoculated: the uncritical attitude against the capitalist virus.
