Democracy in Chains -
The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
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Thursday, 28 January 2021
quote [ “The COVID-19 vaccine is ripe for the blackmarket,” warns an NBC News opinion piece. “Iran-linked hackers recently targeted coronavirus drugmaker Gilead,” reports Reuters. “Hackers ‘try to steal COVID vaccine secrets in intellectual property war,’” blares a Guardian headline. As the COVID-19 pandemic raged and pharmaceutical companies raced to develop a vaccine, Western media routinely asserted without question or criticism the premise that vaccine “intellectual property” is a zero-sum possession that’s been “stolen” by malicious foreign actors, blackmarket criminals, and of course, dreaded “pirates.” ]
I love how Covid is just ripping the mask off the contradictions and cruelty of capitalism and yet I'm still surrounded by otherwise intelligent people that are acting like there's no alternatives. Like, "Sure, the greed of the Owner Class is going to result in millions, possibly billions, of deaths, but what are we supposed to do about it? Not let them control every aspect of our life and society? Are you high?"
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slaytanik said @ 2:33pm GMT on 28th January
I can totally relate to where you're coming from.
In South Africa we've had hard lock-downs and it's been a fuck-up on all fronts.
I can't go into all the details and nuance, but in summary:
1. Our health infrastructure is not capable of handling massive infection rates
2. Our economy isn't stable enough to handle long periods of lock-down.
3. Our government isn't capable of supporting high unemployment levels
So either we die of COVID or we die of starvation (I say "we" but I mean "poor people who were already struggling to make ends meet")
A lot of people see the lockdown as the bigger problem, and that we need to save the economy as priority. But I don't see how an economy that doesn't work for the majority of people is worth saving. Shouldn't an economy have fail-safes built in for this kind of thing?
It's not like we're immune to the forces of disaster.
I can see how this will play out: we get vaccines, in a year's time things are stable again. Elections will happen and people will vote for the same politicians who stole massive amounts of COVID relief funds. And the rest of us will forget that our society is so fragile that it can be taken down by a bit of fucking mucus in the air.
slaytanik said @ 2:34pm GMT on 28th January
I can totally relate to where you're coming from.
In South Africa we've had hard lock-downs and it's been a fuck-up on all fronts.
I can't go into all the details and nuance, but in summary:
1. Our health infrastructure is not capable of handling massive infection rates
2. Our economy isn't stable enough to handle long periods of lock-down.
3. Our government isn't capable of supporting high unemployment levels
So either we die of COVID or we die of starvation (I say "we" but I mean "poor people who were already struggling to make ends meet")
A lot of people see the lockdown as the bigger problem, and that we need to save the economy as priority. But I don't see how an economy that doesn't work for the majority of people is worth saving. Shouldn't an economy have fail-safes built in for this kind of thing?
It's not like we're immune to the forces of disaster.
I can see how this will play out: we get vaccines, in a year's time things are stable again. Elections will happen and people will vote for the same politicians who stole massive amounts of COVID relief funds. And the rest of us will forget that our society is so fragile that it can be taken down by a bit of fucking mucus in the air.
/rant
<-- Entry / Current Comment
slaytanik said @ 2:33pm GMT on 28th January [Score:2]
I can totally relate to where you're coming from.
In South Africa we've had hard lock-downs and it's been a fuck-up on all fronts.
I can't go into all the details and nuance, but in summary:
1. Our health infrastructure is not capable of handling massive infection rates
2. Our economy isn't stable enough to handle long periods of lock-down.
3. Our government isn't capable of supporting high unemployment levels
So either we die of COVID or we die of starvation (I say "we" but I mean "poor people who were already struggling to make ends meet")
A lot of people see the lockdown as the bigger problem, and that we need to save the economy as priority. But I don't see how an economy that doesn't work for the majority of people is worth saving. Shouldn't an economy have fail-safes built in for this kind of thing?
It's not like we're immune to the forces of disaster.
I can see how this will play out: we get vaccines, in a year's time things are stable again. Elections will happen and people will vote for the same politicians who stole massive amounts of COVID relief funds. And the rest of us will forget that our society is so fragile that it can be taken down by a bit of fucking mucus in the air.
/rant
