Coronavirus: some thoughts

Regarding the Coronavirus pandemic, I have focussed on the failings of neoliberalism to cope with crises; the inability to prepare for them, and thus, the inability to enact sufficient state led responses to them - due to privatisation, austerity, market fundamentalism. This surely explains why, for example, Germany, (where there have been a similar number of tests per million as the UK), have had far fewer deaths. (Germany is by no means socialist, but is at least less of a neoliberal state than the UK). And it explains how anti-neoliberal, 'socialism with Chinese characteristics', China, has been capable of responding as it did, earning praise from the World Health Organisation. (China had a few more cases of the virus in Wuhan last week, and they subsequently set about testing the entire population of the city in 10 days!).

This is a vital point to make - that neoliberalism, which has diminished our state sector and prioritizes the individual over the collective, has massively affected our ability to handle crises, which require a collective and state-led response, and investment in things that are not profitable. There is huge denial about this.

Lately, my focus has increasingly been on concern that the reaction (lockdowns) to the virus has actually done far more harm than good, as it has led to massive collateral damage: over one hundred million more people now face acute hunger. But this again, is due to neoliberalism. Neoliberal globalization has created an extremely exploitative, inhuman and precarious global system, meaning that economic lockdowns in the global north lead to disaster; (or I should say, an even greater disaster than that system was already inflicting).

Also, there is a further corporate heist of our economies underway, as the lockdowns (along with neoliberal leadership) lead to economic collapse and small businesses going bust/being put into more debt - which will do nothing to end that neoliberal globalisation! Even more concentration of wealth and power is afoot.

I've also been starting to wonder whether the virus is actually as bad as feared? Where I live - in California - the medium age of those who’ve died of it is 79. The life expectancy here is 81. In other regions of the US, and the world, the median age of those who’ve died is actually higher than the local life expectancy.

I have seen many people point out that those dying may well have died ‘with’ the virus, but not actually ‘of’ the virus. But their deaths are being logged (I think?) as the latter. The vast majority had underlying health conditions - is there certainty that their deaths were caused by Covid, rather than by their other illnesses?

And what percentage of ‘excess deaths’ are of those who couldn’t/were too afraid of going to hospital for other illnesses?

Read: The BMJ: Only a third of the excess deaths seen in the community in England and Wales can be explained by covid-19, new data have shown. 

The response from China, and several other countries (South Korea, New Zealand), to the virus, has been commendable, but it seems very likely to me that the response from most of the global north will do vastly more damage than the virus itself. Should we have accepted that there is no chance that neoliberal states can do as China did and so should we have avoided strict lockdowns that have led to horrific repercussions? Should we have accepted that this is a pandemic that only really threatens those who’re already near the end of their lives? Was our panicked response a sign of our inability to accept our mortality? Were we made to panic so that certain individuals and corporations could profit/expand surveillance measures? Should we have done as Sweden did? Was the Covid death rate definitely exponential, or was it always going to peter out? Do we need to accept new viruses as a fact of life, (though made more likely by our/capitalism’s destruction of nature)? Why have we not been this panicked about other diseases? How accurate are the statistics?

These are all questions that run through my head right now. As ever, my main conclusion is that we need a massive redistribution of power and wealth, so that we can have strong public services, a world run by people, not corporations, and an emphasis on localization, rather than globalization, which has exploited the global south, leaving millions, if not billions, extremely vulnerable.

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More thoughts:

• ‪Given that lockdowns are highly profitable for some elites, and given the crisis is being used to advance certain agendas - like digital ID - I think it important that we be alert to the possibility of authorities seeking to extend lockdown more than necessary. 

• I’m confused re why there isn’t yet a second wave of the virus. It’s been weeks since lockdown relaxed and everyone flocked to the beach.