https://www.teenvogue.com/story/coronavirus-pandemic-failures-capitalism
QuoteThis op-ed argues that the coronavirus outbreak has shown us how little capitalism has done for so many people in the U.S. — and that other ways of living and working are possible.
I took a free dance class from Debbie Allen the other day. I also FaceTimed with some childhood friends I hadn't talked to in a while. Getting laid off during a pandemic isn't the best thing that could have happened, but I'm coping.
If you lose your job and don't come from money, there's an instant fear of how you'll be able to survive. It's never really an ideal time to be out of work, but right now, with U.S. economists saying that we are officially in a recession, it's particularly unnerving. And with a dangerous, highly contagious virus spreading throughout the country, I find myself both without a steady income and without health insurance — great!
This pandemic has brought into sharper relief what some of us have always known to be true: Capitalism, and the culture of hierarchy that props it up, is extremely screwed up. Rich celebrities like Kris Jenner are getting tested for coronavirus without having symptoms, while regular people who do show symptoms have a tough time getting tests. A journalist at a White House press briefing asked President Donald Trump, "How are non-symptomatic professional athletes getting tests while others are waiting in line and can't get them? Do the well-connected go to the front of the line?" The president responded by saying, "No, I wouldn't say so. But perhaps that's been the story of life."
Trump's right about one thing: It is definitely the story of capitalism. And while we are still reeling from the shock to our everyday lives, we should look at some of these huge changes to our routines as a possible — even hopeful — new normal.
Selling your labor in a capitalist marketplace so you don't end up on the street is horrible and unnatural, and we shouldn't have to exist this way. While many of us have long questioned the idea of working our lives away to pad a company's bottom line, the pandemic has given us a glimpse of what an anti-capitalist society could actually look like. This isn't to romanticize what is happening — after all, people are gravely ill and dying every day. But if we are to fully examine the crisis for what it is, then we must recognize that COVID-19 is not the only virus that must be destroyed. We also have to confront capitalism and the world that sustains it.
Combating the disease has normalized working from home, instead of slogging through daily commutes, for those who have the privilege to do so. It convinced some Republicans to support some form of universal basic income, and caused some companies to temporarily bring down their paywalls. Adobe is offering free two-month subscriptions to help struggling freelancers, proving that open source of expensive software is possible. And without sounding like an eco-fascist, the environment is perhaps getting a chance to recover while humans are forced to pause our ever-growing carbon output — the starkest articulation yet of why we should never return to our "normal" pre-virus life.
Photos uploaded from people in Venice show clearer canal waters, and Stanford University researchers reported that the halt of day-to-day business in China has dramatically reduced air pollution. We know we need to reduce greenhouse emissions, but watching the climate crisis unfold slowly before us wasn't enough to make the world pause. We now have a moment to consider what a rapid global response to the climate emergency would look like — how we could build a society that completely transforms our social order toward something that is in equilibrium with the biosphere and gives to each according to their needs.
The realm of possibility has shifted since the last financial crisis. Legislators are taking steps to put evictions on hold, and federal regulators are ordering a break on mortgage payments. The reaction by the state is far different in that way than it was in 2008, but with proposals to spend billions of dollars bolstering the private sector, the protection of private interest over public interest remains the same. And ultimately, the grand or so that the Trump administration is offering to send to all of us in the next month amounts to crumbs. As millennials and Gen Z'ers, our lives have been shaped by one crisis after another, and an array of trends, from the worsening climate crisis to increased workforce automation, suggest that things will keep getting worse.
So our current way of living must end. But we must start with the practical. My rent is due in less than two weeks. How does this current crisis offer a chance to reflect on the longer-term crisis of affordable housing, and what can we do now to build a movement to force change?
That's where mutual aid and community organizing comes in. For years, communities, organizations, and activists have petitioned legislators and local representatives to do something about the national housing crisis. It's been mostly for naught. Last year in Los Angeles, where I live, nearly 59,000 people were counted to be homeless. Rising rents have priced out families from communities they grew up in. This past year, the city allowed for a 4% rent increase for those living in rent-controlled units, and for some, a breaking point has clearly been reached. Even as the federal government discusses short-term housing relief, Reclaiming Our Homes has attempted to reclaim 12 houses outright in Los Angeles County, an inspiring show of direct action in a time of crisis.
What the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated is that our cheapskate government can provide far more in social programs than it has. We could afford life-changing, comprehensive legislation like the Green New Deal and Medicare for all. No one should need to pay for housing or have full-time employment in order to receive health care benefits. This is an abominable way to live. We must demand more and dream for better for ourselves and the planet.
Trying to protect our health during a pandemic is more than enough. We shouldn't also have to worry about surviving capitalism.
Perhaps the dangers of pure, anarchic capitalism. Weakness of capitalism in the face of crisis has been shown in more dramatic fashion before, WW2 being the best example...but I think it is laying bare how dangerous the trending towards "gig-economy" economy capitalism (which is more of that pure, anarchic form) has been for workers. At least, just in terms of being able to give the state the means to respond to worker's basic needs in the face of a world-wide crisis.
Related:
QuoteNow that America has an incompetent, dimwitted dictator as the head of the household, the Republican policy of plausible deniability has been ruined. The dunderheaded daddy of the GOP has exposed his party's ultimate goal—maintaining their status as the sole beneficiaries of America's corporate, economic and political profiteering. But Donald Trump is too illiterate at politics to know which parts of his party's nefarious agenda he can say out loud and which parts require a high-pitched dog whistle that can only be heard by racists, people who watch Fox News and CEOs of major corporations.
As long as there is a profit, Republicans don't care if you D-I-E.
...
[T]hey are willing to risk millions of American lives in a high-stakes game of coronavirus poker. Because, at the betting tables of their luxurious casino, our lives aren't real. We are all just chips for them to gamble with. If they win, they can turn their winnings into real money. And if they lose, they will softly whisper why they did it:
Because they don't give a F-U-C-K.
https://www.theroot.com/the-quiet-part-is-now-out-loud-1842507657
garbon reads Teen Vogue :P
Quote from: Zoupa on March 26, 2020, 01:05:27 PM
garbon reads Teen Vogue :P
Soz but no saw it on social media. That said I do think their pieces often punch above their weight. I recall they had some good pieces on Trump back near the inaugaration.
Teen Vogue is excellent.
Don't dis Teen Vogue.
Quote from: garbon on March 26, 2020, 01:24:18 PM
Quote from: Zoupa on March 26, 2020, 01:05:27 PM
garbon reads Teen Vogue :P
Soz but no saw it on social media. That said I do think their pieces often punch above their weight. I recall they had some good pieces on Trump back near the inaugaration.
Yeah I remember that piece too. Really surprising.
Anyway I was just trying to sneak in a little diss. You know me :hug:
I'm going to be honest that I've been really disturbed by the "sacrifice people to the market" position that some Republicans have taken.
Quote from: Zoupa on March 26, 2020, 02:52:10 PM
Quote from: garbon on March 26, 2020, 01:24:18 PM
Quote from: Zoupa on March 26, 2020, 01:05:27 PM
garbon reads Teen Vogue :P
Soz but no saw it on social media. That said I do think their pieces often punch above their weight. I recall they had some good pieces on Trump back near the inaugaration.
Yeah I remember that piece too. Really surprising.
Anyway I was just trying to sneak in a little diss. You know me :hug:
Yeah... :rolleyes: :P :hug:
Quote from: Razgovory on March 26, 2020, 03:02:13 PM
I'm going to be honest that I've been really disturbed by the "sacrifice people to the market" position that some Republicans have taken.
Well it is not an easy situation, because millions will be hurt badly if the economy goes south in a major way.
Quote from: garbon on March 26, 2020, 01:24:18 PM
That said I do think their pieces often punch above their weight.
This one clearly doesn't. It's written by a ninth grader.
"It's horrible to have to sell your labor to stay alive." What alternatives allow everyone to do nothing productive? The only one I can think of is letting foreigners discover oil or minerals in your country and then living off the royalties.
"Air pollution has decreased." No shit. Air pollution emitted by employees at state owned enterprises in Wuhan decreased too.
Yeah, not a terribly sophisticated understanding of cause and effect in that piece. Or human nature.
Which I guess makes sense for a vacuous fashion magazine aimed at teenagers.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 26, 2020, 03:07:38 PM
Quote from: garbon on March 26, 2020, 01:24:18 PM
That said I do think their pieces often punch above their weight.
This one clearly doesn't. It's written by a ninth grader.
Nope - this is the special kind of stupid that requires some post-secondary education.
Quote from: Valmy on March 26, 2020, 03:04:23 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on March 26, 2020, 03:02:13 PM
I'm going to be honest that I've been really disturbed by the "sacrifice people to the market" position that some Republicans have taken.
Well it is not an easy situation, because millions will be hurt badly if the economy goes south in a major way.
Well, they will probably be in a worse situation if they are dead.
My thinking is that the ideal world the author has in mind when critiquing capitalism is living at mom and dad's with a decent allowance.
Quote from: Sheilbh on March 26, 2020, 01:25:00 PM
Teen Vogue is excellent.
I'd have loved that as a pre-teenager, as it was I had to read my mothers 'cosmopolitans' .
The most searched words in the online Spanish dictionary of the Real Academia de la Lengua, during the past 15 days:
- Pandemia
- Cuarentena
- Ir
- Confinar/Confinamiento
:hmm:
Ir, as in to go? :unsure:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 26, 2020, 04:29:46 PM
My thinking is that the ideal world the author has in mind when critiquing capitalism is living at mom and dad's with a decent allowance.
I visit my Mum and Dad for two weeks in May usually, every year. Not this year obviously. It's amazing. My mum cooks constantly and despite the fact that I'm 50, my dad constantly presses cash into my hand whenever I leave the house. He gives my girlfriend and my son the same treatment. he wasn't like this when I was young.
It's the 2008 crisis all over again.
That also showed the fatal flaws in our setup being so unbalanced towards capitalism.
But look where we are. Embracing politicians who are trying to push things even further in the wrong direction. Even as many grasp some kernals of truth cunning media manipulation convinces them they mean the complete opposite of what they actually do.
This is the most depressing thing about it all. It really is 90 years ago all over again.
As to working remotely. As I said in the other thread this is remote workings big test and I really do think it came too early. This was already a fast growing trend. But being thrown into it suddenly like this, including many workers who really don't have the culture of doing it.... Even amongst those of us who can normally work from home productivity is down. I've heard plenty of stories from others of just putting YouTube on their work computer and playing PlayStation a day.
Your analysis is very superficial. The '08 crisis and the current crisis are similar only to the extent that they both call for government intervention. Past that there are basically no similiarities.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 27, 2020, 05:24:24 AM
Your analysis is very superficial. The '08 crisis and the current crisis are similar only to the extent that they both call for government intervention. Past that there are basically no similiarities.
I was referring to peoples reaction and saying this shows the failures of the system. Obviously the crises themselves are different, that should go without saying.
Listening to a podcast and the economics professor who was speaking on it made a point which strikes as more boradly relevant about the issue of measuring productivity in a services economy, when there is no product. So we measure the economy in prices paid and quantities which doesn't really work for services in general so hasn't been a great measure for the last 20-30 years.
But this crisis gives a really good example of it because the nurses and doctors and carers etc are quite a large part of the workforce - they are core examples of a service economy as are most other key workers" (and our economy in the UK is 4/5 services. Numerically nurses and carers are probably becoming less productive because they're having to spend more time per patient for patient throughput, which probably isn't accurate and we need to maybe rethink how we measure the productivity and output of a service economy rather than continuing to apply the approach for manufacturing which doesn't quite read across.
Just to follow up on measuring GDP with services like healthcare - and possibly a US specific slant. In the Q1 GDP figures the biggest single decline is healthcare. Presumably this is because electives and other outpatient care has been cancelled and also this pandemic is one that hospitalises people for a long while. It seems very perverse that at this point the area that's showing the biggest drop in product/output is healthcare.
Quote from: Sheilbh on April 29, 2020, 02:14:58 PM
Just to follow up on measuring GDP with services like healthcare - and possibly a US specific slant. In the Q1 GDP figures the biggest single decline is healthcare. Presumably this is because electives and other outpatient care has been cancelled and also this pandemic is one that hospitalises people for a long while. It seems very perverse that at this point the area that's showing the biggest drop in product/output is healthcare.
My health insurance company is spending hundreds of hours trying to find ways to support our providers who are nearly all struggling. Hospitals, doctors' offices, etc. are all flailing financially right now. If they go under, our company will likely falter as well. This entire system that so many fucking idiots have put so much faith in is going to fall around our ears, and people are going to die simply because doctors aren't going to have the space to take care of them.
Maybe this is what's needed. Burn it all to the ground so that something new and fresh can come out of the ashes. I just wish so many people didn't have to die in the process. :(
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 06:02:33 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Not the doctors. The CEOs and boards of directors. You know, job creators. Without them we wouldn't have any hospitals at all.
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
In cases like this, it would be the only way those doctors' private offices would stay open, because non-essential medical has been stopped for the time being.
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 07:03:12 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 06:02:33 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Not the doctors. The CEOs and boards of directors. You know, job creators. Without them we wouldn't have any hospitals at all.
:D
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 07:03:12 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 06:02:33 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Not the doctors. The CEOs and boards of directors. You know, job creators. Without them we wouldn't have any hospitals at all.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-coronavirus-cases-climbed-private-equity-owned-hospital-faced-closure-11587893400
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 07:03:12 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 06:02:33 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Not the doctors. The CEOs and boards of directors. You know, job creators. Without them we wouldn't have any hospitals at all.
Hilarious. I'm glad we have another person trying this shtick.
Quote from: garbon on April 30, 2020, 01:24:30 AM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 07:03:12 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 06:02:33 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Not the doctors. The CEOs and boards of directors. You know, job creators. Without them we wouldn't have any hospitals at all.
Hilarious. I'm glad we have another person trying this shtick.
If it bothers you so much you should have voted for Bernie :P
Quote from: Zoupa on April 30, 2020, 05:00:35 AM
Quote from: garbon on April 30, 2020, 01:24:30 AM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 07:03:12 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 06:02:33 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 29, 2020, 05:26:43 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2020, 05:16:12 PM
One of the benefits of the universal medical system is that private doctors in their own clinical settings can shift fairly seamlessly into other areas that need their assistance and so they can still provide services they can bill for although admittedly some will make less because the work being done is at a lower per hour code than the services they would normally perform.
But how does that help the wealthy?
It is a failing I fully acknowledge. But joking aside, doctors here earn more than enough to put them within the top 1% in Canada by a wide margin.
Not the doctors. The CEOs and boards of directors. You know, job creators. Without them we wouldn't have any hospitals at all.
Hilarious. I'm glad we have another person trying this shtick.
If it bothers you so much you should have voted for Bernie :P
I don't see how that would have stopped the joke complaints unless one believes that Bernie would actually be capable of dismantling capitalism. :hmm:
It's an all-too-accurate parody of supply sider rhetoric.