Paul Field: “This Crisis Is Not About the Virus”

What [we] are seeing is one of the wealthiest, geographically advantaged, productive capitalist societies in the world flounder and fail at its most basic test: taking care of its people.

This crisis is not about the virus.

This crisis is about the massive failure of our “booming economy” to survive even modest challenges. It is about the market dissonance of shortages in stores, even as farmers/producers destroy unused crops and products. This crisis is about huge corporations needing an emergency bailout within days of the longest bull market in our history ending and despite the ability to borrow with zero percent interest rates.

This crisis is about corporatized healthcare systems being unable and ill-equipped to provide basic healthcare, at the same time they post record profits. It is about crisis response depending on antiquated systems nobody remembers how to operate.

But most of all, this crisis is a direct result of the politicization of every aspect of our society for the benefit of a privileged few. The vilification of education, science, media, natural rights, rural lifestyles, urban lifestyles, charity, compassion, and virtually everything else for brief political gain has gutted our society.

– Paul Field

Related Off-site Links:
The U.S. Political System Is to Blame for This Pandemic – Branko Marcetic (Jacobin April 26, 2020).
Coronavirus Deaths Pass 250,000 World-wide, with Italy, Spain and United States Among Worst Hit – Michael Doyle (ABC News May 5, 2020).
There’s an Irreparable Flaw at the Heart of Capitalism that COVID-19 Has Exposed – Richard D. Wolff (AlterNet, April 24, 2020).
Covid-19 Pandemic Shines a Light on a New Kind of Class Divide and Its Inequalities – Robert Reich (The Guardian, April 26, 2020).
How Profit and Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died – J. David McSwane (Slate May 2, 2020).
The Coronavirus Pandemic Demonstrates the Failures of Capitalism – Kandist Mallett (Teen Vogue, March 24, 2020).
To Fight the Pandemic, We Must Challenge the Whole System – Ramaa Vasudevan (Jacobin, April 25, 2020).
The Black Death Killed Feudalism. What Does COVID-19 Mean for Capitalism? – John Feffer (Foreign Policy in Focus, April 29, 2020).
Social Movements in Times of Pandemic: Another World Is Needed – Donatella della Porta (OpenDemocracy.net via Common Dreams, March 23, 2020).
Pulitzer winner Chris Hedges: These “Are the Good Times – Compared to What's Coming Next” – Chauncy Devega (Salon, April 28, 2020).
The Committee to Save the Rich – Luke Savage (Jacobin, May 1, 2020).
Donald Trump's Four-Step Plan to Reopen the U.S. Economy – and Why It Will Be Lethal – Robert Reich (The Guardian, May 3, 2020).
It's Time to Reject the Gods of Commerce: America Is a Society, Not an “Economy” – David Masciotra (Salon, May 2, 2020).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Marianne Williamson: “This Is a Time of Transformation”
• Hope and Beauty in the Midst of the Global Coronavirus Pandemic
• A Prayer in Times of a Pandemic
• An Infectious Disease Specialist Weighs-in on Covid-19
• Marianne Williamson: In the Midst of This “Heartbreaking” Pandemic, It's Okay to Be Heartbroken
• The Calm Before the Storm
• In the Midst of Crisis, Learning Resistance and Vision-Seeking from the Indigenous and African-American Experience
• Quote of the Day – April 18, 2020
• Something to Think About – April 22, 2020

Image: Getty Images/Salon.