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INSTRUCTIONS on how to ward off COVID-19:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n INSTRUCTIONS on how to ward off COVID-19: http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/COVID-19video.mp4 The panicked response to the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed social and economic chaos. A global economy that was teetering on the brink of recession is being pushed over the edge. Medical and social services … Continue reading
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\n\n\n\n\nThe panicked response to the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed social and economic chaos. A global economy that was teetering on the brink of recession<\/a> is being pushed over the edge. Medical and social services are overwhelmed, entire populations are thrown into distress, and anxious hoarding<\/a> is making basic necessities scarce.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nEven before the virus hit<\/a>, 59 percent of adult Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, 44 percent were carrying credit card debt, and only 38 percent had any kind of emergency fund. Any loss in pay or a loss of job would upend their lives. When you stand on shaky ground, it doesn\u2019t take much to tip you over.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIs panic justified?<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWe do not know if COVID-19 is more lethal<\/a> than seasonal influenza. The CDC estimates<\/a> that between 9 and 45 million people get sick from the annual \u2018flu, and between 12,000 and 61,000 die. For the sake of comparison: every year 47,000 Americans kill themselves, and motor vehicle collisions kill another 36,000.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWe do not have an accurate fatality rate for this virus (the number of deaths divided by the number of infections) because we do not have an accurate count of how many people are infected, including those who did not get sick or suffered only minor illness. A lack of widespread testing means that mild infections are unlikely to be identified, making the virus seem more deadly than it actually is. Also, we do not know how many people test positive who are not infected, how many test negative who actually are infected, and to what extent the different tests in use are equally accurate in identifying this specific virus.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nBecause we lack such vital information, we cannot know if the current panicked response is warranted, or if mass quarantine<\/a>, travel restrictions, event cancellations, social isolation, loss of income, and personal crises will end up causing more harm than the virus.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nRegardless of the outcome, this crisis reveals hidden truths about capitalism and offers an opportunity for revolutionary transformation.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nHidden truths<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nDiseases flow across political borders. Despite persistent efforts to divide humanity, the global spread of COVID-19 reminds us that we truly live in one world.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nA global challenge demands international cooperation. The capitalist class have proved to be too distrustful, too ambitious, and too competitive to cooperate at the level required.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nScience does not guide public policy. Epidemics emerge on a regular basis, most recently SARS in 2002-2004 and H1N1 in 2009. After each pandemic, authorities pledge to prepare for the next one. It\u2019s just talk.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe current epidemic was predicted<\/a> back in 2015, and detailed strategies<\/a> to reduce its impact were developed. Nevertheless, the 2019 Global Health Security Index<\/a> found that no country in the world is fully prepared to handle an epidemic or pandemic. Prevention costs money, and there is no profit in it<\/a>. When epidemics emerge, both cash-strapped public medical systems and for-profit ones are reluctant to invest in widespread testing and treatment.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWhen COVID-19 first appeared<\/a>, American officials did nothing<\/a> for almost two months. They rejected an early test kit developed by the World Health Organization in order to privilege American providers who failed to produce<\/a> an accurate test quickly enough and in sufficient numbers. The result has been colossal system failure, a lost opportunity to contain the epidemic, and much unnecessary suffering<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWhen epidemics escape containment, there are two options. One is to allow the infection to spread until herd immunity<\/a> is achieved. This strategy is most effective when medical systems have the capacity to treat all cases. When they do not, some people will be left to die<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nModern medical systems are designed for maximum cost-efficiency (lean production) so they have no margin to manage periodic surges in demand. Under such conditions, the only option is to impose mass quarantine, or social distancing<\/a>. Such measures do not reduce the total number of infections and may not reduce the number of deaths. However, they do slow the speed of transmission, easing the load on medical systems, enabling more people to be treated, and buying time to develop a vaccine.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nSocial crises reveal the extent of social inequality and also deepen it. Travel bans target some nations and not others. While some industries are forced to close, others continue to operate<\/a>. The public are ordered to maintain social distance, yet inmates trapped in overcrowded prisons<\/a> do not have access to soap and hand sanitizers. Virtual classrooms benefit the few, leaving the rest further behind. And where testing and treatment cost money, those who are most likely to get sick are least able to pay.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWorker safety is not prioritized. Epidemics place unbearable pressure on front-line workers, and a planned shortage<\/a> of personal protective equipment (PPE) puts them in danger. Yet these workers have no say in how public services are funded, equipped, staffed, or organized.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWhile sick workers should isolate themselves to protect others, 24 percent of all American workers and 69 percent of low-paid ones (making less than $10.80 an hour) have no paid sick leave<\/a>, and recent US legislation<\/a> will not help them. Without sick benefits, workers will stay on the job because being broke is worse than being sick.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe ruling class panic when disease threatens them or their bottom line. Nevertheless, they refuse to eliminate the environmental degradation and impoverished conditions that breed disease.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nGlobally, more than 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water<\/a>, 4.5 billion lack basic sanitation services, and close to a billion people do not get enough food<\/a>. Deadly yet treatable diseases such as TB and HIV\/AIDs continue to spread. In 2017, 1.7 million people were newly infected<\/a> with HIV and 770,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses. When the means exist for everyone to be well, the acceptance of poverty-bred disease can only be understood as a means for eugenically reducing the numbers of destitute people.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe capitalist class respond to every crisis as if it were a war they must fight with weapons of social control. Ordinary people are not treated as valued problem-solvers, but as victims needing saving or as potential troublemakers who must be isolated, kept fearful, and coerced into obedience.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nOpportunities<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIs it possible to prevent epidemics? What is the best way to contain them? What must we do differently?\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nCOVID-19 has caused enough panic to put seemingly radical reforms<\/a> on the agenda, including: universal access to medical care; fully funded social services; sick leave benefits for all workers; housing the homeless; and ensuring that everyone is well nourished. Such measures would require a massive transfer of wealth from the capitalist class to the working class. However, the purpose of capitalism is to transfer wealth in the opposite direction, from the many to the few. This is why billions of people are exposed to preventable distress, disease, disability, and premature death, why capitalists fail to act responsibly<\/a> in response to crises, and why they exploit every crisis as an opportunity to increase their wealth and tighten their grip on society.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe only way that anyone can be truly safe is if everyone is safe. That can happen only when the majority step up and organize themselves to make it so.<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nUnions around the world are pushing for more effective measures to contain<\/a> the epidemic and to protect front-line workers<\/a>. However, the capitalist class resist implementing such measures. That leaves two options: mount enough public pressure to compel authorities to do the right thing (reform); or remove the capitalist class from power so the rest of us can do what needs to be done (revolution). What might that second, revolutionary, option look like?\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWhere the capitalists stoke fear of others as a source of contagion, we would mobilize the well to care for the unwell.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWith the working class in power, we could open the banks and release enough money to massively expand medical and social services. People could organize themselves in every workplace, school, and neighborhood, forming democratic councils to share information, conduct free testing, and ensure free treatment for all who fall ill, financial support for the sick, social support for the quarantined, food for the hungry, and housing for the homeless.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWe would give full amnesty to all undocumented persons so they can be tested and treated and join the collective effort to test and treat others.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nOvercrowded, unsanitary conditions breed disease, so we would immediately release all immigrants in detention, along with all prisoners being held for non-violent offenses. Once their medical and social needs are met, they could join the social mobilization.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWe would eliminate all political borders in order to coordinate local, regional, and global efforts and to enable personnel and equipment to travel where needed.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWars breed disease and devastation. Ending them would enable us to vastly improve the health of the planet and everyone on it.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn short, we would completely transform our relationships with each other, from divided consumers to united producers. We would also change our relationship with the non-human world, nurturing it so that it can nurture us in return.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIf you think such measures are impossible, pie in the sky, a pipe dream, consider this: When all \u2018reasonable\u2019 solutions have proved inadequate to the task, then the only road left, however improbable, is the one we must travel.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"