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American capitalism has dropped the mask -- and its face is cruel and selfish
... America is built on a mythical sense of work ethos that feeds into our romantic notions of independence and self-reliance. We are drawn to the idea of a meritocracy that rewards hard work and perseverance and we are trained to congratulate ourselves for eschewing government assistance. Such a sentiment was apparent when the head of a Southern California chapter of the American Sewing Guild proudly told the New York Times, “Sewers, we’ve always stepped up and done this thing…We’re made for this time. We’re happy to stay home and sew. And we all have stashes of fabric.”
But America is also the world’s richest nation. Looking beyond aside our inflated sense of national hubris, it ought to fill every single one of us with rage that our doctors and nurses are scrounging for masks and other medical supplies and that a government agency like the CDC is recommending improvised masks. The shortage of supplies is directly the result of a capitalist system so unregulated that it is designed to benefit only shareholders, not societies. States in the U.S. and nations around the world are now desperately competing with one another to buy the much-needed supplies. The Washington Post interviewed state authorities and hospital managers and found, “a broadly dysfunctional system across the United States, with hospitals and health authorities having few options but to rely on largely unknown middlemen whose priority appears to be making a profit as they promise to quickly replenish the nation’s depleted medical stockpiles.” Christian Mitchell, deputy Governor of Illinois summed it up best saying, “It is a dog-eat-dog world out here.”
It took President Donald Trump weeks to invoke the full force of the Defense Production Act which gives the federal government the authority to direct private industry to refocus manufacturing during a national emergency. Trump was loath to do so because, in his words, “We’re a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.” He failed to mention that the U.S. capitalist system had yielded precisely the sorts of shortage that Venezuelans have been suffering from and that Western media outlets have gleefully blamed on socialist policies.
Last week, a woman I had never met reached out to me via social media and asked if I could make some masks for herself and her colleagues. She is an occupational therapist at a nursing and rehabilitation facility in New Jersey and was terrified that the dwindling supply of masks at her workplace would not be replenished. I ought to have felt satisfied that I was able to step in and help but instead I felt a profound sense of outrage and sadness that in this nation overflowing with wealth and resources, a stranger from the other side of the country felt compelled to reach out for help keeping herself and her colleagues and their patients safe from this deadly disease.
Americans have also resorted to crowdfunding campaigns to outfit healthcare workers with necessary protection. One such effort has already raised more than $60,000 in 3 days to cover mass purchases of the coveted N-95 masks for doctors and nurses in the nation. The $250,000 goal of “Masks for America” is being met by small donations from all over the nation likely by ordinary people who might already be feeling the dire financial burden brought on by the pandemic. At a time of record unemployment across the country, we are once more forced to rely on ourselves to protect one another.
But that $250,000 goal could be met effortlessly by any one of the billionaires who have disproportionately benefited from decades of policies favoring the wealthy.
But America is also the world’s richest nation. Looking beyond aside our inflated sense of national hubris, it ought to fill every single one of us with rage that our doctors and nurses are scrounging for masks and other medical supplies and that a government agency like the CDC is recommending improvised masks. The shortage of supplies is directly the result of a capitalist system so unregulated that it is designed to benefit only shareholders, not societies. States in the U.S. and nations around the world are now desperately competing with one another to buy the much-needed supplies. The Washington Post interviewed state authorities and hospital managers and found, “a broadly dysfunctional system across the United States, with hospitals and health authorities having few options but to rely on largely unknown middlemen whose priority appears to be making a profit as they promise to quickly replenish the nation’s depleted medical stockpiles.” Christian Mitchell, deputy Governor of Illinois summed it up best saying, “It is a dog-eat-dog world out here.”
It took President Donald Trump weeks to invoke the full force of the Defense Production Act which gives the federal government the authority to direct private industry to refocus manufacturing during a national emergency. Trump was loath to do so because, in his words, “We’re a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.” He failed to mention that the U.S. capitalist system had yielded precisely the sorts of shortage that Venezuelans have been suffering from and that Western media outlets have gleefully blamed on socialist policies.
Last week, a woman I had never met reached out to me via social media and asked if I could make some masks for herself and her colleagues. She is an occupational therapist at a nursing and rehabilitation facility in New Jersey and was terrified that the dwindling supply of masks at her workplace would not be replenished. I ought to have felt satisfied that I was able to step in and help but instead I felt a profound sense of outrage and sadness that in this nation overflowing with wealth and resources, a stranger from the other side of the country felt compelled to reach out for help keeping herself and her colleagues and their patients safe from this deadly disease.
Americans have also resorted to crowdfunding campaigns to outfit healthcare workers with necessary protection. One such effort has already raised more than $60,000 in 3 days to cover mass purchases of the coveted N-95 masks for doctors and nurses in the nation. The $250,000 goal of “Masks for America” is being met by small donations from all over the nation likely by ordinary people who might already be feeling the dire financial burden brought on by the pandemic. At a time of record unemployment across the country, we are once more forced to rely on ourselves to protect one another.
But that $250,000 goal could be met effortlessly by any one of the billionaires who have disproportionately benefited from decades of policies favoring the wealthy.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/american-capitalism-has-dropped-the-mask-and-its-face-is-cruel-and-selfish/
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
With aisles and aisles of palliative "cold remedies" on the shelves and nearly 6 Billion people on this planet... And, no one, anywhere, was working on a real cure or prevention of the type of threat our species is facing? (Not counting the Pandemic Response President Obama's Administration had begun to set up... But, what was disbanded by what appears to be the general zeitgeist of human greed and the hunger for power.)
I put the blame for this situation squarely on the shoulders of a broad world wide rejection of education, science, basic research, and for rewarding the wrong behaviors. Why was this rejected? One reason. There was no immediate money in, it. Or, even the promise of eventual reward.
We are a very sick species.
I guess, I should've seen a hint in the reaction to Global Warming.
