Coronavirus and the Horrors of Flawed Capitalism
The three fundamental charges against the current flawed form of capitalism and the economic globalization that it has spawned are:
1) Even after 150+ years, capitalism has NOT delivered on health, public health, healthcare, quality education for all; the current 2020 pandemic is ample proof -- what's worse, it has brought a civilization that has been in the making for thousands of years, to a cliff edge and potential extinction.
2) It has created unthinkable socio-economic inequalities and then continuously widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots, leading to poverty, disease, etc, even in the year 2020.
3) Whatever benefits or gains it has generated -- technology, transport, trade, electricity, mechanized agriculture, what have you -- are in the realm of comforts, pleasures, indulgences, excesses, which have not only wreaked havoc on the environment and nature, but are not essential for our survival. Stated differently, they are optional, unsustainable, and zero-sum in essence, given the collateral damage they inflict in the form of scams, frauds, cons on the one hand and implications for health and community on the other. In fine, too few achievements, too much of damage, over a long period of time.
Using the analogy of aviation, let’s try to understand the fundamental flaws in the rationale behind the current model of capitalism, which has been practised for 150+ years now:
Are aeroplanes essential for our survival?
No! Aviation is optional, a product of our modern culture and a specific economic system; it is not essential for our survival, but a threat to our biosphere. But we went in for it anyway. We didn’t foresee consequences; we didn’t plan and prepare for long-term fallout; we didn’t put in place fool-proof safety and security measures; we didn’t build all the necessary infrastructure. Instead, we just rushed in anyway with a we-will-cross-the-bridge-when-we-reach-it attitude, and scaled up aviation to an ever-expanding, unsustainable, dangerous, planet-threatening global industry whose abrupt disruption now threatens the entire world and its economies.
If you ‘personify’ aviation and discuss it in terms of one aeroplane, then it’d be like this: we lost sight of the fundamentals (like engine, aircraft body quality and cabin size, cockpit navigation and control systems, quality of pilots, airworthiness), and went on expanding the capacity of the same aircraft, cabin size, in-flight entertainment, in-flight shopping, in-flight internet, online ticketing, online check-in, food and beverages, styling, cushion seating, colors, lighting, and so forth. But all of these represent reckless, optional upgrades in the context of the underlying fundamental or foundational flaws, which remain unattended for a long time. The flight is bound to be ill-fated one day. The plane will crash one day for sure. All will die without doubt.
Assuming that all the initial fundamentals are sorted out down the line, the scale itself produces more deadly problems, new unresolved fundamentals, even as it offers some solutions that are still inadequate vis-à-vis the scale. This system or process can’t go on expanding forever, endlessly, because our resources are finite. The damages and side-effects from the by now humongous scale are potentially fatal.
That, in a nutshell, applies not only to the aviation industry but industrial revolution-spawned capitalism, fake (and evil-producing) democracies and other similar spurious ideologies, you name it.
Is the current model of capitalism essential for our survival?
Well, you know the answer, don’t you? You know what would be our fate if we continue on this ‘virus’-producing ‘flight’, don’t you? The current system is just one of the infinite models of living we could choose from. Let’s choose a better, safer model, using collective decision-making and after learning the right lessons from our experiences so far.
Three factors need to be considered here:
1) Why is there no firm and clear "expert" view on lockdowns, curfews, emergency declarations, when some countries such as Sweden has resolutely refused to shut down, no matter what, and swore by herd immunity, a concept that the UK initially said it will adopt, only to change tack midway? Are countries under lockdown adopting that practice for some ulterior, suspect, unverified or dodgy reasons?
2) Why is it that in spite of hundreds of years of developing science and applying "cutting-edge" ("state-of-the-art") technology, no vaccines have been readied for a pandemic that has been clearly anticipated, predicted and forecast decades before the actual outbreak? And, why is it that we don't have any alternative and quicker ways of developing vaccines? Why has not there been any efforts in that direction? Why are we putting all our eggs in one basket?
3) Similarly, after promising the moon for decades, the existing flawed form of capitalism has left the hapless, helpless billions of this world with a wierd, unthinkable choice of EITHER re-opening the economies despite the virus still being on the rampage OR indefinitely continuing (or continually extending) lockdowns -- a stark reminder that we ordinary people, the majority non-elites, are NOT in safe hands. Truth: We never have been, nor ever will be. Any idea contrary to that truth has to be an illusion, wishful thinking, misperception, or 'all-is-well' denial/self-deception.
To better understand the ill-effects of capitalism, it is important to review the following real-life examples:
Foods
What has been promised: nutritious, organic, hygienic, easily accessible and affordable.
What has been delivered: poisonous and wrong ingredients, excessive sugar/fat/etc to make it addictive and tasty, adulteration and contamination.
Healthcare
What has been promised: Modern public health systems equipped with latest technologies and equipment and high-quality doctors and support staff; affordable, standard across the society, easily accessible, humanitarian approach.
What has been delivered: Super expensive healthcare; discrimination based on social status; cheating in the name of health insurance; profit-driven capitalist approach to a social good; ill-maintained under-staffed, under-equipped hospitals; unethical prescriptions for unnecessary diagnostic tests and medicines; corruption in terms medical certificates issued.
Education
What has been promised: free or affordable universal education without any discrimination on the basis of location, geography, socio-economic demographics; quality of syllabus that is life-enhancing on the back of globalization-enabled benefits; academic performance evaluated with focus on proficiency and all-round personal development.
What has been delivered: Expensive and unaffordable education with stress on industry-oriented skills; syllabus that increasingly alienates real-life lessons from real-life enhancement; mechanical, impersonal teaching methods; emphasis on marks and grades instead of knowledge and enlightenment.
Banking
What has been promised: security of money saved/deposited; higher returns; use of deposits for nation-building and economic development; transparent and simplified banking services, including customer services with increasing use of efficient, fool-proof technology.
What has been delivered: complex systems and processes disempowering customers, outdated and irrelevant compliances, time-consuming documentation, false promises or not delivering on the initial promises in the name of policy changes or compliance.
Medicines, drugs
What has been promised: transparency, safety, quality, preventive care, cure for all major diseases, compliance to legal standards and regulations.
What has been delivered: Heavy R&D investment in drug discovery but expensive medicines for symptom relief, which produce side-effects, addictions or necessitate life-long use; profit-driven approach; government authorities and Big Pharma involved in scams like price-fixing, IP abuse, development of substandard drugs with dangerous side-effects, forming cartels, developing only certain profitable drugs; one-size-fits-all approach.
Insurance
What has been promised: transparency, extensive coverage, quick processing.
What has been delivered: Complex and tricky Terms & Conditions; not settling claims; heavy premiums; discriminatory policies driven on profit motive.
Telecommunications
What has been promised: uninterrupted services, high bandwidth and fast download, cheap plans, 24/7 customer service.
What has been delivered: poor network connectivity, confusing tariff plans, basic services without any option to customize, painful process even to reach a customer service executive.
Media
What has been promised: reporting of accurate facts, unbiased reporting, socially responsible.
What has been delivered: manipulative narrative, slanted/prejudiced reportage, expensive content, or dumb-down content, hidden agenda-driven.
Entertainment
What has been promised: value for money, meaningful content.
What has been delivered: inane and addictive content, freemium model.
Technology
What has been promised: automation of manual, labour-intensive online tasks to make it easy for end-users, multi-layer security features.
What has been delivered: algorithm-based functionalities without keeping in mind user requirements, automatic downloads or upgrades without consent.
Retail
What has been promised: varieties and quality, affordable price and attractive discount, customer delight in experience and service both offline and online shopping.
What has been delivered: quality products often overpriced, cheap price for defective products or poor-quality clearance sale, customer delight only up to a point of purchase, customer feedback not taken seriously.
We could go on, but that won't be necessary because we're confident you get the drift by now. However, if you contribute more items in the format above, we'll be more than happy to add your contributions to the list. Email us: VirusWakeUp@gmail.com
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