Capitalism Blocks Bold Steps To Stop COVID Pandemic

The conversation on shutting down massive swathes of the economy and daily life, in order to corral the dual COVID-19 variant explosions of Delta and Omicron, has become brittle.

Photo Insert: In many countries, it is still an ordeal for citizens to get free coronavirus testing.

President Biden has stated repeatedly that the US is not “in the shutdown business,” a sentiment echoed by many of his political allies as well as members of the business community, William Rivers Pitt wrote for Truthout.

Their hesitancy, while not as scientifically responsible as it should be, definitely has its reasons. Along with causing significant financial losses, the upheaval among the parents of young children was extremely punishing when schools closed and a haphazard form of in-home learning was instituted.

Moreover, amid the earlier shutdowns, an ongoing right-wing political movement united with anti-vaccine conspiracists and allies of former President Donald Trump, and now threatens the very fabric of democracy in this country. If Biden chooses to lock down parts of the country, those collective pressures could collide and erupt again in ways difficult to predict.

“Indeed, we are all at the end of our rope, and it is vital to recognize that, along with the peril it represents. We’ve allowed capitalism to be in the driver’s seat of our response since this began, and all that has gotten us is a steady diet of one step forward, three steps back. While we do not yet require a total lockdown of everything thanks to the vaccines and other improved treatments, this tentative approach to containment has failed and must be abandoned. Instead, we need bold and immediate action,” Pitt argued.

This would include universally available free testing, including both rapid at-home tests and PCRs. It would include widely available and free gold-standard masks, mandated in indoor public places. It would involve remote work and closures where appropriate, according to scientific recommendations, and subsidizing pay for people who can’t go to work.

Such action would also include shifting events, school, and work outdoors in climates where that makes sense. Sensibly applied vaccine and testing mandates, particularly in relation to travel, could go a long way. And the latest and best available COVID treatments should be accessible at all hospitals.

Moreover, steps must be taken to end vaccine apartheid and ensure global access to vaccination. “The president needs to get a handle on this at long last and stop mollifying the capitalists with half-a-loaf exercises in futility. We are almost out of time. One more winter, I fear, and then the abyss,” Pitt warned.

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