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Title: Capitalist Hypocrisy Author: Anonymous Date: Autumn 2020 Language: en Topics: COVID-19, pandemic, environment, capitalism, agriculture, Rebrote, The Local Kids, The Local Kids #6 Source: Translated for The Local Kids, Issue 6 Notes: Previously appeared as Coronavirus; La hipocresĂa capitalista in Rebrote (boletĂn anticarcelario para presxs), Issue 4, April 2020
Pandemics have always existed, in the past diseases have wiped out
billions of lives around the planet. The context in which each one
develops, the pre-existing conditions that allow its evolution and
development, and the impact they have on species (human in the case of
the new coronavirus), are directly related to the prevailing order that
governs human relationships in society. In other words, capitalism and
the commodification of life on Earth play an important role with regard
to the origin, spread and consequences of diseases considered pandemics.
Capitalism is based on the premise that the planet’s resources are
scarce and therefore must be regulated so that the participants of
society can benefit from them. Clearly, the very premise of this system
is based on the objectification of life on Earth. The water flows, the
existence of infinite species of plants and animals, and the earth
itself, are regarded as sources of material wealth. That is, as objects
that can be exploited at the cost of suffering and destruction, for the
benefit of those who hold economic and military power in the various
regions of the world.
Nothing can be expected from this predatory system for which money,
luxury and consumption are above a free and natural existence. Many lies
can be told about the benefits of capitalist progress, but the truth is
something else, something verifiable in the facts. Progress brings
nothing more than destruction: devastation of natural environments,
changes in water flows, subsequent droughts and consequently misery or
death for plant and animal species (human and non-human) who live thanks
to the balance of the environment. However, there is a privileged group
of humans who do benefit from all this and at the expense of others.
This destruction imposed by capitalism is harsher for many animal
species that have fewer ways to defend themselves against the frantic
advance of technologies in modern societies. Specism is one of the
pillars of this system and is also reflected in the objectification of
animal bodies, used for different purposes. One of the most cruel is
embodied in the food industry. But what does this bloody industry has to
do with Covid-19? Different scientific sources (not that this really
gives them more value) have affirmed that the virus originated through
zoonotic transmission. In other words, it jumped from non-human animals
to human animals. There is much speculation about Chinese citizens
eating bats which would have triggered the spread of the virus. This has
provoked a lot of talk about the eating habits of other cultures, many
times bringing racism to the surface. Aside from that, zoonotic
transmission occurs under certain conditions when the environment of the
species that carries the virus touches with that of the species that can
be infected. This contagion may be due to a change in these conditions,
such as changes in proximity and regular contact among other things.
These changes provide the basis for the evolution of the virus, which
can lead to a more contagious and deadly virus, for example. And as
already mentioned before, what better than capitalism to change the
conditions of the environment where a virus with these characteristics
can exist? Mainly, capitalism generates these changes in two related
ways: (1) through the animal industry, specifically factory farms and
(2) through the devastation of nature.
In history there are already many examples for (1). In the 18th century,
in the territory dominated by the English state, three different
pandemics arose related to animals considered cattle. In this territory,
capitalism cleared the fields to replace them with a “monoculture of
cattle”, mainly of animals infected by precapitalist pandemics imported
from Europe. The consequences of these pandemics were much greater than
in other territories since the concentration of these animals changed
disproportionately due to the advance of the industrial revolution. The
outbreaks were concentrated in large dairies in London where the
environment was ideal for the evolution of viruses.
Given the advances of the English state in science and medicine, they
managed to contain these pandemics. However, it was much worse in Africa
where the same pandemics arrived due to European imperialism, manifested
in the colonization of the African continent. The military campaigns
spread the viruses in the local cattle, causing a great mortality which
was reflected in the death of almost 90% of the cattle. This led to an
unprecedented famine in the pastoral societies of Africa. And also had
as a consequence for the European powers a greater facility for their
imperialist expansion.
Another example is the case of the Spanish flu, one of the first
outbreaks of H1N1 influenza and a precursor to more recent outbreaks
such as the bird or swine flu. It spread in the second decade of the
twentieth century. According to studies so far it originated in poultry
or pigs on farms and infected soldiers on duty who travelled to Europe.
The rudimentary forms of concentration and intensive treatment on these
farms made them the ideal places for the development of viruses.
Although it is considered to be one of the most lethal pandemics (about
25 million people died in the first 25 weeks, according to some
studies), the virus itself was not very different from others strains.
Perhaps the high mortality was due to generalized malnutrition, urban
overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in the affected areas, where
urbanization around the developing industry was increasing. Clearly, the
spread of this pandemic benefited from growing trade and the First World
War.
Concerning (2), the devastation of nature is unstoppable for this
system, since it goes hand in hand with so-called progress which is the
cornerstone of this order today. In all territories, capitalism
devastates forests, jungles, beaches, mountains, glaciers and an endless
number of environments inhabited by many species, many of which are
carriers of diseases and viruses that human animals were perhaps not
aware of. The changes in the environment of these species (the
destruction of their habitats) forces these species to survive in other
ways; going further into the wild where humans have not yet reached, or
adapting to life near human settlements, towns or even cities. These
changes can lead to an evolution of the diseases they carry, as well as
more exposure for those who were not close to these “dangers”. On the
other hand, many indigenous communities use the sale of animal meat to
survive, since their environments and ancestral ways of life and
alimentation have been devastated and there are not many other options.
And clearly, each time the city advances, more species are at risk of
being hunted by those who now need to survive in this way. When this
cycle continues, it is a matter of time for people to become
increasingly exposed to new diseases and viruses. It is not surprising
that the pandemic could have originated in a city like Wuhan. Since it
is a highly urbanized society and also industrialized, with large steel
and concrete industries, which reflects the devastation that capitalism
has left in its wake. Covid-19 is no exception.
Following these arguments, let us think of governments who use the power
of the state infrastructure to perpetuate the capitalist system and
promote indiscriminate progress at the cost of devastation. Isn’t then
the position of the different governments faced with the current
pandemic hypocritical? How can they give so many speeches and take
palliative measures for the degrading health system, pretending concern
for people’s lives, when they are responsible for the conditions for
this virus to have spread? When we talk about cynicism, it is not even
necessary to think only about this aspect. The conditions in which most
people live in all territories are marginality and exclusion. Conditions
that lead to a life with few hints of dignity, since the inequality
generated by poverty is extreme. It has never been among the priorities
of governments that this changes. All this sounds more like taking
politically advantage of the situation and an opportunity to implement
reforms that reinforce repression and improve the tools of the State to
continue its domination.
The Covid-19 virus is real, it has killed thousands of people around the
world and continues to do so every day. But this is not something new.
Those who live in prison, kidnapped by the state, know it well. Health
and sanitary conditions have always been very poor, and now it is not
different. Governments have shown no interest in their lives; the
demands of the prisoners to improve sanitary conditions in this context
of pandemic have been answered with beatings, mutilation, torture and
death. Also the indigenous societies in the world know well the cynicism
of the different governments. In Abya Yala [name used by some indigenous
people as an equivalent for the American continent], the indigenous
people know it for centuries. The European empires came to plunder the
territories, bringing death and destruction. Not only at the hands of
their swords and rifles, but also through many contagious diseases such
as smallpox, tuberculosis, flu or syphilis. These diseases finally
depleted the population of the cultures of the territory much more than
any weapon. The hypocrisy is evident and continues to this day. Hunger,
Ebola, malaria, the bombings in the Middle East kill thousands of people
every day, many more than Covid-19 and have been around for much longer.
But they are not as much a cause for concern as the new coronavirus. Is
it because now the privileged classes of first world countries are also
being affected?
The call is to not believe for a single second in the words of the
rulers, never to trust the state and progress. As free individuals or
communities we can face the pandemic, with mutual support and never
leaving aside the fight against power and domination. The concern for
life on the part of the system has never been such, and it is time to
make this clear.
For insurrection and total liberation
For the self-determination of peoples
For the destruction of the prison society
Fire to the state and bullets to its lackeys!