Coronavirus

The Coronavirus and the broader, ongoing threat of pandemics that hangs over humanity, are very much a product of how capitalism treats this planet and the species that live on it. The loss of animal habitat and methods of factory farming, both generate this dangerous possibility. As the present pandemic unfolds, it will impact societies that have been structured according to the priorities and needs of neoliberal capitalism. It is hard to imagine a form of society that is less suited to responding to a major threat to public health with rationality and fairness. In the midst of such a crisis, the survival needs of those who already find themselves disadvantaged and expendable will have to be fought for.

Homeless people, out on the streets or crammed into unhealthy shelters, are placed in a veritable petri dish as COVID-19 looms over them. An outbreak in the Toronto shelters would spread horribly. The demand has been put forward for the opening of 2,000 more spaces to reduce overcrowding and for motel rooms to be readied where those who contract or have been exposed to the Coronavirus can be isolated. It is a sign of our present dangerous weakness that this very basic and necessary demand is, as yet, being advanced by only a few advocates.

If the homeless are in a petri dish, then prisoners are in an even more vulnerable situation. In Italy, the prisons are in revolt, as inmates riot to press the demand for amnesty in the face of the Coronavirus outbreak. Such demands should be fully supported and action taken outside of the prisons to ensure they are won.

It is understood that the key to limiting the spread of this illness is to ensure that those who have been exposed or who are at particular risk, self-isolate. A precarious, low wage workforce has no such option. Not only do these workers risk being fired but, without paid sick days, staying away from work is not a realistic possibility. Governments that fail to ensure income and protection for workers who need to take time off in this situation, are guaranteeing that the impact of the Coronavirus will be all the more deadly and they must be confronted on that basis.

Most glaringly, the healthcare system itself must be addressed. The agenda of austerity has weakened public healthcare horribly. A system that is overstretched has no realistic chance of coping with a pandemic. An effective vaccine seems to be a long way off but, as soon as it is available, it must be provided universally, without any cost. We will not secure the resources needed for such measures merely be pointing out the need for them, however. The point is to organize to win them on a scale and with a disruptive impact that makes them attainable. The alternative is to accept a reality of social abandonment that is too devastating to contemplate.

Climate

Evidence of the climate crisis and its terrible effects are all around us. Yet, the capitalists and their political enablers, in the face of copious evidence, are on course to sealing our doom. There is simply no more compelling example of the incompatibility of capitalism with a viable future for the inhabitants of this planet. There is need for action on two fronts. Firstly, we must do all we can to curtail further assaults on the environment by limiting destructive practices or particularly damaging projects. The recent decision of Teck Resources to withdraw its application for a massive oilsands mining project, in part because of the risk of Indigenous resistance and challenges by climate justice movements, is a concrete example of limiting the damage they inflict. Most importantly, however, we have before us the model of resistance that is provided by the movement of solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en and the struggle against the Coastal GasLink project. I have written already on the incredible implications of the use of economic disruption in general and of targeting the global supply chain in particular, when it comes to building a counter power in the struggles we face in the period ahead.