The reactions to the Covid-19 outbreak differ largely and range from unprecedented global hysteria to a complete belittlement of the danger and a tranquil, humorous attitude. Some, however, should follow the advised hygiene and health measures more attentively due to age-related and other health concerns putting them at higher risk than others of suffering life-threatening consequences in the case of an infection. Among those at higher risk may be an unexpected name: capitalism.

It is with good reason that the WHO has declared the outbreak a global pandemic. Governments of countries affected the most are investing what they can in containing the outbreak locally, others of less affected regions are securing their borders and taking any needed preventative measures. These first steps should be taken without hesitation, yet they should not remain the only steps taken, for the extent this outbreak has reached is a symptom of a far more fatal epidemic, namely global capitalism, under which big corporations flourish, feeding off of our climate, ruining and changing the habitats of animals uncontrollably and leading to the rapid ethical and quality-wise deterioration of the meat and animal products industry, thus paving the way for such pandemics. While the scientific prognoses available covering the likelihood and extents of similar outbreaks in the near future vary greatly, none of them are truly promising–and I would not expect them to be so, considering that any attempts at reforming climate and industrial policies remain in the capitalist frame instead of challenging it, and thus do not truly hinder the plundering of our planet’s resources and the animals’ wellbeing, as well as the exploitation of workers, mainly in the Global South; they will in fact never hinder it, as it goes against the interests of those corporations that western governments depend on financially.

With every passing day, the measures taken politically out of necessity and personally out of fear challenge the economies of formerly stable capitalist countries ever more. There is a worldwide fear of the pandemic plunging the global economy back into a bad recession. In many areas, the entertainment industry is practically halted, activities in which one lavishly spends money are restricted or reconsidered by consumers, the wasteful, consumer capitalist lifestyle is challenged, and in some of the countries that heavily rely on it, such as Italy, tourism is coming to a complete standstill, global mobility is hindered, large businesses are paralysed and oil prices are crashing. In the eurozone particularly, this may cause a great financial burden due to the countries’ economic co-dependency; the Greek debt crisis, for example, attests to this. Capitalism has survived many exceptional cases before and adapted itself to the challenging circumstances, yet if this special scenario lasts for more weeks or months or is repeated in shorter time intervals–as some analyses indicate–it will become more questionable how much longer capitalism will endure a prolonged pandemic.

While capitalism is proving itself less sustainable and unable to uphold a rudimentary market stability within a few weeks only since the start of the viral outbreak, the need for costly medical and preventative measures will snowball without doubt. By now, if not before, it must be clear that capitalism has never worked for the wellbeing of people, and any social reforms introduced lessen the damage the system would normally cause, but never radically, nor for the sake of the people, but for the maintenance of the global capitalist system and for the sake of polishing its foul image.

What is proven, however, is that the survival and prosperity of capitalists come at the cost of the working class and the Global South. Amidst the current developments, this can be witnessed at a heightened level with the high cost of Covid-19 tests holding back a large fraction of the American working class from getting tested, and thus hindering a necessary step before the potential patient can undergo any treatment to begin with, in order to then contain the spread of the virus on a national level. Nothing illustrates ‘profit over people’ better than this–and ‘people’ here refers to entire masses without the financial privileges crucial for survival in such a state of emergency, whose lives have been and will continue to be sacrificed if this scheme will prevail. Or at a larger, transnational scale; in terms of the US-Iranian relations, for instance, and the ghastliness US-imperialism has reached with the sanctions they refuse to loosen, this scheme has cost Iranians their lives for decades and at a higher rate than ever now. The three-digit death poll since the virus reached Iran is directly caused by the massive shortage of medical supplies and is only expected to rise exponentially.

The fact that in some areas surviving a pandemic is solely determined by one’s financial stability or nationality (despite the said sanctions being officially imposed on the Iranian government, not people–and the government does have its faults that it should be held accountable for, but punishing the people on behalf of the ruling class is only causing more harm and is in no way contributing to the betterment of the political situation in Iran), is in itself a perverted concept that should be fought instead of being taken for granted and silently accepted. We can only hope that this global pandemic serves as a wakeup call, because now more than ever, it is the masses or capitalism.