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Critics of socialism often point to the mass deaths that occurred under dictators like Stalin and Mao. Such deaths were abhorrent, of course. But one problem with this line of attack is that it selectively ignores the numerous examples of mass deaths that occurred under brutal capitalist regimes, while also overlooking the everyday deaths that are a matter of course under capitalism, caused by grinding and utterly unnecessary poverty. Both of these realities are or soon will be confronting us under the unfolding coronavirus pandemic. The virus will likely kill millions of people in the United States alone. Many of these fatalities could have been avoided if we had a social order that placed the needs of people over profit. Make no mistake: we’re facing a pandemic that could produce one of the worst mass deaths in human history, and capitalism will be responsible for many of them.

Profit Over People To explain why, we should first go over some basics about capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which a small number of people (capitalists) own the vast majority of material resources (land, buildings, factories) necessary to produce useful things. Other people, the working class — the vast majority of us — own very little or no such resources. Members of the working class must sell their labor to capitalists for a wage in order to survive (or they must depend on the financial support of someone else who works for a wage). The capitalist then sells the products made by the worker on the market, hoping to fetch a price over and above the cost of materials and what they paid the worker who made the goods. The difference between a good’s cost of production and the price the good sells for is what the capitalist keeps as profit (and can do with whatever the hell they feel like: buy a yacht, build a fourteenth bathroom in their mansion — whatever their heart desires). Usually, capitalists compete with one another to sell similar goods. That competition forces each capitalist to keep their prices as low as possible. But, in order to continue making a profit, capitalists need to keep costs low as well. Competition forces each capitalist to not just make profits, but to make greater profits than their competitors, Why? Because greater profits mean a greater ability to beat out your competition moving forward: by investing in labor-saving technologies and lowering one’s labor costs, or by expanding production and making use of economies of scale, or by spending money on marketing and taking away competitors’ market share. Capitalists who fail to maximize profits will soon find themselves unable to sell their goods and be put out of business. And being put out of business means ending up in the dire position of a worker. This way of organizing the production and distribution of goods has its virtues, as Karl Marx himself emphasized. Capitalism can inspire incredible innovation. But the same feature of the system that breeds innovation — the imperative that capitalists maximize profits — also gives rise to capitalism’s most destructive tendencies. It means that capitalists prioritize profits over the welfare of their workers and of humanity as a whole. Owners will make their employees work in uncomfortable and dangerous conditions and refuse to pay them a living wage. They will pollute the environment with deadly toxins and planet-destroying greenhouse gases before spending money on safe production processes. And they will oppose life-saving social policies like Medicare for All because they increase their taxes and strengthen employees’ power to bargain for better wages. Which brings us back to coronavirus.