a) The profit incentive doesn’t work to
make vaccinations for and during pandemics . While vaccines normally are made under capitalism , they
take 5-10 years of research , testing and plenty of money expenditure before
they can be brought safely to the market and only then if theres profit. So there
has to be an immediate use for the vaccine. It cant sit on shelf waiting for
a pandemic . Vaccines like all pharmaceutical
drugs are regulated by government agencies because we don’t trust the drug companies
and often government aids research. So
without vaccines ready to go , while the profit motive is there , development has
to be sped up under pandemics and this is done with government incentives and
shortcuts including no liability , funding, trialling shortcuts once the
pandemic hits.
b) Then drug companies wont
share patents and technology after all the government incentives because its incentivised by
profit not the greater good of saving
peoples lives.
c) With the vaccine being so in demand drug companies can exploit governments for their benefit and profit with no consequences . At least they are in poorer Latin American countries . Read here
d) Public health
is inherently political as it requires the organised efforts of society . Capitalists dont
have the incentive or reason to make mechanisms or plans to provide for well
being of countries or the planet even if its in their interest, because they are individuals competing with
one another and their primary goal is to survive and to make profit .
For eg British
government nationalising railway in Britain 1948 stopped competing railway
companies with different gauge railways that stopped train flow or nationalising
healthcare in Britain in 1948 allowing government to take responsibility for keeping
workers healthy thereby socialising cost then business could lesson their costs partly
recognising their workers stay healthier to perform work they otherwise couldn’t
due to low wages . Minimum wage is another mechanism governments do thereby
slowing overproduction and economic downturn benefiting businesses that they would
never do individually . And pandemics
are no exception that require the efforts of government . Certain mitigation actions needs to be orchestrated by governments that capitalists and their corporations would not do. .
e) Capitalism requires increasing growth
and cant handle economic stagnantion or degrowth [recession] – once people stop
working the system falls apart as it becomes a downward economic spiral, this
is the reason why “too big to fail corporations” are bailed out by governments . Capitalism even if it had some mechanism , would never volunteer lockdowns , social
distancing etc
f) Mitigation effects like full or proper
lockdowns to reduce transmission would put people out of work and into hardship
– Government needs to step in and socialise that cost - eg workers wages for
those that cant work. Mostly by increasing government debt. So easier with
countries with lower debt like in NZ.
g) It increases inequality -
poor suffer -underpaid essential workers carry on working while rich stay home and
quarantine and increase their wealth.
Read Thehill article here
Read The Gaurdian article here
h) It effects the poorer developing
countries worst . In economic activity
and the disparity of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout with wealthy countries like
Israel USA , UK first scooping up vaccines first, leaving developing countries with next to
none.
Read the conversation article here
World bank press release here
Read WHO warning here
Some warned lockdowns and cutting off trade and economic downturn , will see more die from starvation with poorer developing countries than covid-19
Read Premium Times article here
i) It seems the conspiracy theories are
being driven by the same profit making PR conservative think tanks as the big tobacco
and big oil climate deniers use in order to change public and government
opinion to keep on polluting. After all drug
companies may kill the cash cow if they cure everyone- or they would need
invent new zoonotic [animal to human]
viruses but that’s just a plausible conspiracy theory
Read Desmog article here
Read The Gaurdian article here
malcolm daniel
4 Dec 2021
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