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Mankind
confronts an unprecedented situation.
A
virus, with low mortality rate, but great potential for dispersal, brings
societies and economies back to humility and demolishes the illusion of human
omnipotence over nature which has been dominant during the last decades. This
is not the first time the “God Syndrome” collapses. Indonesia’s tsunami
exterminated more than 250.000 people in a few hours. Katrina hurricane proved
that US civil protection is a bad joke.
But
why is it that a virus with relatively low mortality rate lead humanity to a
global quarantine? Why are we driven in one of the most post-war serious crisis,
a crisis with unpredictable and unforeseen consequences?
Is
it that the governments feared the possibility of half million people dead? I
don’t think they have this sensitivity. Unfortunately, according to the EU
special report 2018[i]
air pollution alone annually kills 400.000 people in EU, and we don’t see any
“governmental sensitivity” there either.
The
real reason of the global quarantine has nothing to do with sensitivity. What
Governments feared was the collapse of the health system by the simultaneous
need of hospitalization of hundreds of thousands of people. Without global
quarantine, it is estimated that, by the end of April, only one
intensive care
unit for 15 critically ill patients would have been available, not mentioning
all the other every-day hospitalization needs (accidents, heart attacks etc.).
Without the quarantine, medical health care staff would have been obliged to
cast lots in order to choose who would be hospitalized and who would die
without any intensive medical assistance. Unfortunately, this was the cruel
case for Italy, where in some communities the total mortality rate raised to
400%, not only from Covid 19, but from any other reason that the collapsed
health system failed to confront.
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But
why has the health system of most of the rich and strong countries proved so
vulnerable? How is it possible that “giants” of capitalism turn out to be so
unfortified?
The
answer is simple. According to the Credit Suisse Global wealth report 2019[ii],
0,9% of individuals own 43,9% of the world's wealth. The 700 billion Euros that will fall on the
European Market as financial support for the devastating effects of
Coronavirus, is almost nothing comparing to the 158,3 trillion $ held by 0,9%
of the richest capital owners of the planet. Did these tremendous “financial
giants” ever helped during crises? Unfortunately, no! To give an example, until
17 March 2020, 10-12 trillion Euros have been lost in the stock markets. This
means that the strong players sold out their stocks while Markets and
businesses were seeking financial aid, to confront the crisis.
While
most countries (meaning us, the taxpayers) are offering financial liquidity,
capital owners do just the opposite. This self-destructive economy model wastes
financial resources when nobody needs them, but becomes needy when these
resources are necessary and vital during a threat.
The
current vulnerability of the “strong” economies, reminds us of the Lehman
Brothers crisis. The disaster was not caused mainly by the banks' exposure to
toxic loans. Multiple damages have been
provoked when capital owners withdrew their funds from the economic system, and
the public sector in many countries was forced to over-indebtedness to save the
real economy and society.
So,
in times of crisis, accumulated capital, instead of becoming a lifeline,
becomes a burden that “overturns the ship”. The implications of this -
absolutely necessary - quarantine remain unknown in this time, as well as its
consequences to the global economy.
Unfortunately,
we can predict who shall pay the cost: Certainly not the capital holders. Once
again, it’s the public sector that shall support jobs and businesses that
remain closed. The richest 1% shall withdraw funds to invest again in more
convenient times. In other words, they will do the exact opposite of what a
solidarity society should do: share the burdens of the crisis.
There
has been no other period in the history of mankind where the economy has
functioned as a funnel for the transfer of more and more wealth into the hands
of the few wealthy, and for them to contribute nothing in times of crisis.
For
all those reasons economies and societies are unguarded and quarantine was more
than necessary. Governments that were aware of their weaknesses made quick
decisions and avoided the collapse of their health systems.
But
will humanity remain hostage of a casino-like economy, or will Coronavirus
shall become a cruel
lesson that teaches us to strengthen the public goods
(health, education, social protection, research etc.) so that we are not
unprotected and defenseless in time of crises?
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Mankind
paid dearly for the recession of the 1930s with Nazism and the World War. In
Bretton Woods the allies shouted “NEVER AGAIN”, but the lessons were quickly
forgotten and the global economy has been proven defenseless against a virus
that luckily has less than 3% mortality rate.
If
a virus can cause such a global disaster, let us all consider the
catastrophical impact and the trillions of $ the climate crisis shall
cost. There is no excuse for delays. In
Greece we have a saying: “The wise cook before they get hungry”.
