Post by dodger on Oct 13, 2014 16:14:20 GMT
imarxman.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/ebola/
Ebola
Posted on October 12, 2014 by imarxman
Capitalism does not cause disease. Bacteria and viruses are natural phenomena which makes the more pernicious ones difficult to combat because they evolve so rapidly. However, the circumstances creating the conditions whereby disease can more easily incubate and spread are exacerbated by capitalism.
The emergence in Britain of what became popularly known as the Black Death occurred in pre-capitalist feudal society. It was introduced into the country though what became a fundamental feature in the development of capitalism, trade.
The mercantile fleet became the transport for rats that brought the fleas, and the squalor of the growing pre-capitalist cities proved the incubators.
By the nineteenth century Britain was becoming an urban society as labour was drawn into towns and cities for the mills, factories and workshops. The largely unplanned, unsanitary and terribly overcrowded housing became breeding grounds for regular epidemics of such as cholera and typhus.
This proved a problem for capitalists who initially were motivated only by pursuit of maximum profit, not general welfare. Disease, though, is no respecter of class; the working class could die in large numbers and that effected production. Worse for the owners, however, was they and their families also became afflicted. There is no profit in death.
Capitalism, through its social regulator, government, had to deal with this problem. The result was public health regulation and the provision of medical care. The working class also acted on its own behalf so that by the mid-point of the 20th century a national health service was established.
That profit remains the sole motivator of capitalism is shown by the recent trend to put at risk national health by the incremental pursuit of NHS privatisation. The denial of access to health services due to inability to pay is a danger for everyone. This is not yet the case, but is the eventual logical outcome. People only get what they can pay for.
Should this be allowed to happen then the present Ebola outbreak is an example of what can occur. The living conditions for so many in those West African countries where Ebola is rampant are analogous to those of 19th century British urban sprawls. As a radio commentator remarked recently, in those countries people don’t live in spacious semis.
Also, medical provision is inadequate with large populations and few doctors. Hospital beds are limited in number, as are nurses. The reason for this is simple, poverty. These are poor countries.
Capitalism generally regards Africa as a source of raw and precious materials, cheap labour and open to almost unrestrained exploitation. Aid is granted, but often serves to undermine local economies and is an arm of neo-colonial imperialism.
Yet, as with 19th century cholera, so with 21st century Ebola; wealth does not grant immunity to the wealthy. Just as with the Black Death, international travel remains a vector for epidemic. If disease is allowed to develop then it is not only the poor of Africa who are threatened.
If the heartlands of capitalism were to suffer widespread infection it would be a disaster for capitalism. Even if the very wealthy could isolate themselves, and that is by no means certain, a sick and dying population is not generating profit, rather the reverse.
This focuses the attention of the governments of capitalism, who ideally would like to contain Ebola in the initial countries of outbreak and deal with it there. Success, however, does not mitigate the underlying problem, that capitalism leaves so many, internationally, in poverty.
Disease, like so many natural phenomena, can best be managed through planning, when profit is not the motivating factor. Wealth created by society can be used to benefit society and not those few who accrue as much of it as they can for themselves.
It is the working class, the producers of wealth, who must decide to take control and deploy it to their own advantage. The good health of the individual is best guaranteed by the good health of all, the common weal.
Poverty is as much the cause of epidemic as the virus and poverty will not be eradicated while capitalism is allowed to exist.
Ebola
Posted on October 12, 2014 by imarxman
Capitalism does not cause disease. Bacteria and viruses are natural phenomena which makes the more pernicious ones difficult to combat because they evolve so rapidly. However, the circumstances creating the conditions whereby disease can more easily incubate and spread are exacerbated by capitalism.
The emergence in Britain of what became popularly known as the Black Death occurred in pre-capitalist feudal society. It was introduced into the country though what became a fundamental feature in the development of capitalism, trade.
The mercantile fleet became the transport for rats that brought the fleas, and the squalor of the growing pre-capitalist cities proved the incubators.
By the nineteenth century Britain was becoming an urban society as labour was drawn into towns and cities for the mills, factories and workshops. The largely unplanned, unsanitary and terribly overcrowded housing became breeding grounds for regular epidemics of such as cholera and typhus.
This proved a problem for capitalists who initially were motivated only by pursuit of maximum profit, not general welfare. Disease, though, is no respecter of class; the working class could die in large numbers and that effected production. Worse for the owners, however, was they and their families also became afflicted. There is no profit in death.
Capitalism, through its social regulator, government, had to deal with this problem. The result was public health regulation and the provision of medical care. The working class also acted on its own behalf so that by the mid-point of the 20th century a national health service was established.
That profit remains the sole motivator of capitalism is shown by the recent trend to put at risk national health by the incremental pursuit of NHS privatisation. The denial of access to health services due to inability to pay is a danger for everyone. This is not yet the case, but is the eventual logical outcome. People only get what they can pay for.
Should this be allowed to happen then the present Ebola outbreak is an example of what can occur. The living conditions for so many in those West African countries where Ebola is rampant are analogous to those of 19th century British urban sprawls. As a radio commentator remarked recently, in those countries people don’t live in spacious semis.
Also, medical provision is inadequate with large populations and few doctors. Hospital beds are limited in number, as are nurses. The reason for this is simple, poverty. These are poor countries.
Capitalism generally regards Africa as a source of raw and precious materials, cheap labour and open to almost unrestrained exploitation. Aid is granted, but often serves to undermine local economies and is an arm of neo-colonial imperialism.
Yet, as with 19th century cholera, so with 21st century Ebola; wealth does not grant immunity to the wealthy. Just as with the Black Death, international travel remains a vector for epidemic. If disease is allowed to develop then it is not only the poor of Africa who are threatened.
If the heartlands of capitalism were to suffer widespread infection it would be a disaster for capitalism. Even if the very wealthy could isolate themselves, and that is by no means certain, a sick and dying population is not generating profit, rather the reverse.
This focuses the attention of the governments of capitalism, who ideally would like to contain Ebola in the initial countries of outbreak and deal with it there. Success, however, does not mitigate the underlying problem, that capitalism leaves so many, internationally, in poverty.
Disease, like so many natural phenomena, can best be managed through planning, when profit is not the motivating factor. Wealth created by society can be used to benefit society and not those few who accrue as much of it as they can for themselves.
It is the working class, the producers of wealth, who must decide to take control and deploy it to their own advantage. The good health of the individual is best guaranteed by the good health of all, the common weal.
Poverty is as much the cause of epidemic as the virus and poverty will not be eradicated while capitalism is allowed to exist.