A lot has been written about how to contain #COVID19 - and about its impact on people's health and on the global economy. Not enough has been written about the policies of the Chinese state that have been causing the spread of such viruses.
The pandemic and its spread, and its impact on global economies (and by extension, global politics) is another reminder to me that today's problems are global in nature and hence thumb their nose at the "sovereignty" of the nation-state that right-wing populists obsess about.
I'll summarize the video above:
- Most people in China do not eat wild animals, but wealthy people in China like to
- Wealthy people have an outsize ability to lobby the government
- And so the government has known the risks for long but have allowed this to continue
- Most people in China do not eat wild animals, but wealthy people in China like to
- Wealthy people have an outsize ability to lobby the government
- And so the government has known the risks for long but have allowed this to continue
Essentially, inequality in one country in the world has created the conditions for a global pandemic that may end up leaving tens of thousands dead. If you're a rational human being you'd understand that what happens in any corner of the world doesn't stay there.
Our destinies are deeply interconnected, and it's about time we start to think in these terms. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" is no longer a slogan, it's reality. It has been for a while. We're stuck with institutions that try to ignore this truth.
