- by Eileen Whitehead
- The Guardian
- Issue #1993
Under the cloak of the global pandemic, the US military-industrial complex is gleefully organising another war to rescue capitalism. The propaganda machine has certainly made good use of the “Wuhan Lie” to start the ball rolling, using this as a distraction from the disastrous consequences of the capitalists’ incompetent domestic policies for combatting the virus.
Over the two years of the pandemic we’ve seen these militaristic threats intensify: with the Ukraine situation, and a fabricated “moralistic” outrage over Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Uyghurs. The strengthening of ties between Russia and China is of vital concern to global capitalism. Its other concern is that people, experiencing the mishandling of the pandemic, now realise that the only way out of this social crisis is the need to re-organise the economic and social foundations of society globally.
In 2019, just before COVID-19 became rampant, we were beginning to see mass movements globally – even in the US where General Motors Holden workers held their first strike in forty years. Despite the years of suppression of the masses of working class long before, but exacerbated by, the pandemic, a powerful resurgence of the class struggle is emerging. Suddenly the workers have realised the contempt with which the ruling elite sees them: preferring to let the virus rip through communities in order to save the economy and the profits of the corporations.
We’re seeing major strikes in the US; by metalworkers in South Africa; public sector workers in Sri Lanka; energy workers in Turkey; and mass protests by public health workers and miners in Chile; plus health care workers in France protesting their appalling conditions. And now teachers all over the world – as Omicron gains control – are defying government instructions to return to face-to-face teaching. All these actions are part of a class struggle. The working class is realising that millions have died and are dying in order to keep the wheels of capitalism turning. They’re saying “No more, this is not acceptable.”
Politicians, governed by corporations, have been rejecting scientific and public health recommendations, which has caused the death of millions of people. This is also the case regarding global warming, which will kill millions more.
We need a structure put in place for new forms of independent, democratic and militant rank-and-file organisation of workers in factories, schools, hospitals and workplaces on an international scale. There needs to be an internationally united struggle demanding protection for workers, shutting down unsafe factories and non-essential production – any emergency measures which will stop this virus spreading.
It’s becoming obvious that the COVID-19 is extremely virulent, causing mass infection, and in order to fight this we need a strategy based on a global co-ordinated campaign to eliminate the virus on every continent. It needs a vast collective and selfless global effort. The subordination of human life in the interest of corporate profit cannot be allowed to continue, and to overcome this there needs to be a socially conscious movement of millions of people.
All humans need access to vaccination, not just the rich nations. We will not accept the continuation of this pandemic and, if those in power pursue this, a socialist revolution is definitely around the corner.
