The Coronavirus Reveals How Inefficient Capitalism Really is.

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

What is stated here applies not to one country but the global community, especially in the US which has much more productive capacity, and places like China and other parts of the world where manufacturing has migrated to as workers are cheaper, a situation guaranteed by dictatorial regimes. The US and other western governments whine on about "communist" China or "communist" Vietnam describing these Stalinist regimes, but have no problem making profits off the backs of the super exploited workers there. Cambodian strike leaders were shot by that government's security forces as workers struck for higher wages and better conditions working in factories producing apparel for US and western consumers.

The point he makes in this video about shifting production is simple. Production shifted very rapidly in the US for war production in the last great imperialist war.  All the crises the world face, hunger, emergence of diseases that were once a thing of the past, war, changed weather patterns, economic refugees, and the real possibility of an environmental catastrophe that will end life on this planet as we know it , is a product of the market and the class that props it up. Those that have their hands on the levers of society, on the productive forces, do not simply refuse to use these productive forces for social need, they cannot do so in a serious way. The coronavirus is forcing them to do so in a minor and temporary way; the ruling class makes this clear. I commented on this here. Capitalism does not function that way and no ruling class commits class suicide.