Far-right president deemed ‘deplorable’ for flouting social distancing rules again – while coughing repeatedly – to bolster protests amid coronavirus

A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century?
by Kees van der Pijl

Ingar Solty | Face à la récession, de nombreux gouvernements réagissent par des interventions encore plus fortes que lors de la crise de 2008. Néanmoins, il faut poser la question du contrôle public pour réorienter les activités des entreprises en prévision des catastrophes qui nous attendent.

Prabhat Patnaik | Il paraît qu’en temps de crise, tout le monde devient socialiste ; les marchés libres passent au second plan, au profit des travailleurs. Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, par exemple, lorsque le rationnement universel a été introduit en Grande-Bretagne, on a constaté une amélioration de l’alimentation du travailleur moyen. De même, des entreprises privées ont été réquisitionnées pour produire des biens destinés à l’effort de guerre, nécessitant une planification de facto. Ce même type de phénomène est aujourd’hui à l’œuvre en raison de la pandémie. On assiste, pays après pays, à une socialisation des soins de santé et de la production de certains biens essentiels, qui s’écarte nettement de la norme capitaliste. Et, plus la crise est grave, plus le degré de socialisation est élevé.

By Nora Loreto | Canada's sub-standard long-term care system is killing the elderly.

While cutting benefits for emergency room doctors and other medical workers, TeamHealth and Envision have spent millions on ads meant to pressure politicians working on legislation to cap out-of-network costs for Americans.

Could a global pandemic give us a Universal Basic Income? About a year ago, this question might have sounded fanciful — speculation for futurologists and bloggers, not a serious issue for statesmen and policy makers. How far our world has moved in the last month.

A 58-year-old grocery clerk opens up about the fear and frustration of working through a pandemic

"Caruso-Cabrera does not have a policy page outlining her beliefs or positions on her campaign website. In recent radio interviews, she has positioned herself as a stalwart of the moderate faction of the Democratic Party, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Joe Biden. “I’m pro-choice, I’m pro-same sex marriage, I’m very pro-immigrant, I am centrist for sure,” Caruso-Cabrera said on New York’s AM 970."

Unifor members at Local 1075 are getting ready to manufacture parts for urgently needed ventilators at the Bombardier plant that usually manufactures bilevel GO Trains, streetcars and subway trains.

Paris Marx | Workers are risking their lives to get packages out the door because Amazon won’t give them proper support to stay safe.

Vijay Prashad, Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, talks about China’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, especially in the light of the accusations that are being leveled against the country. He talks about how the novel coronavirus was identified, the steps taken by the Chinese authorities and the active participation of the community in combating the disease.

By Ingar Solty | Faced with another global recession, many governments are responding with even stronger state interventions than they did in the 2008 financial crisis. But stimulus packages to prop up businesses must also pose the question of public control — not just bailing out corporations, but repurposing their operations to confront the disasters ahead of us.

By Prabhat Patnaik | It is said that in a crisis everybody becomes a socialist; free markets take a back seat, to the benefit of the working people. During the second world war for instance, when universal rationing was introduced in Britain, the average worker became better nourished than before. Likewise, private companies get commandeered to produce goods for the war effort, thus introducing de facto planning. Something of the sort is happening today under the impact of the pandemic. In country after country there is a socialization of healthcare and of production of some essential goods, which markedly departs from the capitalist norm; and the more severe the crisis the greater is the degree of socialization.

Saad Ahmed | We can’t let what happened with personal protective equipment disrupt our essential medication supply.

When Gramsci goes viral | Zachary Levenson