If Neoliberalism Were to End, How Would We Know?
What will decide the fate of neoliberalism today is not the extent of the economic damage the virus wreaks — it is the extent to which the virus transforms popular expectations.
Under capitalism the workers have always been compelled to live in unclean quarters of the towns, where epidemic disease is rife. It was only owing to the dread that they themselves would suffer from these epidemics, that the capitalists introduced certain measures to improve the sanitation of the areas in which their wage-slaves dwelt. . . . Capitalism was only interested in the protection of public health in so far as this was necessary for its own safety.
What will decide the fate of neoliberalism today is not the extent of the economic damage the virus wreaks — it is the extent to which the virus transforms popular expectations.
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Thirty years ago, an urgent report about microbial threats to public health was ignored by policymakers.
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We’ve avoided making an appeal up to this point, but if you’re able, we’d appreciate your support.
Millions of people stuck at home means more orders for Amazon. But squeezed Amazon employees in France and Italy didn’t want to be “essential workers” — and they launched a wave of strikes to demand a shutdown.