EDITORIAL
Capitalist swine flu
Published Apr 29, 2009 3:35 PM
Every disaster—whether earthquake, flood or epidemic—exposes the
fault lines in society.
Such is the case with the possible pandemic—worldwide epidemic—of a
virulent flu caused by a newly mutated virus. This human version of swine flu
has hit Mexico most severely, with the United States a close second. It has
rapidly spread to a dozen other countries.
Politically, the greatest threat is that right-wing demagogues will try to
scapegoat Mexicans, especially Mexican immigrants, for the epidemic’s
spread. This is a serious political challenge to progressive forces in the U.S.
It will require a redoubling of the already necessary effort to build
solidarity between immigrant and U.S.-born workers, a solidarity that will be
emphasized at May Day events across the country.
The attempt to blame Mexicans is not only despicable, it is way off. Look at
these facts.
ABC News reported on April 28 that “Mexico’s first suspected case
of the swine flu was detected in the remote farming village of La Gloria”
a month ago. Some 800 of the 2,000 people there got sick. “The most
likely way that this young boy got the infection was from another person who
had been in contact with the pigs,” said Dr. Kathryn Edwards of
Vanderbilt Medical Center.
What ABC failed to report was that the pigs were on a nearby industrial farm
run by a subsidiary of Smithfield Farms, the anti-union, polluting,
factory-farm monopoly based in Virginia and North Carolina. For years, the
communities around these farms have been complaining about the unhealthy
conditions and stench from thousands of pigs and their waste crowded into small
areas.
Historian Mike Davis, a professor at the University of California at Irvine and
author of “The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian
Flu,” wrote in the Britain-based Guardian newspaper of April 27 that the
“fecal mire of an industrial pigsty” was the likely environment in
which a new flu virus could develop. Smithfield, wrote Davis, will ferociously
resist any efforts to change its dangerous but highly profitable production
processes.
An experienced writer on these issues, Davis also mentioned three obstacles to
an efficient and effective defense against any pandemic: the weakness of the
U.S. public health system, the negative attitude of the U.S. and other wealthy
countries toward promoting cutting-edge public health facilities in the poorer
countries, and Swiss-based Roche Pharmaceutical’s patent on the flu
medicine Tamiflu, which prevents poor countries from developing generic
anti-viral medicines.
The first lesson of this is that the U.S. has a disgraceful record regarding
health care. The trillions spent on war should be used instead to set up a
world-class national health system and bypass the overpriced, profit-guzzling
health care industry.
Secondly, don’t blame Mexicans for this outbreak. Investigate Smithfield
and take action against the polluters.
Next, pressure from imperialist banks over the last 30 years has forced poor
countries to cut their public health outlays. This has not only debilitated
health care, it has increased the danger of pandemics. Instead of criminalizing
immigrant workers and militarizing the border with Mexico, the U.S. should be
supporting Mexico’s efforts to improve its health system—especially
since U.S. corporations like Smithfield are making huge profits there, by
super-exploiting Mexican workers.
And lastly, the monopoly on new drugs held by a few privately owned
pharmaceuticals impedes the development of a worldwide supply of generic
medicines. For the health of humanity, medical knowledge must be shared and all
countries be free to manufacture their own medicines.
This all points to one conclusion: that the capitalist system as a whole is an
obstacle to protecting the life and health of humanity when faced with swine
flu or any other possible pandemic.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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