This blog post is the beginning of something I am seeing coming out of the conspiracy theory right-wing, racists, and even self described liberals (they're neoliberals, not actual liberals). The thought process goes something like this. The pandemic started in China, this will cause a depression, the stimulus will create an epic period of hyper-inflation, the U.S. will fall deeper into depression, China will take over because the U.S. no longer manufactures anything (that's not entirely true) and then WWIII will break out.
Of course this is ludicrous thinking. This fantastical slippery slope is racist opportunism at its worst. Figures on the right like Steve Bannon are using this time to to seize the moment and push their "post-fascist" agenda. We should be taking this time to see how we can better our society instead of lashing out in an attempt to consolidate global capital. These efforts must be seen for what they are. These efforts are an attempt to create a new cold war. This new cold war will line the pockets of the multinational corporations, and bring us to the next phase of late stage capitalism.
This blog post will be a living document that I will update over the next few weeks. Below are arguments from respected leftists.
It is vulgar and racist to call CV19 the "Chinese virus" or "Wuhan virus." I understand why the right is doing this but it really bothers me that people who think themselves on the left are defending the practice. Don't do this. It encourages bigotry and violence and it's really bad politics. Humanity faces a lot of threats as climate change worsens and we need solidarity not racist bullshit. Stop this now. - Doug Henwood
Not just neocons. Regular liberals too. The entire foreign policy establishment is in a panic over the possibility that they will lose their propaganda war to prove the American Way is the best system. If they don’t blame some foreign cause - Chinese bats, the Chinese bureaucracy, Russian influence, what have you - Americans and others might conclude there is something seriously wrong with the failing American system, and start to demand both an overhaul of our government and public control of our massive private wealth. - Dan Kervick
The WHO changed best practices in 2015 to not refer to geographical areas, groups of people, cultures or animals when giving infectious diseases names. Long overdue. This just happens to be the first pandemic under the new rules. - Ian Goodrum
It is the capitalism virus. It just so happens that China is the world’s rapidly developing industrial core right now, creating the right conditions for modern plagues to emerge. They used to come from Europe and the US. (I learned this from Chuang.) If Bill Maher doesn’t like it, he should blame capitalism. - Jaime Peck
This is organized - not just spontaneous US racism. From the beginning of the crisis US foreign policy mandarins have been going after China, Cuban doctors, and the whole gamut of US enemies. Among other things, they are deliberately trying to increase the death totals in Iran and Venezuela so they can point to them as evidence if the need for regime change. We live in an evil, genocidal empire. - Dan Kervick
The entire COVD-19 crisis is a shot in the arm for the racist right, worldwide. It's full of resources for extremists to exploit and expand their base. From the very start, the equation nationalists have made between sovereignty and purity, equating multiculturalism and diversity with disease and loss of control, has been key. I wrote a piece in February about this, vis a vis Salvini: https://www.thebattleground.eu/.../coronavirus-as-politics/ - Joel Schalit
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