pandemic 2

IS BARBARISM WITH A HUMAN FACE OUR FATE?
There are progressive things that only a conservative
with the hard-line patriotic credentials can do: only
de Gaulle was able to give independence to Algeria, only
Nixon was able to establish relations with China. In both
cases, if a progressive president had attempted to do these
things, he would have been instantly accused of betraying
the national interest. The same thing now applies
with Trump limiting the freedom of private enterprises
and forcing them to produce what is needed for the fight
against coronavirus: if Obama were to do it, the right-wing
populists would undoubtedly explode in rage, claiming
that he was using the health crisis as an excuse to introduce
Communism to the US.
As the saying goes: in a crisis we are all Socialists.
Even Trump is now considering a form of Universal Basic
Income—a check for $1,000 to every adult citizen. Trillions
will be spent violating all conventional market rules. But
it remains unclear how and where this will occur, and
for whom? Will this enforced Socialism be the Socialism
for the rich as it was with the bailing out of the banks in
2008 while millions of ordinary people lost their small
savings? Will the epidemic be reduced to another chapter
in the long sad story of what Naomi Klein called “disaster
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