Coronavirus
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With the second wave approaching and the prospect of a second lockdown imposed as an attempted “circuit breaker“, the government’s dream of getting GDP quickly back to what it was in the first three months of the year is being shattered. No V-shaped recovery but definitely a U-shaped one maybe even L-shaped— after all, the UK GDP contracted in the first quarter of this year before the virus struck and the government imposed a lockdown. This resulted in a much bigger fall in GDP than any normal capitalist slump has produced of some 15% over 3 months compared with 4.6% over 16 months after the Crash of 2008. There’s never been anything like it and it’s not over yet.
Incidentally there’s a good YouTube video explaining how GDP is calculated here (scroll down to the end of the text) :
There talk of the K shaped recovery – share-owners upward – working people downward.
Can the increased government spending and the reduction in government revenue be sustainable without the re-introduction of draconian austerity cuts?
Big Pharma immunity
Sue Middleton, President of the Executive Board of Vaccines Europe which represents top vaccine makers, told a European Parliament hearing that in case of unexpected adverse events, which could include unpredicted side-effects, she understood that there was indemnification.
“The Commission or the member states would essentially indemnify the companies against the cost of legal action that followed those claims,” she said
- IMillions of dollars for the coronavirus were funneled for the pentagon and war contractors while thousands of human beings have died . The best democracy that money can buy
<p dir=”ltr”>TV commercials show us delivery staff wearing masks, but I have yet to see one doing so. Only today my postman knocked, maskless, expecting me to take my mail by hand. Keeping my distance I asked him to put my mail on the floor and he threw it down with a sneer.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”>This is the normal that I know.</p>If the situation is as serious as the government’s two top scientific advisers said on Monday, the measures announced by the government yesterday are not going to prove that effective.
They know that they should have closed down pubs completely but the brewers have traditionally been supporters of the Tory party. Making them close at 10pm is only going back to what used to be the case in the olden days. They also know full well that allowing university students to return is inevitably going to spread the virus.
But of course they’ve got a huge problem — they are having to deal with organising the necessary social distancing in the context of capitalism. But capitalism, because it depends on profit-making with so many depending on the money they get from selling their labour power to live, makes it impossible to organise to continue production and distribution with social distancing in a rational way.
Email received at Head Office:
I’d like to comment and hopefully hear your view on what has increasingly become evident and that is the emphasis now being placed on keeping the economy open. We surely do live in an inhumane society! For if it were humane then would we not prioritise the safety of everyone, rather than proclaim, like our politicians recently often have, that we must protect the economy. If a government is to have a role then surely that role in balancing the survival of the economy over the survival of the people must be tipped overwhelmingly in favour of the people. We know that social interaction is what helps this virus to transmit and we know that limiting social interaction will reduce its transmission rate. Yet why aren’t we properly and securely locked down? Why are we limiting that lockdown because of the perceived need to keep the economy running? The temporary measures taken and the ending of the furlough system and the fact that many people have really suffered financial hardship during this period are all a disgrace to our ability and our potential. We should be locked down. Resources should be made available to ensure all of us need not worry for lack of during this period, however long it takes. Profit needs to be appropriated. Stored private wealth needs to be accessed and shared. The benefits surely far outweigh the costs? To hear our leaders accept that people will die in the same paragraph as they talk about the need to protect the economy must be seized upon and discussed. It is an opportunity to show the true relationship that exists in society and its inhumane nature.I appreciate your time and reply.D. M.I assume near the beginning he means we would prioritise the safety of everyone.
Can’t argue with the sentiment but appropriating stored wealth for the benefit of all is the left-winger’s dream, much more unlikely than that people will turn to socialism.
Leaving economy issues aside (if only we could), there is also the argument that even from the aspect of general health and wellbeing, a lockdown is worse than the problem it’s trying to solve. Either way it looks like we are going to end up living with the virus and those who are most concerned observing everyday ‘common sense’ measures like distancing, masks etc. for possibly a long time to come.
The general population is getting lockdown fatigue. It certainly doesn’t help when the government does a u-turn every few weeks and is at loggerheads with its advisors.
Are you all getting flu shots?
No delivery men coming to my door ever wear masks and none want to keep the distance rule.
I’ll be getting my flu jab, and if/when the Covid 19 vaccine is ready I’ll be first in the queue, litle old ladies, the disabled and the vulnerable will be lying in my wake as I get in first!
What is a flu jab? Never had one. Isn’t it something to increase the income of doctors and chemists? But sounds as if I should get this Covid jab when it comes out and become part of the immune herd.
I regularly got one at my work. But I’m more surprised at your age you never got notified by your GP that you were due one as it is common practice for the elderly.
The inoculation regularly has to be adapted to defeat the current mutation of the latest flu so it is a guaranteed revenue for Big Pharma – and that is what they are hoping for with the COVID-19 vaccination, and why they are offering special promotional deals to governments – they are depending on it being something that will require either an annual booster or tinkered with to meet future changes within the virus.
Not all GP practices notify people that flu jabs are available. When I lived in York I got an annual reminder and an actual appointment at a local inoculation centre without prompting. Here in Northampton, nothing. My GP doesn’t even do them. You have to ask your local chemist to give you one – but at least they are still free.
Maybe it depends on how hard different pharmaceutical companies are wanting to push them.
Yes I used to be notified to come down on a date and queue up with a load of other old people for it, on a conveyer belt system and we joked amongst ourselves that there was cart waiting at the end, as we didn’t and couldn’t see anyone emerge. (but it was a hidden fire door exit.)
Then they stopped sending reminders and I couldn’t remember if I’d had one until a couple of years had passed.
I need to set up an appointment online now (I think).
I was taking to a family member who is an anti vaxer recently and they made the comment, “what good have vaccines ever done?” Which sort of shows the level of the anti vaxer debate. It when a bit pythonesque, as I asked “you mean apart from the complete eradication of small pox, the almost complete eradication of diphtheria and polio, the massive suppression of TB, whooping cough, tetanus, mumps and rubella, the fall in the number of brain damaged children as a result of measles, the reduction in deaths as a result of the flu jab, apart from that not very much. “
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