Capitalism on a Ventilator: The Impact of COVID-19 in China & the U.S.

In January 2020, China alerted major international scientific bodies about the eruption of a dangerous new virus and heavily promoted basic precautions. U.S. politicians and corporate media ridiculed and ignored the warnings.Washington ramped up its policy of racist propaganda, military encirclement, trade war and sanctions. The consequence, tens of thousands of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. – the highest in the world.Rather than global cooperation on testing, vaccine development and PPE supplies, the U.S. chose competition, profits and military build-up.Even with fewer resources, socialist countries, including Cuba and Vietnam, using people’s mobilizations, were better prepared to protect their populations. Their death rates are among the lowest. What can we learn?An anthology by social justice activists. Edited Sara Flounders & Lee Siu Hin