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As we enter the third year of this terrible epidemic, in the midst of its turmoil, we are tempted to rethink our world.
When the plague began, the rich and the poor alike were united. Powerful political leaders denounced the world’s selfishness, denounced “greed like hell,” and promised that the vaccine would benefit everyone.
It sounded like there was a connection. But first.
While we mourn the loss of the virus – more than 5.5 million deaths have been reported, but the death toll from the epidemic is estimated to be at least 19 million – we see that greed has been preoccupied with work.
We are entering 2022 and seeing a significant economic growth of billions since the start of the writing process. A billion are made every 26 hours during the epidemic. The wealth of the 10 richest people in the world alone has doubled, rising to $ 15,000 per second. But COVID-19 has left 99 percent of the population worse.
Our malaise is inequality. Money inequality is now a powerful indication that you will die with COVID-19 over the years. By 2021, millions of people have died in poorer countries without access to vaccines while drug regulators, protected by rich countries, have disrupted their food supply. We have created billions of new vaccines in the aftermath of refusing billions of people to get vaccinated.
Because inequality hurts all of us, we are all vulnerable to the various forms of human-induced discrimination. In the same way, we all lose in our democracy from the power of choice and from the problem of climate change driven by overuse of 1 percent, which is responsible for doubling the emissions of less than 50 percent.
These are no longer rich and poor: They are richer than all of us.
A new Oxfam study shows that inequality causes one person to die every four seconds. And that’s the next picture. Economic abuses do not exist regardless of wealth, but because of it.
It can be tempting to see all of this as a business venture — as is often the case with the rich. But this, was made and read in a new Oxfam paper “It’s still the same here”, Not on pages. For example, billions of dollars’ worth of property has increased since the plague began more than 14 years ago. The IMF, the World Bank, the Crédit Suisse, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are all promoting inequality in the world.
The very rich have a great plague. Billions of dollars, which are thrown by central banks in the financial markets to save the economy, have ended up in the pockets of billions rising in the stock market, with strong inflation, secretive growth, erosion of workers’ and economic rights and excesses. corporate taxation and labor market liberalization have continued rapidly.
Similarly, billions of people are experiencing the effects of inequality. In some countries, the poorest people are four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who are overweight. An estimated 3.4 million Americans would be alive today if their lives were the same as those of white Americans, resulting from a devastating 2.1 million plague before. Gender inequality is declining backwards by age, as women in many countries face a second-rate epidemic of violence against women.
Vaccine discrimination promotes any inequality. And now the prospect of IMF-backed austerity in more than 80 countries threatens to make matters worse.
We are making a record for all the wrong reasons. Inequality is now as great as it was at the height of Western imperialism in the early 20th century. The late 20th century has passed.
Hopefully the change will come as a result of failure, the narrow path of neoliberalism is the definition of madness. The unprecedented state of affairs today calls for dramatic, systematic action – and a change in political thinking.
Every government needs a 21st century plan to achieve greater economic equality and address gender inequality and race. This is what groups of people want. That is the lesson for progressive governments after World War II and the wave of colonial liberation.
We can start and invest billions of dollars in real wealth to save lives. It is possible and necessary for governments to begin to recoup the huge profits made by the richest people through the plague through a single tax, following the example of countries like Argentina.
That’s the beginning. To address economic inequality at a critical level, we need sustainable economic and social taxes. History provides encouragement: US President Franklin D Roosevelt imposed a record high of 94 percent after World War II (until 1981, that figure would have been about 81 percent).
Governments can invest in levies from progressive taxes in proven, efficient ways to create equal, healthy and free groups, such as global health care – as Costa Rica did – and public safety. No one should have to pay for health care. We can invest in ending violence against men and women and create a world without burning oil. Just think of the souls saved, the opportunity made.
But redistribution alone is not enough. We need to change the rules of the market, business institutions, and interdependence so that they do not make such a big difference in the first place. This means shifting power: promoting workers’ rights and protection; repeal sexual harassment laws that legally restrict the approximately 3 billion women from having equal employment opportunities; and tackling monopolies that undermine democracy.
In the meantime, the most important task is for the governments to abolish the control of the drug that works on the COVID-19 vaccine, so that we can get a global vaccine and end the epidemic.
It is up to us as to how we can suddenly emerge from all over the world. It could be the same: a multi-billion dollar economy is rampant, inequality is on the rise, and selfish greed is rampant.
Or, if we would like to, there could be a radical change: an economy based on equality where no one is poor, or too much wealth, in which inequality no longer kills … as hope dictates.
It’s up to us.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Al Jazeera.
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