CAPITALIST SYSTEMIC POVERTY

JOHN BUELL—Klein is surely correct to be concerned. President Trump proposed temporary cuts in the payroll tax as a fiscal stimulus. This act would in effect partially defund Social Security, forcing Democrats to choose between a tax increase or reductions in or means testing the program. Turning Social Security into a means tested program would undermine its popularity and probably destroy it, a long time goal of conservative Republicans and neolibereal Democrats.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed the indifference of the ruling class this past week, when he declared: “I must level with the British public, many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.” Behind closed doors, the representatives of the ruling elite are discussing what they consider the positive impact of the crisis: That the death of millions of older people will reduce long term health care costs.

ERIC ZUESSE—This governmental performance will be compared with that of other countries and show the relative effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the various governments around the world in protecting their people from this sudden and extremely dire threat to their safety and security. This will be the most reliable existing single global statistical indicator of how good and how bad the various countries’ governments are, regarding the national security, or the protection of the lives and welfare, of their citizens.

MARGARET KIMBERLEY—We are constantly told that socialism doesn’t work. But it is socialist China, where the virus began, that has made the most headway in slowing its spread. Conversely, the United States has none of the systems or infrastructure that would allow it to accomplish the same thing. It is capitalism that doesn’t work well when human needs must be met.  There is a constant demand to designate the United States as the best country in the world with the best health care system. In fact health care delivery here is nowhere near being best.

MoA—All countries need to test as many people as possible to isolate positive cases. People who test positive but show no symptoms should not be sent home to their families. China has learned that doing that only creates new clusters of cases as all family members are then likely to get sick. Those who develop symptoms must be isolated separately and with access to care. Only the 20% who will develop serious complications should be admitted to dedicated hospitals. The U.S. must take measures to make tests available and free for all. It must also deliver the necessary healthcare free of charges. The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Definitive Care Reimbursement Program can be used to carry the costs.