Tuesday, March 17, 2020

"Coronavirus Capitalism – and How to Beat it," a Video by Intercept Senior Correspondent Naomi Klein

 

The Intercept has released “Coronavirus Capitalism – and How to Beat It,” a video essay by Intercept senior correspondent Naomi Klein analyzing the Coronavirus pandemic through the lens of disaster capitalism, a term established by Klein on her book “Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” The video was written by Naomi Klein, produced by Avi Lewis and Lauren Feeney, and edited by Feeney and Travis Mannon.

In this exclusive video, Klein points out that the Coronavirus crisis can either lead to more “no-strings-attached corporate bailouts and regulatory rollbacks” or to transformative changes grounded in social justice. Ideas like Medicare for All, Housing for All, and the cancelation of medical and student debt, are now starting to seem like the only reasonable path to get out of this crisis and prevent future ones.

“In times of crisis, seemingly impossible ideas suddenly become possible,” says Naomi in “Coronavirus capitalism. “But whose ideas? Sensible, fair ones — designed to keep as many people as possible safe, secure and healthy — and prevent similar shocks in the future? Or predatory ideas, designed to further enrich the already unimaginably wealthy, while leaving the most vulnerable further exposed?”

This video is about the ways the still-unfolding Covid-19 crisis is already remaking our sense of the possible –– and how the Trump administration and other governments around the world are busily exploiting the crisis to consolidate their power and continue to push for neoliberal policies.