robbo203
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Also sanctions in place against countries like Iran, Venezuela and Syria have not only weakened the general health of the people there but also the health service and access to medicines, drugs and medical equipment. It is therefore not surprising that Iran is being particularly hit by the virus.
It is ironic that America, the instigator of these sanctions, has now surged ahead of Iran in terms of the number of confirmed cases and is now third in the world behind China and Italy
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
“Confirmed cases” does not go anywhere near to reflecting the true extent of the infection because so many people who may have the virus may not have been tested . South Korea has probably got the most effective testing and tracking capacity of any country in the world. By contrast the US is very weak in this area and this combined with the unique deficiencies of the healthcare system there and the dithering bumbling and contradictory approach of the Trump regime is a recipe for disaster.
I have a hunch that the epicentre of the virus is soon going to move from Europe to America just as it earlier moved from China to Europe. In a month’s time the picture could be dramatically different.
Could America become the new epicentre of the virus?
On the Front Lines of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Doctor’s View
Also this
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-deaths-estimate.html
Come on SPGB this is the best opportunity for years!
I agree wheatwa46ar – although organisationally it mught be a setback for the SPGB in terms of organising meetings , selling literature , holding summer schools etc. We can limit the damage in that regard by getting all members and sympathisers connected up via the internet for instance and by taking certain other measures.
However in terms of breaking the mould of politics. I think this pandemic is going to have a profound effect on the way people think about the world. In so many ways it makes the case for socialism so much more relevent and appealing
This is quite an interesting development..
“In the past 48 hours across the UK, over 500 new mutual aid groups have been set-up to take action against the pandemic. These mutual aid groups have been set-up to ensure no one is left behind, that those who are self-isolating can call upon others to help them. Primarily using Facebook and Whatsapp Groups to coordinate, from a ward to constituency level, hundreds of people across the country are informing their neighbours of the new initiative.”
and
“To survive coronavirus we need to look at creating new commons through the expropriation of private assets, including private hospitals and hotels without financial compensation. If we cannot work due to the public health risks posed by coronavirus, then regardless of the law enshrined in employment contracts we must have money to live without work. If we cannot pay our rent or mortgages then regardless of our tenancy or mortgage agreements we should stop paying.”
Here in Spain we are in lockdown. Very few people seem to be working. Only those in the medical profession, the police, army, some functionaries or civil servants, supermarket workers and those working in the chemists. The great majority of retail establishments are completely shut down. The tourist and entertainment industries have been completely mothballed.
I look around the deserted streets of Granada and the literally thousands of little shops, bars , restaurants and kiosks , all shuttered up, and ask myself : how on earth are these people going to survive financially? Not just the 15 days “state of alarm” but the months and months ahead. Because the problem is not going to be solved by the time the state of alarm comes to an end. Its going to get worse and its going to get worse for many more months ahead until it starts getting better.
In the meanwhile something has to give. Capitalism cannot function on the basis of “business as usual”. If people cant pay their rent or mortgage because they have no, or only a little, income then their rent and mortgage wont be paid. Its as simple as that. You cant get blood from a stone.
What is the state gonna do? You can’t turf people out of their homes at a time like this. You will have a civil war on your hands which will completely mess up the government’s strategy of containing the virus and make matters far worse.
We are at the start of something very unusual. Where it will end up I dont know. But it is a period bursting with the potential of a future socialist society
Whatever we may think about it, this pandemic is going to bring about profound changes in the whole cultural landscape of capitalism. Here in Spain we are already two days into lockdown. Its like another world. My local city of Granada is like a ghost town now. Deserted streets bar the odd “man and his dog”. On the news I saw clips of the Guardia Civil in Madrid cautioning couples (via loudspeakers mounted in their cars) to stop holding hands and maintain the designated minimum distance of 1 metre between them. “Social distancing” indeed!
incredibly, there is going to be months and months of this in store, never mind the so called “state of alarm” , as it is called, which is technically supposed to last for only 15 days. The coronavirus is going to get worse and worse for the foreseeable future and we’ve all been wrongfooted by it. Comparisons with flu epidemics and its regular culling of old folk just dont hold up. What is happening in Italy and Spain is very soon going to happen in the UK despite Bojo and his “Government Scientific Officer”.
Its so surreal and it still hasn’t quite set in. I personally find it quite difficult to wrap my mind around what is happening. Last night, once again, all the flats around here, at the appointed time, opened their windows to the night sky and their occupants started clapping and shouting their appreciation for the work done by all the medical staff throughout Granada for a few minutes. I dont mind admitting it brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eyes. The contradiction was so acute and so moving: families confined to the stark isolation of their own four walls yet expressing their union and sense of identity with anonymous others.
We are social animals and the coronavirus pandemic is bringing this home to us as never before. I am coming round to thinking that this virus, for all the tragedy it has visited upon the many thousands of families who have lost, or will lose, loved ones, will help to trigger a profound change in the way people perceive the world around them that will make them far more receptive to the case for socialism. As socialists we need to be prepared for this. We need to do what we can to turn what is an unmitigated human disaster into a firmer hope for better future.
Once more, the importance of armchair at home self-isolated internet online advocacy of the socialist case becomes very evident and Robbo’s 10 minutes a month recommended campaign has to be 10 minutes a week, and, ideally, ten minutes a day.
Yes indeed – if we work on the assumption that the coronavirus pandemic is going to last for at least a year then it is likely that there will be little to no physical activity being carried out by the Party in this period . How is the Party going to survive as a political organisation, let alone grow, with no means of growing? Seriously.
Of course, there is a means and I believe a very effective means , via the internet viz.,
http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/search?q=ten+minutes
However, we need to take steps to encourage all members and sympathisers to get involved. Can this be discussed at the next meeting of the EC as a matter of urgency?
South West Branch of the SPGB have suspended their meetings until further notice.
Useful to know but, alongside this, I hope this branch as well as all other branches make a determined effort to get all members and sympathisers electronically linked up on this (and other) forum. The “regional branches sub forum” on this forum should really take off as a locus of branch decision-making. It hasn’t really done so hitherto but then we never anticipated something like this pandemic coming along to mess things up
As well as that, I hope Head Office reinforces the efforts of branches by sending out individual emails/letters to all members of the Party.
Hi Matt. I mean teleconferencing which is live in that sense but where the participants are not in physical contact with each other
For instance
Latest figures today from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
72,550 (93%)
Recovered / Discharged5,438 (7%)
DeathsThe real death rate is undoubtedly much lower because the real number of cases is undoubtedly much high than the official or confirmed cases. In the UK confirmed cases to date is 798 with 11 confirmed deaths but the real number of people infected is estimated to be between 5000 and 10,000, mostly asymptotic or with mild symptoms
Its getting a lot worse in Europe – and so suddenly! Be prepared. We are at the start of a very bumpy journey in the weeks and months ahead
I think it would be a good idea to postpone conference under the circumstances or at least investigate the possibility of a live video conference. This should be the number 1 item for discussion at the next EC meeting and we need to act quickly as things are only going to get worse. Much worse.
The entire membership needs to be contacted on individual basis and informed of the situation and asked to give their opinion (and at the same time be encouraged to join SPINTCOM, SPOPEN and this forum)
We need to establish a centralised decision-making procedure along the lines of what WSPUS has successfully done as a way of countering the isolation of scattered members – bad enough at the best of times and now threatening to become much worse with the onset of this pandemic.
In Spain we are a little ahead of the UK in terms of the severity of measures adopted such as regional lockdowns e.g. in Catalunya introduced just yesterday . In other words no traffic in or out of the region except essentials. No trains, no cars, no flights , no buses. This is only the start. The same is going to happen in the UK and because the UK is much more densely populated the lockdowns will affect much small areas in all probability. Branch meetings, public meetings and the like will in time become all but impossible
We have to adapt as a matter or urgency – NOW
A doctor on what to expect in the coming days and weeks
