Economy Vs Life: The Current Capitalist Dilemma

COVID-19. One of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced, due to COVID-19 challenging our reliance on the global economy and also challenging the capabilities of our health systems. The United States has been hit so hard with COVID-19, which has contributed one-fourth of the deaths within the United States and a third of all cases worldwide occurring as of the time of writing. The United States also has to face the extreme challenge of managing one of the most successful capitalist economies the world has ever seen, which is becoming increasingly more difficult due to limited work access stemming from calls for social distancing by health professionals. I shall be looking at the arguments for and against going back to work in the United States, explore the context behind these arguments in regards to economic effects as well as present my own opinion regarding this issue.

The United States economy is one of the best in history, due to its opportunity-seeking tactics and also its capitalist nature (which causes a whole bunch of problems but that story is for another day). The COVID-19 crisis has affected the United States in a drastic way, with one-tenth of Americans becoming unemployed just because of this crisis and many more predicted soon to come. Mass unemployment is often the seed of a massive economic recession, because if people aren’t working, corporations can’t function as well, and they will lose profit due to the unemployed having less money to buy goods and services from corporations. This is why there has been a movement within the right-wing in America to get people back to work, and it encourages Americans to die for the economy. It has been advocated for by many right-wing figures, with a great example being Ben Shapiro, who actively called for governors to trust their people to get back to work in a safe manner to help spur on economic activity ("Shapiro: 'I trust normal Americans' to stay safe as states reopen 'more than our media and our politicians'", 2020). The advocacy for returning to work has also been spurred on by Donald Trump’s previous promise to get Americans back to work by the end of Easter, which has shown incredible Republican support, citing that going back to work would be more beneficial for the economy as a whole and that it is thus better to prioritise the safety of the economy above other matters (Rushe & Greve, 2020).

However, there is also extreme opposition to this attitude of getting back to work due to its high-risk approach to getting the United States economy to be optimal. It is extremely against medical suggestions to flatten the curve (by spreading out the cases over a long period, it means that hospitals can treat patients at effectively and efficiently without becoming overwhelmed) and causes more risk of United States citizens of getting infected with COVID-19, which will cause more deaths to United States citizens and, in turn, have a negative effect on the economy. It has been shown time and time again that the more deaths that occur in a country, the more economic damage that comes about from those deaths, which has been a major advocacy point for higher quality, free healthcare (Alkire, Peters, Shrime & Meara, 2020). The more people that die from COVID-19, the less consumers there are in the economy to buy goods and services from corporations, which is overall worse for the economy. This is one of the major negative effects which is never taken into consideration by the right-wing advocates for going back to work. One may ask though, “How much economic damage per person?” My answer is that a human life is absolutely priceless, and it would be stupid to try to calculate the economic damage from more deaths from COVID-19 in comparison to quarantine restrictions.

The right-wing camp in America severely ignores the factor that deaths decrease economic activity, and their actions in favour of people dying for the economy will cause the hospital system to strain and cause more economic damage as a result of their foolish endeavors to “Make America Great Again” and to “save the economy”. There is a reason why health professionals recommend restrictions, social distancing and quarantine: it saves lives and is more beneficial in the long run. It is important now more than ever that we all listen to the professional advice of medical professionals and, in the long run, combat one of the greatest crises that humanity has ever faced: COVID-19.

References:

Shapiro: 'I trust normal Americans' to stay safe as states reopen 'more than our media and our politicians'. (2020). Retrieved 28 April 2020, from https://www.foxnews.com/media/ben-shapiro-americans-safe-states-reopen-coronavirus

Rushe, D., & Greve, J. (2020). Trump's 'back-to-work' plan would only make things worse, experts say. Retrieved 28 April 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/24/trump-coronavirus-economy-america-business

Alkire, B., Peters, A., Shrime, M., & Meara, J. (2020). The Economic Consequences Of Mortality Amenable To High-Quality Health Care In Low- And Middle-Income Countries | Health Affairs. Retrieved 28 April 2020, from https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1233