Written by Elsa Dupuy d'Angeac on April 25, 2020

6 Foot Plunder

The pandemic has derailed reality at every level. Grocery shopping now seems like a suicide mission and people are already comparing the stock market crashes to the Great Depression rather than the Great Recession. The speed and intensity with which seemingly fundamental social structures are toppling reveals their inherent fragility. Recently, I’ve overheard a lot of people discussing a newfound hope they feel for the future. Those who remain optimistic argue that the very uncertainty we’re facing will force people to re-evaluate the systems and priorities which govern us. Such people envision a utopian future where a society which values people over profit and cares about the planet will emerge from this global crisis.

To their credit, there are some examples of positive behaviors. New forms of care are coalescing at national levels, from medical staff risking their health and starting GoFundMe accounts to raise money for medical supplies, to organizations delivering food to the elderly, to people mass producing masks at home for hospitals. Already, people are discovering new ways to survive and thrive while social distancing. From vowing to learn a new language, to singing in unison from balconies, to supporting artists online, people are demonstrating not only their adaptability, but their desire to perform care for each other and themselves. These are, I would argue, simply manifestations of our need for comfort: in times of difficulty, we latch onto the familiar. Rather than teaching new ways of caring, it seems the uncertainty which arises when our daily rituals crumble only intensifies our need to protect that which has been classified as safe and that which we think will help us rediscover said safety/comfort. Point-in-fact: Trump’s approval ratings are at an all-time high of 48%.

You may have already guessed it: I’m no such optimist. In 1349 the “Black Death” was sweeping through Europe. The good people of Strasbourg, France responded by burning 2,000 Jews at the stake. During Britain’s plague of 1665, fearing contamination, the wealthy paid their servants meager wages to shop for them. Today, millions of Americans are risking infection because they cannot survive unemployment. In a nation where health insurance is often tied to employment, many fear the hospital bill more than the virus itself. While we are hunkering down and trying to stay alive, systems of power which this pandemic could potentially destroy are abusing our complacency to further their goals. These systems are acting under the guise of instituting necessary precautions in a state of emergency. Where some see the potential for positive change, I see brazen money grabbing by increasingly totalitarian regimes.

Here is a quick list of not-so-idyllic actions undertaken by people in power I’ve recorded over the last weeks.

The new stimulus package, the CARES Act, is “a handout to corporate America and a roll-up of power” masquerading as financial relief (Matt Stoller on DemocracyNow). More info.
Rana Ayyub, in an article for Foreign Policy, describes the mere notion of social distancing as a privilege and an obscene concept. In India, police brutally beat those unable to adhere to such standards. More info.
Cuomo’s new budget cuts $2.5 billion from spending for Medicaid, including $400 million for hospitals. More info.
As the pandemic leads to a decrease in oil prices, Trump is bailing out the fossil fuel industry instead of taking the opportunity to restructure our economy around renewable energies. More info. Kentucky, South Dakota, and Virginia successfully passed laws criminalizing protests against the fossil fuel industry. More info.
The prison industrial complex is lying about the spread of the virus within facilities. According to Ryan Grim, a journalist for The Intercept, prisons are paying inmates $6/hour to dig mass graves. More info. Certain states are pushing for death penalties to continue through the pandemic. More info.
Despite closed courts and a moratorium on evictions, Jared Kushner’s real estate company is filing eviction lawsuits against tenants in preparation for when the courts reopen. More info.
Trump supported Gilead’s requests for exclusive patent rights regarding a COVID-19 treatment they are still developing. This would give them exclusive production rights for the next 7 years, preventing other manufacturers from developing a generic version of the drug and rendering it more accessible. More info.
UPS, Instacart, Amazon, and Whole Foods ignored the CDC’s safety precautions and fired workers for organizing and striking. More info.
Despite failing to produce N95 masks or ventilators, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is continuing to budget $41 million for security at Trump’s multiple estates. More info.
At gun shops and ammunition stores in California, New York, Alabama, Ohio, and Washington, sales soared at the start of the pandemic. Gun stores have been deemed essential businesses whereas libraries have not. More info.
Many small businesses may not survive the pandemic. Walmart, Costco and Amazon could potentially be the only retailers left. More info.
The governor lieutenant of Texas Dan Patrick proposed the elderly sacrifice their health for that of the economy because they are at high risk of dying anyway. More info.

The CARES Act is perhaps the most striking case. In an interview for The Intercept, Naomi Klein clarified that the structure of the United States facilitates the privatization of any responses to the pandemic. The CARES Act was promoted as a $2 trillion stimulus package which would provide financial relief and protection from COVID-19 to Americans. Elizabeth Warren assured the public that the CARES Act includes compromises for big industries and financial aid distributions to families throughout the country. It is in fact a $6-10 trillion package focusing on bailing out Wall Street. Matt Stoller, from the American Economic Liberties Project, argues that, in the context of an economic meltdown, industries can be supported, but with strict conditions which would prevent the consolidation of power “into the hands of monopolists and financiers cherry-picking distressed assets”. As Stoller explains in an interview with DemocracyNow!, however, this stimulus gives trillions to monopolists like JPMorgan, allowing large companies to buy out small businesses which will not be able to survive the pandemic. $450 billion will be allocated to the Federal Reserve, which can essentially transform that amount into a couple trillion to be doled out to the biggest industries without regulation. As David Dayen explains in an interview with Jeremy Scahill for The Intercept, the CARES Act exacerbates existing inequalities by ensuring that large industries will continue to access most of the country’s wealth while working class families compete over a small percentage of the budget. Stoller argues that Democratic party members such as Warren, Sanders, and Omar are at fault for staying quiet and allowing “the handover of power to Wall Street […] under the really cynical guise of helping people in a pandemic.” Progressive journalist and editor of The Intercept Jeremy Scahill refers to this bill as “the quintessential reverse Robin Hood”. Worst of all, no one in the House of Representatives will be held accountable for their decisions because the votes will remain secret. This week, Trump fired Glenn Fine, who was supposed to supervise aid distribution. The CARES Act will provide little, if any, relief to working class families. Given that people are struggling to even register as unemployed, it seems naive not to also acknowledge the difficulty in actually providing families with this so-called aid.

The examples listed render it abundantly clear that, given pre-existing social and economic inequalities, this crisis is unfolding as a smooth channel through which power structures can design and control post-pandemic reality. In an article for The Guardian, Matt Stoller voiced his fears that, when we inevitably emerge from this pandemic, “America will be unrecognizable”. I agree with his prediction; following a crisis of this magnitude, the United States will need to be completely restructured. It is up to us whether we will promote transitions to progressive systems of governing or whether we will be trapped into complacency, unable to inhibit the rise of a totalitarian state.

References:

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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