2020: The Year Covid Killed Capitalism
It took a Pandemic to show that capitalism was done for at long last. It's still with us, but only as a zombie. Soon, even that illusion will be gone. We'll all be better off.
I still remember that Venice Jazz place, The Lincoln, that we went to on March 8, 2020. That was at the end of the olden days. We were already living on borrowed time. Even so, the joint was jumpin’. We had to squeeze together on benches and booths. So many of our friends from the Venice hood were there. They all wanted to shake hands, hug, kiss, share a doobie, whisper secrets. What a night!
I was euphoric. Yet, that virus from China gnawed at me. It swept into New York and Seattle before we knew it. Not a chance we could escape it. Oh well, enjoy life while you can.
My head had cleared by the next morning. I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to outlive the virus.
At the time, I was sharing an apartment in the heart of Venice with a woman who was a tour guide for visitors from around the world. What could be a worse job in a pandemic? Not only that, but she brought them by our apartment to show them how bohemians lived.
Did I tell you I was famous? In Venice, that is. Any Venetian who has been around for a few years knows me. Outside of Venice, nobody knows me. I’m telling you about my fame, because it meant that there was a steady stream of people coming by the pad to hang out.
I told Barb I was leaving. She knew I had to go. I texted my 50 closest friends that I was on my way to a safer place. By mid-day, everyone was scared, and numb. The virus was in L.A. I threw some clothes together. Packed my computer (a writer’s best friend), and headed out the next morning.
One Step Ahead of Covid-19
Fortunately, I had a destination. I was heading north to be with my daughter, and her partner, in a small town in Oregon (no one will find me there). I drove until I got sleepy, then pulled into a roadside rest stop and got some precious sleep. The next afternoon, I had arrived.
I greeted Jennifer and Paul, and crept up the stairs to my room. There I stayed, more or less, from March through October.
Did I get bored? oh my god, did I? The world was changing outside the house, and here I was reading books and watching Netflix. There must be some small thing I could do to help change the world in a good way.
Then I got an email from Matt. “I’m quitting my job and doing all my writing on Substack,” he said. What the hell is Substack, I thought? Turns out, it’s a writer’s dream come true. World wide reach, of course, and you can write whatever you want. No one is going to censure it. Yeah, sure, for how long, I thought? And you can make money just by doing what you love, writing. That part doesn’t work so well for me. I love to give it away.
It’s Time for the Left Coast side of the story.
So, I launched a “news site,” called The Left Coast on March 21, 2020, and haven’t been censured yet. Except, self-censured. I’ve refrained from using bad words (mostly), or blasting those idiots who wanted to open up prematurely, and help covid kill a lot of people. And, I’ve avoided saying that people who are too paranoid to get vaccinated need counseling.
I was happy that I could do something, when on May 25, George Floyd was publicly and brutally murdered. Millions marched, and I typed. Actually, it was millions upon millions who marched if you count all the cities, large and small, multiplied by day after day of huge marches and rallies.
In the beginning of the pandemic, capitalism showed it was exhausted, and should be consigned to the history books, when it couldn’t produce any masks for people, and not even enough for front line health workers. People were dying in droves, and perhaps wouldn’t have if they had some basic protections against the virus.
Then late-stage capitalism failed utterly in coming to terms with police brutality, especially murders, and the naked racism that should have died more than a hundred years ago.
Oh yes, kind words were spoken, and promises were made. Meanwhile, the death toll of Black men and women continued to rise. And now, according to the London Telegram, “A British high street retailer has decided what the world needs to promote equality is George Floyd-inspired pants.”
Lately, there is a backlash against Critical Race Theory, which examines how racism pervades every nook and cranny of our society, and how it infects all of us. What’s wrong with simply talking about prejudice. How can we accept a campaign to stop anyone from even talking about racism. How sad is that?
On the other hand, the Black Lives Matter marches attracted all kinds of people to the cause, including whites, Latinx, Asians, Native Americans and people of mixed ethnicity and genders. This shows that all is not lost and that unity of the working class is possible.
Racism, because of skin color and ethnicity, only began with the rise of capitalism, and it will end if we come together.
How Do We Know Capitalism Is Dead?
Capitalism doesn’t die like people do. It’s a long slide from living, to zombie, to dead as a door nail. We’re in the zombie phase right now, and like scary zombies in movies, it can be a very dangerous place to be.
I wrote last year about the multiple crises that confront us. If zombie capitalism cannot confront these crises (it can’t), then other forces in society will step forward. Let us hope that it is not the fascists, the secret police or the military. Rather, we need a peaceful revolution of the majority of the population who opt for a better world of equality, freedom and abundance for all.
It’s time for people of good will to tackle these crises before they drown us:
Unfortunately, a majority of corporations and super-wealthy entrepreneurs are just playing us. They are not going to do what it takes to stop either racism or climate change. Profits come first, not the environment.
We need a decent standard of living for all, no matter what their skills or family backgrounds. During the Pandemic, as many as 30 million people didn’t have jobs. Today, it’s at least 10 million. It is becoming harder all the time to establish low levels of unemployment. This is because of low pay, ever increasing automation, and a growing resistance from workers to accept poor conditions and boring jobs.
Black Lives Matter protests have mostly hit a stone wall. Cops keep on killing Blacks, while politicians don’t want to reform or reduce funding of police forces. Other militant tactics must be employed across the country to shake things up.
The Atomic Doomsday Clock is 100 seconds to midnight. That is too close to thermonuclear war for anyone to sleep well at night.
The Income Gap is destroying us. In 2018, the top 20 percent of the U.S. population received 52 percent of all income. During the Pandemic (March 2020 - Jan. 2021), billionaire wealth increased by $1.138 trillion.
And now there’s a vaccine crisis, with the rich and upper middle classes of the world getting protection while the poor have no access to a vaccine.
Don’t expect zombie capitalism or its befuddled or bought politicians to be able to save us from any of these crises.
It’s up to us. Always has been.
P.S. I’m alive and still writing. Hooray!
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Modern Times
Let’s fire your ass.
Let’s kick you out on the street.
We’ll charge for every drop of water
And make fresh air a treat.
Let’s raise all the prices
and lower your pay.
Hey buddy, the cost-of-living
has just priced you out of the market.
It’s nothing personal
That’s how we do it today.
Let’s give the banks billions.
And for you, a kick in the pants.
Don’t forget, this mess all started
because you wanted a home of your own.
So don’t give us crap about Wall Street.
We know the alley where you sleep.
-James R Smith