The Capitalist Pandemic,
Coronavirus and the Economic Crisis (Part 1)
by Eric Toussaint
A public health crisis
The coronavirus pandemic is a serious public health problem and the human suffering caused by the spread of this virus will be enormous. If it massively affects countries of the Global South with very fragile public health systems that have been undermined by 40 years of neo-liberal policies, the death toll will be very high. We must not forget the critical situation of the Iranian population, victim of the blockade imposed by Washington, a blockade that includes medicines and medical equipment.
The mainstream media and governments focus on the differences in mortality rates according to age, but they very carefully avoid any reference to class differences and how mortality, due to the coronavirus pandemic, will affect human beings according to their income and wealth
Under the pretext of necessary fiscal austerity to repay public debt, governments and major multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and regional banks such as the African Development Bank have everywhere enforced policies that have deteriorated public health systems: job cuts in the health sector, precarious employment contracts, reduction of hospital beds, closure of local health centres, increase of health care costs and of prices of medicines, under-investment in infrastructure and equipment, privatization of various health sectors, under-investment by the public sector in research and development of treatments for the benefit of the interests of large private pharmaceutical groups...
I. The ecological crisis is already the most important social and political question of the 21st century, and will become even more so in the coming months and years. The future of the planet, and thus of humanity, will be determined in the coming decades. Calculations by certain scientists as to scenarios for the year 2100 aren’t very useful for two reasons: a) scientific: considering all the retroactive effects impossible to calculate, it is very risky to make projections over a century. B) political: at the end of the century, all of us, our children and grandchildren will be gone, so who cares?
The expression ‘tipping point’ refers to the point when a system passes from one system of equilibrium to another, the point where it is no longer possible to prevent accumulated quantitative changes from causing a qualitative change. It is used in many different fields, from population studies to climate change, as well as social sciences.
Que la journée de grève du jeudi 5 décembre se traduise par un blocage du pays à un niveau que l’on n’avait pas vu depuis novembre-décembre 1995 est une quasi-certitude. Ce que nous ne savons pas encore, c’est à quel point ce succès de la grève pourra convaincre au-delà des deux secteurs (RATP et SNCF) qui ont déjà décidé de reconduire la grève, que c’est le moment d’engager l’affrontement contre Macron et son gouvernement.
Depuis des décennies nous sommes confrontés à la destruction progressive de nos droits sociaux acquis par les luttes. Le projet de contre-réforme des retraites Macron-Delevoye s’inscrit dans cette même logique. Loin de l’universalisme annoncé, il participe d’un plan global de destruction des systèmes de solidarité qui érige en modèle le chacun pour soi et l’égalité... dans la misère !
Pour faire reculer le gouvernement sur les retraites, une seule journée de grève limitée à quelques secteurs ne suffira pas. Travailleurs, gilets jaunes, habitants des quartiers, chômeurs… c’est un mouvement d’ensemble et une grève générale jusqu’au retrait de la réforme qu'il faut initier.
Alors que le nouveau film de 
La crise qui a secoué la RDA en 1989-90 et son dénouement constituent incontestablement un moment important de l’histoire du XXe siècle [
Tsunami Democràtic nace para dar respuesta a la sentencia del judici al procés del Tribunal Supremo. Como una gran ola, el lunes, pocas horas después de saberse las condenas de entre 9 y 13 años, se convocó una concentración en plaza Catalunya. Allí ya se preparó el terreno para ir al aeropuerto. A las 13h en punto se anunciaba la acción y, no sólo se bloqueó los accesos a la T1 y T2, sino que quedaron colapsadas las vías de entrada en el aeropuerto de El Prat.
El Tribunal Supremo ha condenado a los doce líderes del procés a 104 años y seis meses de cárcel por los delitos de sedición y malversación (de 12 a 13 años), sedición (de 9 años a 12 y seis meses) y desobediencia (1 año y 8 meses).
The Intercept invites you to watch a special event in New York City hosted by Intercept senior correspondent Naomi Klein, author of the forthcoming book “On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal,” and headlined by trailblazing climate activist Greta Thunberg, author of “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference.” 
A new video from the Bernie Sanders campaign is proof: Sanders has used his bully pulpit to amplify workers’ struggles around the country, in a way no national politician in the United States has done before now.