COVID is no isolated incident
Although the sociopolitical effects of COVID-19 have become increasingly clear, the pandemic’s political and economic causes have largely been ignored. Evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace explains that what’s really striking about the recent outbreaks, like COVID-19, is the “expedient refusal to grasp that each new Covid-19 is no isolated incident.” This pandemic is “closely linked to food production and the profitability of multinational corporations.” He explains how capital-led agriculture has created the need for large swaths of open land, which results in deforestation and the destruction of natural barriers against pathogens. This is not the first time exploitation of the environment has led to world-wide crises, nor the first time eco-fascism has been the response. As the marginalized continue to face the brunt, while the rich can hide away in the Hamptons and receive the first doses of the vaccine, it’s increasingly clear that humans are not the virus, capitalism is.