Coronacrisis is not the end of the world, it is the end of the whole world

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

An excellent article by French writer and journalist Alain de Benoit on the implications of the coronavirus story for the current world order.

History, as we know, is always open, which makes it unpredictable. Nevertheless, it is sometimes easier to predict events in the medium and even long term than in the very near future, as the coronavirus pandemic has eloquently demonstrated to us. Now, when trying to make short-term predictions, of course, the worst seems to be the case: overstressed health systems, hundreds of thousands, even millions, fatalities, supply chain disruptions, unrest, chaos and everything that may follow. In reality, everyone is carried by the wave, and no one knows when it will end and where it will take us. But if you try to look a little further, some things become obvious.

This has been said more than once, but it is worth repeating: the health crisis is beating off the death knell (perhaps temporarily?) over globalization and the hegemonic ideology of progress. Of course, major epidemics of antiquity and the Middle Ages did not need globalization in order to kill tens of millions of people, but it is clear that a completely different coverage of transport, exchanges and communications in the modern world could only aggravate the situation. In an "open society" the virus behaves in a very conformist way: it acts like everyone else, spreads, moves. And to stop it, we no longer move. In other words, we violate the principle of free movement of people, goods and capital, which was formulated in the slogan “laissez faire” (the liberal slogan of non-interference in the economy - ed.). This is not the end of the world, but it is the end of the whole world.

Let's remember: after the collapse of the Soviet system, every Alain Manc (French international commentator, for some time was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Le Monde" - ed.) Of our planet announced a "happy globalization". Francis Fukuyama even predicted the end of history, convinced that liberal democracy and the market system had finally won out. He believed that the Earth would turn into a huge trade center, all obstacles to free exchange should be removed, borders destroyed, states replaced by "territories" and Kantian "eternal peace" should be established. “Archaic” collective identities will gradually be destroyed, and sovereignty will finally lose its relevance.

Globalization was based on the need to produce, sell and buy, move, distribute, promote and mix in an “inclusive” manner. This was determined by the ideology of progress and the idea that economics will finally replace politics. The essence of the system was to do away with all sorts of restrictions: more free exchanges, more goods, more profit, to allow money to feed and become capital.

The industrial capitalism of the past, which nevertheless had some national roots, was replaced by a new capitalism, isolated from the real economy, completely cut off from the territory and functioning outside of time. He demanded that states now trapped in financial markets adopt "good governance" designed to serve their interests.

The proliferation of privatization, as well as delocalization and international contracts, are leading to de-industrialization, lower incomes and higher unemployment. The old Ricardian principle of the international division of labor was violated, which led to the emergence of dumping competition between workers in Western countries and the rest of the world

The western middle class began to shrink, while the lower classes expanded, becoming vulnerable and unstable. Public services have sacrificed the great principles of liberal budgetary orthodoxy. Free exchange has become even more dogma than ever before, and protectionism is its obstacle. If that didn't work, no one ever backed down, but instead stepped on the gas.

Yesterday we lived under the slogan "live together in a society without borders", and today - "stay at home and do not contact others."Megalopolis yuppies run like lemmings in search of safety to the periphery, which they previously despised. Long gone are the days when they talked about only one "cordon sanitaire", which is necessary to keep a distance from non-conformist thinking! In this spontaneous world of wave-like vibrations, a person suddenly encounters a return to the earthly earthly - to the place to which he is attached.

Completely deflated, the European Commission looks like a frightened rabbit: bewildered, stunned, paralyzed. Not realizing the state of emergency, she embarrassedly suspended what she previously considered most important: the Maastricht principles, that is, the “stability pact,” which limited government budget deficits to three percent of GDP and public debt to sixty percent. After that, the European Central Bank allocated 750 billion euros, ostensibly in order to respond to the situation, but in fact - to save the euro. However, the truth is that in an emergency, each country decides and acts for itself.

In a globalized world, it is assumed that norms should be provided for all possible scenarios. However, it is forgotten that in an exceptional situation, as the sociologist Karl Schmitt has shown, the norms can no longer be applied. If you listen to God's apostles, the state was a problem, and now it is becoming a solution, as in 2008, when banks and pension funds turned to the state authorities, which they previously condemned, to ask to protect them from ruin. Emmanuel Macron himself previously said that social programs cost crazy money, but now he says that he is ready to spend as much as necessary, just to survive the health crisis, to hell with restrictions. The wider the pandemic spreads, the more government spending will rise. To cover the costs of unemployment and patch holes in companies, states are going to pump hundreds of billions of dollars, even though they are already mired in debt

Labor laws are softening, pension reform is being stretched, and new plans for unemployment benefits are being postponed indefinitely. Even the taboo on nationalization has disappeared. Apparently, the money that was previously unrealistic to find will still be found. And suddenly everything becomes possible that was previously impossible

It is also now customary to pretend that it has just been discovered that China, which has long been a global factory (in 2018, the PRC represented 28% of the added value of world industrial production), turns out to be producing all sorts of things that we decided not to do ourselves, starting with goods from the medical industry, and this, it turns out, turns us into an object of historical manipulation by others. The head of state - what a surprise! - stated that "it's crazy to delegate to others our food, our protection, our ability to take care of ourselves, our way of life." “Tipping decisions will be required in the coming weeks and months,” he added. Is it possible in this way to reorient all aspects of our economy and diversify our supply chains?

The anthropological shock cannot be ignored either. The understanding of a person, cultivated by the dominant paradigm, consisted in presenting him as an individual, cut off from his relatives, colleagues, acquaintances, completely in control of himself (“my body belongs to me!”). This understanding of man was intended to contribute to the overall balance through the constant striving to maximize self-interest in a society entirely governed by legal contracts and commercial relationships. It is this vision of homo oeconomicus that is undergoing a process of destruction. While Macron calls for universal responsibility, solidarity and even "national unity," the health crisis has recreated feelings of belonging and belonging. The relationship with time and space has undergone a transformation: attitude to our way of life, to the reason for our existence, to values that are not limited to the values of the "Republic".

Instead of complaining, people admire the heroism of health workers. It's important to rediscover what we have in common: tragedy, war and death - in short, all we wanted to forget: this is the fundamental return of reality.

Now, what is in front of us? First of all, of course, the economic crisis, which will have the most severe social consequences. Everyone expects a very deep recession that will affect both Europe and the United States. Thousands of businesses will go bankrupt, millions of jobs will be threatened, and GDP is expected to fall to 20 percent. States will again have to fall into debt, which will make the social fabric even more fragile.

This economic and social crisis could lead to a new financial one, even more serious than in 2008. The coronavirus will not be the key factor because the crisis has been expected for years, but it will undoubtedly be the catalyst. Stock markets began to crash and oil prices fell. The stock market crash affects not only shareholders, but also banks, whose value depends on their assets: the hypertrophied growth of financial assets was the result of speculative activity in the market, which they carried out to the detriment of traditional banking activities for savings and loans. If the collapse of the stock market is accompanied by a crisis in the debt markets, as was the case with the mortgage crisis, then the spread of payment defaults in the center of the banking system indicates a general collapse.

Thus, the risk is that it is necessary to simultaneously respond to a health crisis, an economic crisis, a social crisis, a financial crisis, and one should also not forget about the environmental crisis and the crisis of migrants. The Perfect Storm: This is the coming tsunami. Political consequences will not be avoided, and in all countries. What is the future of the PRC chairman after the collapse of the "dragon"? What will happen in the Arab Muslim countries? What about influencing the presidential elections in the United States, a country where tens of millions of people do not have health insurance?

As for France, now people are closing ranks, but they are not blind. They see that the epidemic was initially met with skepticism, even indifference, and the government hesitated to adopt a strategy of action: systematic testing, herd immunity or restriction of freedom of movement. Procrastination and contradictory statements lasted two months: the disease is not serious, but it causes many deaths; masks do not protect, but healthcare workers need them; screening tests are useless, but we will try to produce them on a mass scale; stay at home, but go out to vote. At the end of January, French Health Minister Agnese Buzin assured us that the virus would not leave China. On February 26, Jerome Salomon, director general of the Department of Health, testified before the Senate Social Affairs Committee that there were no problems with the masks. On March 11, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanker saw no reason to close schools and colleges. On the same day, Macron boasted that "we will not give up anything, and certainly not freedom!", After demonstratively went to the theater a few days before, because "life must go on." Eight days later, change of tone: total retreat.

Who can take such people seriously? In the language of "yellow vests" this could be translated by the following slogan: prisoners are ruled by prisoners.

We are at war, the head of state tells us. Wars require leaders and resources. But we only have "experts" who disagree with each other, our weapons are primer pistols. As a result, three months after the start of the epidemic, we still lack masks, screening tests, disinfectant gel, hospital beds and respirators. We missed everything because nothing was foreseen and no one was in a hurry to catch up after the storm hit. According to many doctors, the perpetrators should be held accountable.

The case of the hospital system is symptomatic because it is at the center of a crisis. Under liberal principles, public hospitals were to be transformed into “cost centers” to encourage them to make more money in the name of the sacred principle of profitability, as if their work could be viewed simply in terms of supply and demand. In other words, the non-market sector had to obey market principles by introducing managerial rationality based on a single criterion - just in time, which put public hospitals on the brink of paralysis and collapse. Did you know that regional health guidelines, for example, set limits on the number of resuscitations depending on the “health card”? Or that France has eliminated 100,000 hospital beds over the past 20 years? That Mayotte currently has 16 intensive care beds per 400,000 inhabitants? Health professionals have been talking about this for years, but no one is listening. Now we are paying the price.

When this is all over, are we back to normal mess or thanks to this health crisis, will we find an opportunity to move to a different basis, far from the demonic commercialization of the world, obsession with productivity and consumerism at any cost?

Hopefully so, people are demonstrating that they are incorrigible. The 2008 crisis may have served as a lesson, but it was ignored. Old habits prevailed: prioritizing financial profits and capital accumulation at the expense of public services and employment. When things seemed to be getting better, we threw ourselves back into the infernal logic of debt, the bulls began to pick up steam again, toxic financial instruments spun and spread, shareholders insisted on a full return on their investments, and austerity policies were pursued under the pretext of restoring equilibrium. which devastated the people. The Open Society followed its natural urge: Once again!

At the moment, one could take advantage of this temporary confinement at home and reread, or perhaps rediscover, the grandiose work of the sociologist Jean Baudrillard. In the "hyperreal" world, where virtuality surpassed reality, he was the first to speak of "invisible, devilish and elusive otherness, which is nothing but a virus." Information virus, epidemic virus, stock market virus, terrorism virus, viral circulation of digital information - all this, he argued, obeys the same procedure of virulence and radiation, the very influence of which on the imagination is already viral. In other words, virality is the main modern principle of the spread of the contagion of deregulation.

As I write this, the people of Wuhan and Shanghai are rediscovering that the sky is blue in its natural state.