Susan K. Sell - What COVID-19 Reveals About Twenty-First Century Capitalism: Adversity and Opportunity

 A brilliant article, which captures much of what is wrong with our present economic and political system.

The neoliberal/libertarian mantra of individual responsi-bility and self-reliance has tattered social bonds and commu­nal responsibility. It provides an excuse or rationale for the public sector to step back. Social safety has been removed as a legitimate public responsibility (Azmanova 2014: 361). And yet, as Bregman points out, ‘humankind evolved to cooperate’ and this insight can provide the basis for moving toward ‘a government based on trust, a tax system rooted in solidarity, and the sustainable investments needed to secure our future’ (Bregman 2020). Around the globe, governments have stepped up to provide temporary social protection in the pandemic at a massive scale. This has demonstrated that the public sector can mobilize vast resources in times of crisis— this time not to bail out banks that were too-big-to-fail, but to provide more social safety nets. The crisis has resuscitated serious conversations about a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to create conditions of economic certainty.

The rise of populism on the left and the right reflects a fear of freedom in a world that seems out of control. In the centre many are calling for reform to make capitalism more inclusive. But some call for a radical overhaul of the socio-economic system to develop a ‘political economy of trust’ to counter the ‘systemic logic of domination at work in the contemporary modality of capitalism’ (Azmanova 2014: 362). To begin to build such a system of trust, Azmanova advocates that those seeking to transform contemporary cap­italism should challenge the rules that generate and sustain injustice rather than political actors (parties, states, foreign­ers etc.) (Azmanova 2018: 10).

Susan K. Sell - What COVID-19 Reveals About Twenty-First Century Capitalism: Adversity and Opportunity