On Nov. 10, Eli Lilly, one of three pharmaceutical companies that collectively dominate the global insulin market, tweeted out, “we are excited to announce that insulin is free now.” With the adorned blue check, normally an indicator of a verified celebrity or corporate twitter account, the announcement went semi-viral. Eli Lilly’s stock price tumbled and many online laughed at how Twitter seemed to be imploding after a few short weeks with Elon Musk at the helm. But when one looks just slightly past the weeds of trolls and memes, contradictions inherent to capitalism smack you straight in the face.
Read More
Covid-19: The Endgame?
The working class suffers miserably under the Covid-19 pandemic. But in record time, we begin mass immunization! Is this the endgame? Despite an invaluable scientific tool, class relations threaten a second wave deadlier than the first, a botched vaccine rollout, and Sars-CoV-2 variants that might just undermine vaccination altogether.
Read More
La Gare de l’Est. Maximilien Luce
The Virology of Capitalism
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, socialists insist that “Capitalism is the Virus!” Capitalist systems promote the material conditions to promote pandemics and other widespread health problems. Austerity drives malnutrition and susceptibility to pestilence, and the profit-motive leads to inappropriate usage of antibiotics. We must inoculate ourselves against corporate propaganda and wipe the system of exploitation and oppression off the face of the earth.
Read More
Peupliers, temps gris, Éragny. Camille Pissarro.
How Capitalism Provides the Demand for Science — And Often Does not Meet It
Advocates for capitalism have tried to link scientific progress with a profit motive. Yet, run-away capitalism has undoubtedly ushered some of the largest medical problems facing the world - lung cancer, type II diabetes, antibiotic resistance. Capitalism, in its pursuit of profit, creates problems that can be tackled by a capitalist model, if profitable, or, if not, left by the wayside, a new fixture in our late-stage capitalist society.
Read More