The Covid-19 "pandemic", or more accurately, the manipulation and exacerbation of the crisis by the ruling elites to disable the economies of nations and destroy the future of their citizens, has brought us to a historic crossroads. It's cataclysmic collapse and subjugation to totalitarian control of the masses vs. deep systemic realignment of our values and establishing institutions which could and should serve the greater good for everyone on the planet. We can no longer fool ourselves, as we have done so often before, into believing that the current regime of capitalism is sustainable or tolerable. That a few tweaks here and there and we'll be back to being happy campers. Capitalism is a failed system. It's time to replace it and oust those from power who continue to prop up this exploitative and ruinous corpse.
A new activist entity has been created: The Covid-19 Global Solidarity Coalition. Below is their manifesto. In just a matter of days it has been signed by "3000 researchers/academics working at over 600 universities." Add your name and tell two other who you know will join this monumental effort AND tell two other like-minded people. Remember: it's in the power of numbers ... 2 x 2 x 2 ... and this can only be effective if we get support from millions of truly committed citizens across the entire global landscape. Viruses aren't bound by borders, nor should be solidarity with the values that unite all of us in the human experience.
This is our last chance to stand up to tyranny. A virus has brought the world to its knees. It's time for us to stand up and reinvent ourselves, our communities, our cities and towns, our nations, the family of humankind. You can sign the manifesto HERE. Now for the text of this game-changing, paradigm-shifting document:
COVID-19 GLOBAL SOLIDARITY MANIFESTO
The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the urgency of changing global structures of inequity and violence. We, people around the world, will seize this historical moment. We are building solidarity at every level: local, national, global. Despite the need to physically distance, we are building mutual aid groups, community networks, and social movements. We declare this manifesto today to offer a vision of the world we are building, the world we are demanding, the world we will achieve.
1. We demand strong, universal health care systems and health care as a basic right for all humans.2. We demand an immediate global ceasefire in all conflicts and an end to the disease of war. We demand that every nation move at least half its military spending to provide health care, housing, childcare, nutrition, education, Internet access, and other social needs so we can truly protect people's physical, psychological, and economic security, including through the closure of foreign military bases, the cessation of military exercises, and the abolition of nuclear weapons.
3. We demand that unsustainable capitalist economies, based on the fantasy of endless growth, be replaced with cooperatively based economies of care, where human life, biodiversity, and our natural resources are conserved and a universal basic income is guaranteed so that governments can work together to combat the existential threat of climate change.
4. We demand an immediate lifting of all sanctions targeting entire nations, which are impoverishing vulnerable populations and killing people by blocking access to medicines and medical supplies.
5. We demand that all workers be protected against COVID-19 and have their long-term occupational health, economic, and labor rights guaranteed.
6. We demand the full protection of all people, especially the most vulnerable, including women and other victims of intimate partner violence and child abuse, the elderly, the impoverished, prisoners and detainees, refugees and other displaced peoples, migrants regardless of immigration status, the homeless, LGBTQIA+ individuals, racial/ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, and those disability or ability challenged, among others.
7. We demand that wealthy nations live up to their responsibility to provide medical aid (including through the World Health Organization) and debt relief to save lives in countries without strong public health systems because of long histories of colonialism, neocolonialism, and other exploitation, foreign and domestic.
8. We demand that governments and corporations respect privacy and not exploit the pandemic to expand repressive measures such as surveillance, detention without trial, and restrictions on basic human rights to assembly, free expression, self-determination, and the vote.
9. We demand that when governments implement economic stimulus programs and re-open their economies they prioritize the needs of people over the interests of corporate, financial, and political elites.
In a world where the gap between rich and poor is obscene, with the world's richest 1% having more than twice the wealth of 6.9 billion people, a fundamental redistribution of wealth and power globally and within nations is imperative. Every human being must have the opportunity to live a healthy, creative, and fulfilling life, free of the ravages of poverty, exploitation, and domination.
I want to thank my colleague and friend, Ron Ridenour, for bringing this noble effort to my attention.
(Article changed on May 16, 2020 at 22:38)
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