Corona Virus

International Workers’ Memorial Day is observed every year on 28th April in countries on every continent, to commemorate workers killed and injured through their work. This year, as many countries across the world are in some form of lockdown, the commemorations are likely to be few, while the number of dead is rising rapidly.

This short reflection is a synthesis of ideas common to various comrades, from different areas, with whom we frequently discuss. In fact, some of the considerations here are now becoming an integral and shared perspective beyond that of any one organisation. This gives us hope that in the near future the most politically aware elements will recognise that we are all travelling in the same direction.

Leaving aside for a moment the issue of “fake news” conspiracy theories circulating in the ether about the origins of the virus, that whether by accident or deliberately American laboratories engineered it themselves (with all the implications this would have on international imperialist scenarios), let us confront the problem in simple terms, based on what the theorists are saying about the possibility of coming out of this latest financial-economic crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic is battering the whole world. It has upset a social and economic order that appeared immutable. It has dramatically laid bare the reality of human relations in this society based on the exploitation of one human being by another in the name of profit.