CNBC editor Rick Santelli on Thursday called for infecting the world population with coronavirus to protect stock prices. (Image: screenshot/CNBC)
Mar 05, 2020
After a volatile day of trading on Wall Street Thursday precipitated by ongoing fears of the economic effects of the global coronavirus outbreak, CNBC analyst Rick Santelli suggested it would be better to infect the world population with the disease all at once to help stock prices.
"This is your brain on capitalism," said activist Joshua Potash.
\u201cThis is absolutely horrifying.\n\nRick Santelli on @CNBC says we should consider giving coronavirus to everybody to just get it over with.\n\nThat way it won\u2019t wreak so much havoc on the economy.\n\nThis is your brain on capitalism.\nhttps://t.co/Uv5UYyKtxy\u201d— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN) 1583448079
Santelli, who is credited with helping kick off the racist, extreme right-wing Tea Party movement in February 2009 by ranting about then-President Barack Obama's Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, toldCNBC anchor Kelly Evans Thursday that the "catalyst" for Thursday's market decline was local news reports on the virus.
"Just watch your local news," said Santelli. "There's your catalyst."
"All I know is, I think about how the world would be if you tried to quarantine everybody because of the generic-type flu," Santelli continued. "Now, I'm not saying this is the generic-type flu--but maybe we'd be just better off if we gave it to everybody."
"And then in a month, it would be over," Santelli continued, "because the mortality rate of this probably isn't going to be any different if we did it that way than the long-term picture, but the difference is we're wreaking havoc on global and domestic economies."
Progressives and market observers were quick to mock Santelli's comments.
"I sometimes worry after doing TV interviews that I may have gotten a fact wrong, or over-simplified an argument, or advocated for a Darwinian genocide to protect the stock market like this gentleman did," tweeted political science professor Seth Masket.
But the real world effects of what Santelli called for were no joke, saidThe Nation's Jeet Heer.
"Assuming the most conservative estimates of 0.5% mortality, this is a call for the death of 37,500,000 people worldwide or 1,750,000 Americans, all in order to shore up the stock market," Heer said.
Activist Robert Fortuna, a clinical psychologist, called out Santelli on Twitter for his callous comments.
"The projected death of 11 million Americans would be a fair price to pay for better long term stock growth, says a capitalist extremist," Fortuna said.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
After a volatile day of trading on Wall Street Thursday precipitated by ongoing fears of the economic effects of the global coronavirus outbreak, CNBC analyst Rick Santelli suggested it would be better to infect the world population with the disease all at once to help stock prices.
"This is your brain on capitalism," said activist Joshua Potash.
\u201cThis is absolutely horrifying.\n\nRick Santelli on @CNBC says we should consider giving coronavirus to everybody to just get it over with.\n\nThat way it won\u2019t wreak so much havoc on the economy.\n\nThis is your brain on capitalism.\nhttps://t.co/Uv5UYyKtxy\u201d— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN) 1583448079
Santelli, who is credited with helping kick off the racist, extreme right-wing Tea Party movement in February 2009 by ranting about then-President Barack Obama's Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, toldCNBC anchor Kelly Evans Thursday that the "catalyst" for Thursday's market decline was local news reports on the virus.
"Just watch your local news," said Santelli. "There's your catalyst."
"All I know is, I think about how the world would be if you tried to quarantine everybody because of the generic-type flu," Santelli continued. "Now, I'm not saying this is the generic-type flu--but maybe we'd be just better off if we gave it to everybody."
"And then in a month, it would be over," Santelli continued, "because the mortality rate of this probably isn't going to be any different if we did it that way than the long-term picture, but the difference is we're wreaking havoc on global and domestic economies."
Progressives and market observers were quick to mock Santelli's comments.
"I sometimes worry after doing TV interviews that I may have gotten a fact wrong, or over-simplified an argument, or advocated for a Darwinian genocide to protect the stock market like this gentleman did," tweeted political science professor Seth Masket.
But the real world effects of what Santelli called for were no joke, saidThe Nation's Jeet Heer.
"Assuming the most conservative estimates of 0.5% mortality, this is a call for the death of 37,500,000 people worldwide or 1,750,000 Americans, all in order to shore up the stock market," Heer said.
Activist Robert Fortuna, a clinical psychologist, called out Santelli on Twitter for his callous comments.
"The projected death of 11 million Americans would be a fair price to pay for better long term stock growth, says a capitalist extremist," Fortuna said.
After a volatile day of trading on Wall Street Thursday precipitated by ongoing fears of the economic effects of the global coronavirus outbreak, CNBC analyst Rick Santelli suggested it would be better to infect the world population with the disease all at once to help stock prices.
"This is your brain on capitalism," said activist Joshua Potash.
\u201cThis is absolutely horrifying.\n\nRick Santelli on @CNBC says we should consider giving coronavirus to everybody to just get it over with.\n\nThat way it won\u2019t wreak so much havoc on the economy.\n\nThis is your brain on capitalism.\nhttps://t.co/Uv5UYyKtxy\u201d— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN) 1583448079
Santelli, who is credited with helping kick off the racist, extreme right-wing Tea Party movement in February 2009 by ranting about then-President Barack Obama's Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, toldCNBC anchor Kelly Evans Thursday that the "catalyst" for Thursday's market decline was local news reports on the virus.
"Just watch your local news," said Santelli. "There's your catalyst."
"All I know is, I think about how the world would be if you tried to quarantine everybody because of the generic-type flu," Santelli continued. "Now, I'm not saying this is the generic-type flu--but maybe we'd be just better off if we gave it to everybody."
"And then in a month, it would be over," Santelli continued, "because the mortality rate of this probably isn't going to be any different if we did it that way than the long-term picture, but the difference is we're wreaking havoc on global and domestic economies."
Progressives and market observers were quick to mock Santelli's comments.
"I sometimes worry after doing TV interviews that I may have gotten a fact wrong, or over-simplified an argument, or advocated for a Darwinian genocide to protect the stock market like this gentleman did," tweeted political science professor Seth Masket.
But the real world effects of what Santelli called for were no joke, saidThe Nation's Jeet Heer.
"Assuming the most conservative estimates of 0.5% mortality, this is a call for the death of 37,500,000 people worldwide or 1,750,000 Americans, all in order to shore up the stock market," Heer said.
Activist Robert Fortuna, a clinical psychologist, called out Santelli on Twitter for his callous comments.
"The projected death of 11 million Americans would be a fair price to pay for better long term stock growth, says a capitalist extremist," Fortuna said.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.