What will the vaccine cost the individual and who will get it? Well, as we know, the dense and the bought believe these things are matters to be settled between individuals and their pharmaceutical companies.(Photo: Floris Van Cauwelaert/flickr/cc)
Russia Accused of a Plot to Steal Vaccine Research!
There is simply no reason to believe that reliance on the search for corporate profit represents anything like a sensible strategy for dealing with problems affecting the entire globe.
The Russian hackers are coming! Again! They're about as bad as capitalists as they were as communists, ain't they? What now? There it was in the headline: Russia accused of a plot to steal vaccine research. Britain's National Cyber Security Center director denounced the "despicable acts" and a Silicon Valley intelligence analyst warned, "The whole pandemic is absolutely riddled with spies." Any surprise that China and Iran are also accused of the like? The motive behind this hacking of Britain, Canada, and of course the U.S.? Apparently the Russians are trying improve their own Covid-19 vaccine research and avoid vaccine dependence on Western countries! What do we pay the National Security Agency for if they can't stop from the Russians from improving their Covid-19 vaccine?
We ask ourselves on a daily basis what the post-pandemic world will look like - if, in fact, there is to be such a thing as a post-pandemic world. Dare we dare hope that this situation could actually have an impact on global intelligence, that is real intelligence in people's minds, not the NSA/Silicon Valley kind?
We do know that even when it comes to matters of the nation's health, Washington's dense and bought have remained steadfastly dense and bought, maintaining their opposition to covering the entire nation with health insurance, to this very day. Could we hope that a global pandemic might be enough to shake the consciousness and/or conscience of a few of them? Unfortunately, a lot of those folks are just not that much into the rest of the world, except maybe bombing them.
But perhaps if we will substitute invaders from another star system for the pandemic, the absurdity of the plot of this science fiction film we're actually living though might stand out more clearly.
The threat arrives, seemingly from nowhere. Do the earthlings unite? No, they argue about who's going to pay and who's going to get protected first. "There's money involved here. We're not about to let those damned Russian commun - er - capitalists get the benefit of our hard earned dollars." Meanwhile, the invaders know and care nothing about this money thing and they roll over these foolish, bickering earthlings.
Back in the world without the space invaders, I don't know exactly who's making out among those dastardly Russians, but there appear to be at least five major American pharmaceutical corporations in the race to produce a vaccine. Three of them are receiving government research funding. Two of those have pledged to do it on a non-profit basis and I suppose that's something - even though corporations are well known for crossing their fingers when claiming to do anything on a basis other than profit. The other government-funded corporation explicitly declined such a pledge. And the other two companies are going entirely free market. What will the vaccine cost the individual and who will get it? Well, as we know, the dense and the bought believe these things are matters to be settled between individuals and their pharmaceutical companies.
The call for an alternative to replace capitalism has generally, and understandably, focused on the inability of a system based on profit to treat everyone fairly. But there is, in a sense, an even deeper argument - competence. There is simply no reason to believe that reliance on the search for corporate profit represents anything like a sensible strategy for dealing with problems affecting the entire globe.
The pandemic has already been a teachable moment, that has already stretched to a teachable semester, for millions around our globe. Whether the dense and the bought of the world's capitals will learn much of anything remains to be seen.
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The Russian hackers are coming! Again! They're about as bad as capitalists as they were as communists, ain't they? What now? There it was in the headline: Russia accused of a plot to steal vaccine research. Britain's National Cyber Security Center director denounced the "despicable acts" and a Silicon Valley intelligence analyst warned, "The whole pandemic is absolutely riddled with spies." Any surprise that China and Iran are also accused of the like? The motive behind this hacking of Britain, Canada, and of course the U.S.? Apparently the Russians are trying improve their own Covid-19 vaccine research and avoid vaccine dependence on Western countries! What do we pay the National Security Agency for if they can't stop from the Russians from improving their Covid-19 vaccine?
We ask ourselves on a daily basis what the post-pandemic world will look like - if, in fact, there is to be such a thing as a post-pandemic world. Dare we dare hope that this situation could actually have an impact on global intelligence, that is real intelligence in people's minds, not the NSA/Silicon Valley kind?
We do know that even when it comes to matters of the nation's health, Washington's dense and bought have remained steadfastly dense and bought, maintaining their opposition to covering the entire nation with health insurance, to this very day. Could we hope that a global pandemic might be enough to shake the consciousness and/or conscience of a few of them? Unfortunately, a lot of those folks are just not that much into the rest of the world, except maybe bombing them.
But perhaps if we will substitute invaders from another star system for the pandemic, the absurdity of the plot of this science fiction film we're actually living though might stand out more clearly.
The threat arrives, seemingly from nowhere. Do the earthlings unite? No, they argue about who's going to pay and who's going to get protected first. "There's money involved here. We're not about to let those damned Russian commun - er - capitalists get the benefit of our hard earned dollars." Meanwhile, the invaders know and care nothing about this money thing and they roll over these foolish, bickering earthlings.
Back in the world without the space invaders, I don't know exactly who's making out among those dastardly Russians, but there appear to be at least five major American pharmaceutical corporations in the race to produce a vaccine. Three of them are receiving government research funding. Two of those have pledged to do it on a non-profit basis and I suppose that's something - even though corporations are well known for crossing their fingers when claiming to do anything on a basis other than profit. The other government-funded corporation explicitly declined such a pledge. And the other two companies are going entirely free market. What will the vaccine cost the individual and who will get it? Well, as we know, the dense and the bought believe these things are matters to be settled between individuals and their pharmaceutical companies.
The call for an alternative to replace capitalism has generally, and understandably, focused on the inability of a system based on profit to treat everyone fairly. But there is, in a sense, an even deeper argument - competence. There is simply no reason to believe that reliance on the search for corporate profit represents anything like a sensible strategy for dealing with problems affecting the entire globe.
The pandemic has already been a teachable moment, that has already stretched to a teachable semester, for millions around our globe. Whether the dense and the bought of the world's capitals will learn much of anything remains to be seen.
The Russian hackers are coming! Again! They're about as bad as capitalists as they were as communists, ain't they? What now? There it was in the headline: Russia accused of a plot to steal vaccine research. Britain's National Cyber Security Center director denounced the "despicable acts" and a Silicon Valley intelligence analyst warned, "The whole pandemic is absolutely riddled with spies." Any surprise that China and Iran are also accused of the like? The motive behind this hacking of Britain, Canada, and of course the U.S.? Apparently the Russians are trying improve their own Covid-19 vaccine research and avoid vaccine dependence on Western countries! What do we pay the National Security Agency for if they can't stop from the Russians from improving their Covid-19 vaccine?
We ask ourselves on a daily basis what the post-pandemic world will look like - if, in fact, there is to be such a thing as a post-pandemic world. Dare we dare hope that this situation could actually have an impact on global intelligence, that is real intelligence in people's minds, not the NSA/Silicon Valley kind?
We do know that even when it comes to matters of the nation's health, Washington's dense and bought have remained steadfastly dense and bought, maintaining their opposition to covering the entire nation with health insurance, to this very day. Could we hope that a global pandemic might be enough to shake the consciousness and/or conscience of a few of them? Unfortunately, a lot of those folks are just not that much into the rest of the world, except maybe bombing them.
But perhaps if we will substitute invaders from another star system for the pandemic, the absurdity of the plot of this science fiction film we're actually living though might stand out more clearly.
The threat arrives, seemingly from nowhere. Do the earthlings unite? No, they argue about who's going to pay and who's going to get protected first. "There's money involved here. We're not about to let those damned Russian commun - er - capitalists get the benefit of our hard earned dollars." Meanwhile, the invaders know and care nothing about this money thing and they roll over these foolish, bickering earthlings.
Back in the world without the space invaders, I don't know exactly who's making out among those dastardly Russians, but there appear to be at least five major American pharmaceutical corporations in the race to produce a vaccine. Three of them are receiving government research funding. Two of those have pledged to do it on a non-profit basis and I suppose that's something - even though corporations are well known for crossing their fingers when claiming to do anything on a basis other than profit. The other government-funded corporation explicitly declined such a pledge. And the other two companies are going entirely free market. What will the vaccine cost the individual and who will get it? Well, as we know, the dense and the bought believe these things are matters to be settled between individuals and their pharmaceutical companies.
The call for an alternative to replace capitalism has generally, and understandably, focused on the inability of a system based on profit to treat everyone fairly. But there is, in a sense, an even deeper argument - competence. There is simply no reason to believe that reliance on the search for corporate profit represents anything like a sensible strategy for dealing with problems affecting the entire globe.
The pandemic has already been a teachable moment, that has already stretched to a teachable semester, for millions around our globe. Whether the dense and the bought of the world's capitals will learn much of anything remains to be seen.