Country. There remains a compelling case. There remains a compelling case for regional tears in england. And indeed mr. Speaker, a compelling. The 70 a proposal for nearly one trillion dollars, no additional Coronavirus Relief is being rushed through the u. S. Congress. The aid package has support from democrats and republicans and includes around 17000000000. 00 in support for airlines. Irans parliament has passed a draft motion to hold under strict access by the International AtomicEnergy Agency to its Nuclear Sites. The proposed changes could allow iran to resume uranium enrichment at levels of 20 percent. The United Nations has appealed see ethiopian authorities for access to thousands of eritrean refugees to grow a region. Prime minister claimed victory over the Peoples Liberation front on saturday. But that sepia left leader is warning that the conflicts between his forces and the National Army is not over. A whistleblower in china has leaked documents which show Health Officials misled the public for months of a high series. The coronavirus was recordings of all seen by c. N. N. And verified by 6 experts that reported number of cases was lower than what was contained in those leaked documents. And cuba is pushing ahead with a range of monetary reforms as its economy suffers from a combination of u. S. Sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. The cuban peso will be devalued for the 1st time in more than 60 years. The country is used to versions of the peso since 1904 Authorities Say the 2. Will know the marriage. Well, thats up to date, stay with us on out is iraq all hell . The locked in is up. Next. Afghanistan is on the cusp of a new chapter in its history. After the us on the telephone signed an agreement to pave the way for the withdrawal of international troops. The high cost was paid to get to this point though. Over the past few years, the u. S. Has increasingly conducted its part of the war from the sky, with more bombs dropped last year than any other year in the past decade. But with that, came a rise in civilian casualties. This is all accidents to happen at mistakes do happen, and that this is about owning our mistakes. This is about things go right in this about accountability in a largely unaccountable war. For families, we interviewed not receiving adult humans from the u. S. Left without closure. They told us that they so like what happened to their loved ones was a crime and they want justice and answers. Something war too often denied. The World Economy is headed for a recession. China wont be there to say that this time. Northern irelands Health Service at breaking point south korea set for one of the worst growth periods. In half a century. The richest person in the world just gave 98. 00 and a half 1000000. 00 to help the us. Why am i reading these headlines to you . Well, its to prove a point. These could all be easily been post pandemic 2020. Headlights. In reality though, they were all published in november 29th a month before, could 19th and even be heard. Because well, before the coronavirus pandemic here, much of the world was already deep in a crisis of capitalism. And now with millions out of work, entire industries are stagnant and the Health Care System scrambling for a back seat. The question is, did capitalism turn the covert emergency into a disaster . Capitalism. Its an ideology, an economic system, a political statement. But how does the system based on private ownership in the pursuit of profit, serve the world in a time of crisis . When the situation demands, we act not the individual gain but collective benefit. Stay at home and protect lives there said the test test test without preventive measures, that could be a spiking. All these cancellations are a way to flatten the curve. Covered 19 hasnt been like any other crisis. Job losses, health care struggle. A critical need for relief from the state of all struck segments of society that normally dont face these kinds of grave economic stresses. In short, all of a sudden, through this pandemic, this once in a century type of crisis, its become evident to many that precode times were also a crisis of sorts. As entire countries, when i dont doubt any of this year, i spoke with a group of people whose work has been all about dissecting at analyzing capitalism. When people say they want to go back to normal, you can blame is that sounds pretty good to me right now. You know about i can think about is it not . A lot of the people want to talk to us so i can get pretty well about that. Didnt mean all the people in we meant no music, no parents, kids got to meet with housing counselors. You need one of the richest history and yet the money youve got in my opinion, capitalism is the pandemic. That is the root cause of so much of the suffering were experiencing now. I mean, do i want things to go back to normal . I want to be able to go to work cafe. I want to be able to see my friends. I dont want things to go back to the normal that weve been living with the last 20 years. Wealth concentration, exploitation of working people. Thats the paradigm. Thats the contact with her, the stage for our current calamity. This virus has intensified a spotlight on health care, what it costs, who gets access and its ability to respond in a crisis. One system that runs shockingly counted to the needs of so many its supposed to serve, is the one in the United States. American health care is largely privatized and lax pricing regulation, both key traits of a capitalist system. This means not only is every element of the Health Care System from hospitals to drug manufacturers, owned and operated by the private sector. But those businesses of freedom charge whatever they like. This makes staying healthy in the United States, a scarily expensive proposition. This is a small percentage of the population, about 80 percent that does get some state support for medical costs, but for the vast majority, private Health Insurance is the only recourse they charge. Notoriously expensive premiums, making them unaffordable for many and filled with loopholes and gaps that mean, even insured americans can be left with hefty medical bills to pay. Thats why. Before the pandemic, it was estimated that 87000000 americans were uninsured, or underinsured, and medical bills were a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. You know, in the United States, people cant Access Health care because they cant afford Health Insurance. They havent thirds, they are buried in debt after the fact. What happens with them, like the coronavirus hits, a population that is indebted in devastating population that has no savings, right . 40 percent of americans before the crisis were reported to not be able to handle a 400. 00 emergency. Americas Health Care Crisis has intensified during the pandemic. A tidal wave of layoffs have meant that as many as 27000000. 00 americans have lost employer provided Health Insurance. And without that cover a hospital stay to treat code that could cost as much as 73000. 00. This is despite a government plan announced in march to cover some coded related medical bills. The lack of coordination and the need for medical supplies to keep turning prophet has led hospitals. And so if a crucial supplies, like mosques, tests, and medical equipment, doctors and nurses warning that critical protective gear is running low. This is a hospital where the Health Care Workers have taken to wearing garbage, that this was like being on e bay with 50 other states bidding on a ventilator. The hospitals are run for profit, and so they dont have adequate staff, right . Because that would feed into revenue, they dont want to have extra medical supply, just languishing not being used. So what were going to see is a lot of people who are going to perish and not because of the virus per se, but because of the lack of access to Adequate Health care, the lack of access to practice. Here were going to see people who dont seek treatment because theyre afraid of not being able to pay for it. Its already been reported by emergency room doctors that you know, people, the last, their last words are literally but whos going to pay for coronaviruses. I knew them existed in Human Society 6 days and they cause a range of different illnesses from the common cold to make a variety, such as the outbreak of sars in 2002 and mers in 2012. In 2015, the World Health Organization even listed coronaviruses as being among the top possible causes of a major epidemic. So how is it that pharmaceutical companies have been caught . So off guard by this virus in may, this year, brussels based research into the corporate, your buds of the tree, published a detailed investigation into the effectiveness of the innovation medicines initiative. I am mine. Its the worlds biggest public, private partnership in life sciences. And it directs billions of dollars worth of funds to buy medical research of the worlds biggest pharma companies. What the investigation uncovered was that not only did firms in 2017 turned down an e. U. Proposal to work on vaccines for pathogens like coronavirus. But 2600000000 euro of, i am eyes funds were transferred into projects that represented much more commercially profitable avenues for the pharmaceutical industry. This investigation reinforced a point that big pharma insiders and whistleblowers have been making for a while. That serious matters, like pandemic preparedness, being held hostage by commercial considerations on march 5th, as coronavirus cases spread across the u. S. A congressional hearing is taking place. We also took on a decade ago the interesting problem of making Coronavirus Vaccines because we recognize these as enormous Public Health threats. And yet we have not seen the big pharma guys and the biotechs rushing in into the space of dr. Peter hotez, one of americas leading vaccine scientists said that a vaccine his team and created 4 years ago in response to the sars outbreak may have been able to provide patients with a cross protection from the virus at the heart of this pain dimmick. But it simply hadnt been commissioned, entice enough for Drug Companies to invest in. The bottom line is, had we had those investments early on to carry this all the way through clinical trials. Years ago, we could have had a vaccine ready to go, you know, one of the big problems of capitalism, the capitalist drug investment. So capitalists say, you know, its really important by agra because thats a huge market. Even though the coronavirus exists once, not invest in a back scene, because that market doesnt really exist, then i also didnt really want to vaccinate the whole world in this preemptive measure. No, lets create something that we can sell now. So you know, we like capitalism. Direct investment at our clock the peril whenever a vaccine is hopefully created. The next battle, at least for patients in the United States, will be over affordability. And thats when were back to one of the fundamental pot holes of the american Health Care System. Where unlike in almost every other nation, basic pricing controls simply dont exist. And its not even as though this is a secret, and youre saying it wont for sure, be affordable for anyone who needs it. Im saying we would, we would want to ensure that we work to make good on affordable, but we cant control that price because we need the private sector to invest. That was Donald Trumps health and Human Services. Secretary alexs at a congressional hearing in february this year and interesting side before he was appointed to his rolling government. As a worked as the top lobbyist for the pharmaceutical firm, eli lilly, and company. The hunt for a Coronavirus Vaccine has now suddenly become one of the most well funded areas of biomedical research. Not only of governments and pharmaceutical giants investing in the so called super heroes of the corporate world, have all stepped into the fray. The c. E. O. Of netflix is donating 30000000. 00 toward research for a Coronavirus Vaccine. Cofounder bill gates has continued the fight against karada virus investing billions of dollars on the construction of factories working to develop a covert. 19 back saying, some of the wealthiest people on earth found isnt c. E. O. s of major corporations and making headlines for denying to covert causes through their own philanthropic organizations. But its not just about the money. Its the perception that it comes with all the trappings of the corporate world efficiency returns on investment, streamlining of operations. All of this has transformed what was once simply charitable, giving into something else. Philanthropy, capitalism, lynsey magali, has written about it extensively in a book. No such thing as a free gift. I think we have to be the headline sometimes. Mr. Gates did talk about the need for mass testing at an earlier stage, and you have to and that was a good time to take, but i really didnt crash. Whether or not there are efforts were anything more than a bandaid solution because there is no added it, that they were really having much more on the sort of really deteriorated and branch ocular approach that was underway in the u. S. More generally. I think what we are dipping into their own trousers is were all in the mix that looks to everyone that anyone could be a big you ordinary guy. And thats not the case. Theyre all your creation, not their own individual question. Everybody should when other people are sleeping, street inequality is one of the defining factors of capitalism. Its meant that the worlds top one percent now holds close to 50 percent of global books. And so when the philanthropists among them contribute to causes, its often only a muse sliver of the net worth. Jeff bezos is 100000000. 00 donation to u. S. Food banks, for example, amounted to 0. 07 percent of the system. A good Mark Zuckerberg says 25000000. 00 donation again, just 0. 05 percent of his net worth. The point of all these numbers isnt that billionaires should be giving him. Thats another discussion entirely. And the point here is that philanthropy, capitalism is too often used as a distraction from the meaningful, possibly more expensive systemic changes. Rampant Corporate Tax avoidance, the suppression of minimum wage levels, reliance on state subsidies, precarious working conditions. I mean the list of what actually needs to be addressed if long. And it can often get obscured by flashy headlines, all new segments about billionaires and their generosity. You too stepped up and youre providing 25000000. 00. We dont have the money to do that. And i just want to thank you too. This is not an act the right in. This is the product of a political strategy thats been going on for the last 4050 years, whereby capsules are slashed and private wealth accumulated. And what that private. Well, doesnt that concentrates power and that threatens the mob prosy . So we have this really negative feedback. Were where the more dysfunctional the data is, right . The left and able to provide basic services. The us is able to protect our Public Health, the more ammo there is for the corporate sector to say, hey, look, the state is inefficient. The date is incompetent. We, with all of our resources, can save the day that big philanthropic can influence is a point thats not lost on building is like bill gates. When asked in 2012, if he would ever run for president of the us. He responded, i actually think, you know, maybe im wrong, but i can have as much impact in that role as i could in any political role. My role in the foundation, i dont have to raise political campaigns. I dont have the frank elected, im not term limited to 8 years. Its a very nice office. I dont doubt that even bolton is very good and go along well in these things hes not beholden to make you dont position his money to live as you wish is. So its not going to get graphic for thats thats thats, thats not the construct. It works, and so what he does that hes not replacing in a complex world, looking for simple narratives. Benevolent billionaires are great, they have name recognition, they appear heroic, and they have got the cash. However, this pandemic has also shown a light on the other end of the economic spectrum to the key worker delivery drivers, supermarket, shelf stackers, nurses, carers, the pandemic, momentarily appended the hierarchy of labor. And yet in the u. K. , a set of proposed post breaks it, immigration controls in february, deemed many of these exact essential workers to low paid and quite low skilled to receive a visa to work in the country. Now is that hard after the systems that those who were deriving the most value from these are going to not the most essential workers. Because what is keeping our economy going right now . I dont know whether pete workers who are really, are immersed in just fansub part of the workforce and workers in the Health Care System. And seeing that got to your point though, mark you more on this war though not of the more not worth of more like there would be more. C people working social system or are not learning enough to live on because it wasnt just me and my wife whos going out there and work. And now maybe it was also the Prime Minister on downing street who caught the got the resources that were going to stock images. Theres a term thats gained renewed currency during this pandemic disaster capitalism. Canadian activist and author, namely, klein cannot the years ago in a book the shock doctrine and went viral during the 2008 great recession. It points to had disasters but recession or a pandemic, a catastrophic across the board. In a capitalist system, they can also present an opportunity for the money. And weve seen a lot of profiteering during this current pandemic already. I dont think we see the limits of that profiteering, but weve got an early sense of which doctors are starting to, for example, raise doubts when it and its not like that. Or for example, a charge for its a vicious time for usual price. Gouging is 1. 00 manifestation of disaster capitalism. And during this lockdown, its done everything from calls a temporary spike in the price of Hand Sanitizer to affect the number of ventilators available to the u. S. Government. According to a pro publica investigation in 2014, the u. S. Department of health and Human Services signed a 13800000. 00 contract with dutch electronics, glen ridge, phillips, to design and manufacture a cheap and portable ventilator for use in emergencies. Although ventilator was created and the government ordered 10000. 00 of them, not a single one, was ready at the start of the pandemic. Like many countries, the United States faced critical ventilators shortages, while phillips was selling to higher priced commercial versions of the same ventilator around the world. So they never fill this order and that she really loves the Current Health and human side of the grid, prioritize them, work and overseas. And its only been recently that the department of health and human kind of the, lets renegotiate it is thing order. But it has been course to eventually theres a higher price that the renegotiation that lindsay mentioned. It resulted in the you s. Government ordering 43000. 00 of the commercial ventilators, an april at 4 times the original price. In late august, the remainder of the order was cancelled. Only after a Congressional Committee raised questions about the expenditure, but disaster capitalism can also be less direct and more obscured from public scrutiny. Like who stands to benefit from some taxpayer funded bailouts. Take the u. S. Airline industry, which had its request for a 50000000000. 00 bailout approved by the u. S. Senate in march, while the lines were conditional on job protections. The Sticking Point for many is that over the past 5 years, the big 4 ally companies, American Delta southwestern united have not only made record profits, but collectively spent nearly the same amount. 45000000000 on stock buybacks and dividends. 2 ways in which companies can directly enrich their Corporate Executives and shareholders. So its not that these bailouts are necessary now to avoid mass unemployment. Its not a substantial part of the current financial problem is arguably of their own making. Billions of dollars were mobilized, basically in an instant to bail out corporate america. And this is incredibly ironic because these are, these corporations were, you know, in a week when it was because of their own Business Models because they had over leverage themselves. Because they had engaged in pushing money out to shareholders instead of planning for tough times. Meanwhile, regular people are held to that standard. You know, if you havent saved, then its your fault that youre suffering in this moment. So theres a, theres a double standard written into the economic response. So you have a form of khakis and it does not eat up to its billing. Because real capital ready to say, well, capitalism works when we kiss companies goes bad ideas they make. They are today, well actually has any society or not. And thats when we come out of that certainly say that the old monks were a role public and i think we can also asking questions, was it not . Is a socializer time and outside again that we need to rethink your kind you know, the efforts to rethink capitalism have been going on almost as long as capitalism itself has existed. And to be fair, its practiced in notably different ways in different parts of the world. But one of the most toxic and recurring problems is that in too many cases, the system seems designed to favor a small elite segment of the population. Its the idea we began with that way before the crisis of this coronavirus. We were already grappling with the crisis of capitalism. We hear this, this phrase, you know, that we need to save the economy or we need to keep businesses going. It makes sense. But i think we have to ask a question, which is, well, whats an economy for look at Something Like g. D. P. , gross domestic product. All that means is that theres more affluence, but it has nothing to do with distribution or has nothing to do with the quality of peoples lives. You can have been enormously high g. D. P. And have, you know, rapper rates and homelessness and unemployment. So we, we have to deconstruct this idea of the economy and put people at the center. We are living in fear on an analyst at the moment, not because theres no good values. Nations cannot repair our companies or their own publics, the victualling to prevent or it will die on a massive scale. Clearly theyre working in the past, sort of sanctuary have not been fairly sharing. I, if you are a latin term warmonger i marketplace as this and other people start the brain and arent and its not that we were so its clear that they were nearing election action. Its also clear that there are some parts and some just move mountains and she owns a pretty great things in the foundations of this advanced life. And legacy in all of this attention is being given and turned to getting as much income into a country without thinking too much about when i think we need a rethink on americans and on projects. We as a society 2020, year of not downs and social distancing. He cant reach across the screen and get someone to alleyway explores one of the global pandemics biggest side effects. The loneliness everyone who lives alone has been forced to be socially isolated for the 1st time. Ever highlighting its effects on physical and Mental Health and discovering unique ways of coping, controlling a being and then to get back at the same to have all have a lockdown on aljazeera to somebody on aljazeera. Its 10 years since a revolution in tunisia ignited the arab spring. Aljazeera looks back at the uprising and asks what really changed across the middle east. This stream is where al jazeera has global audience becomes a global community. A year after the 1st coronavirus case in china will examine the devastation caused by the virus and the efforts made to eliminate covert 90 people in power is back with more investigative documentaries and indepth stories. Climate leaders will gather online to press ahead with a new stage of the paris climate agreement and examine the possible global solutions. December on aljazeera. American people have finally for pocono america, as i see it when america is off balance or will become more dangerous. The world is looking unfair. Does little mixture of sadness and hate with the election behind us. Will the Republican Party dump truck to the feel we can take on us politics and society . Thats the bottom line. Weve never had a president who literally for 4 or 5 years repeatedly attacked our democracy. Loose relayer, it isnt. I have a narrative, i have a question. Youre getting there where youre treated and just feel sure. Even further. Join me Richelle Carey and up front is my guess from around the world. Take a hot seat and we debate the weeks top stories of pressing issues here on aljazeera pfizer becomes the latest Pharmaceutical Company to seek approval from the e. U. Regulators for the use of its Coronavirus Vaccine. This is al jazeera live from doha, also coming up. The u. S. Congress again, theyre trying to agree on a massive coronavirus bailout package. Irans Parliament Approves the draft motions a Holt International inspections of its Nuclear Sites and armenia hands over the last 3 days