Coronary virus leads to a global humanitarian crisis.There are countless people infected every day, and countless lives die.This is a process that is not long from health to dying.If life is the foundation of human society, the significance of human wisdom lies in saving life.It is not difficult to understand that since the outbreak of the crown disease, people have launched a new round of political system controversy, that is, which political system can save life and reflect the value of life.
Economists who have been holding up the banner of liberalism. On February 18, 2020, a more fatal article entitled an epidemic entitled like crown diseases in a non -democratic country.Under any specific income level, the perineal dying rate of democratic countries seems to be lower than that of non -democratic countries.The article said that the main reason is that the autocratic regime is not suitable for handling the free flow of information, and affairs that need to disclose a public dialogue between citizens and rulers.
When the economist published this article, the western epidemic was not as severe as later.If today, economists may consider whether they can publish such articles, because it is difficult to have evidence to support such a grand assertion.Crown diseases are rampant, there is no recognition of the country, and there is no recognition of the political system.
People do not make a comparison between democracy and non -democratic countries, such as comparison between China and the United States, and this assertion cannot explain the western epidemic.Western democratic countries have always been regarded as a model of freedom of speech and free information, and have the world's most developed economy, advanced medical and public health systems.How can this explain such a severe life crisis facing the West?
Coronation exposes the problem of western countries
When crown disease began to be popular in the United States, President Trump claimed that the United States was safe because the United States was the richest economy in the world and had the most powerful medical system and one of the best medical technologies.The people in the United States did not feel this safety, because at this time, the masks, hand washing, protective clothing and ventilator could bring safely to the people.In the absence of these medical supplies, the most powerful economy is also difficult to provide safety for the people.
Insufficient medical supplies are obvious.On April 3rd, Governor of New York State Governor, at the daily epidemic report meeting, showed the public the current medical protective supplies in New York State, calling on the manufacturer of New York State to transfer production to accelerate production, and promised to provide the economy for the transfer of production companies to provide economy.help.At the meeting, Komo picked up a N95 mask and said: What makes me difficult to believe is that in New York State, in the United States of America, we can't even make these materials. We must buy these materials from China.Chinese materials, these are not complicated materials!
Insufficient hospital beds, insufficient artificial respirators, lack of necessary protective equipment for front -line medical personnel, and people at the bottom cannot afford high medical expenses. These are American issues exposed by the crown disease.
Compared with other democratic countries, the United States has lower doctors, bed beds to population ratio.A survey report released by Kaiser Family Foundation released by the US health policy show that the United States has only 2.6 doctors per 1,000 population per 1,000, lower than 4 Italy and 3.9 Spain.Part of the comparison countries, but nearly half of the manpower is not a clinical medical staff.
In terms of bed to the population ratio, there are only 2.8 beds per 10,000 people in the United States. Although this number is similar to Canada and Britain, it is lower than the 3.2 and 12 of Italy and South Korea.
The greater problem facing the United States is the serious deficiency of medical equipment and equipment.Before the outbreak, about half of the global masks came from China. After the epidemic occurred, the demand for domestic masks in China has increased greatly, and many countries in the world have accumulated necessary medical supplies. In addition, the United States has not prepared for great popularity beforehand.The lack of equipment.
High medical expenses are even more fatal.The Caesars Family Foundation reviewed the cost of diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia and related complications in 2018. It is estimated that without complications, the treatment of crown diseases must cost about $ 9,700 (about S $ 13,500);, Treatment costs may be as high as $ 20,000.This amount is difficult to afford to those American people who do not have medical insurance. Therefore, even if they are suspected of infection, they may be worried that they will not pay for money. They choose not to receive screening treatment, or they will seek medical treatment seriously.
This situation may not only increase the risk of the general public, but also increase the number of patients with crown diseases, which will cause the hospital to bear the heavy burden.According to a survey of the US Census, the United States reached 27.5 million in 2018 without medical insurance, which was 8.5%of the total population.
However, not all democratic countries are like the United States.For example, the situation in Germany is completely different.In the early days of the epidemic, Germany also had severe conditions. The shortage of medical supplies also intercepted medical supplies that should have been transported to other countries.But Germany quickly reversed the situation.The crown disease in Germany is only 2%, which is far below 13%of Italy and 10%of Spain.There are many factors in it.Rosman, a virus professor at the University of Kette, believes that a key to the low mortality rate in Germany is early diagnosis, because this can prevent the disease from spreading.Germany can conduct up to 100,000 virus tests every day.
A sufficient bed is another key factor.The per capita hospital bed ratio of Germany is one of the highest countries in the world, ranking fourth among 40 countries in the OECD (OECD).There are 8 beds per 10,000 people in Germany, and Italy is 3.2.The number of hospitals in Germany is the number one in Europe, about 1900.At the same time, there are about 28,000 beds in the intensive care unit in Germany.
Economy and Society's Decadence
Why is the situation of the United States and Germany that is also so different?People have explored different anti -epidemic performance from various angles, including different anti -epidemic methods, different leadership skills, different governance systems and their ability.But all these interpretations ignore a structural element, that is, the dehydration of economy and society caused by globalization.
In any country, the economy is an organic component of society. The two are embedded in each other, that is, the economy is embedded in society, and society is also embedded in the economy.Once the economy and society are detached, or decoupled, it will endanger the existence of society and cause a crisis of life.
The economy was originally the internal part of society, but from modern capitalism to the globalization since the 1980s, Western society has gone through two major economic and social dewing movements.After the rise of modern capitalism, the economy is regarded as an independent field, with its own laws, and society and the government do not need to intervene.This is the first wave, the economic and social dehydration within a country.Since the 1980s, the second wave of dehydration has been experienced. Due to globalization, this wave of dewood has occurred at the international level. Capital has flowed globally, and countries have lost economic sovereignty.This wave of globalization is also called super globalization.
Karl Polanyi described the first wave of dehydration in a large transformation.Two changes occurred at the end of the 18th and in the first half of the 19th century, and the first change occurred in the economic field.The rapid expansion of the industrial system has changed the relationship between business and industry.Production involves large -scale capital investment, manufacturers are unwilling to control the investment or output channels by the government.The second change related to this change is the rise of economic liberalism.As a set of ideological system, economic liberalism believes that the market has self -regulating ability, and on this basis, it provides a series of new public policies to provide defense and promote market regulation between land, labor and capital.This is the origin of Britain's free economics.
According to Polandi, at the beginning of this kind of free letting economic philosophy, it was only a preference for non -bureaucracy.Adjusting marketaccomplish.Adam Middot; Smith defended the free market with an invisible hand, but when he arrived at Thomas Malthus, he accepted poverty and was part of the natural order.
The survival of Social Darwinism has also had a huge impact on economic liberalism.In the final analysis, after being dismissed with the society, the economy has become an autonomous natural order; because the natural order is inseparable, society must only obey this natural order.Undoubtedly, this view still has a lot of faith today, whether in the field of practice or in the theoretical field.In the field of practice, many people in the United States advocate that saving the economy is more important than saving people. In the theoretical field, so -called neo -liberal economics after the 1980s pushed the free market to unprecedented height.
Economic liberalism has indeed promoted economic development, but society paid a huge price on this.This is a stage of being called primitive capitalism and becoming a slave to capital.The misery of society was fully described and analyzed in the works of Marx, Hugo, and Dickens.This is also a turbulent age.The unmanned nature of capitalism has led to the rise of the European socialist movement.
The socialist movement promotes the transformation from primitive capitalism to welfare capitalism, and ultimately causes social democracy or democratic socialism that people see in Europe today.Obviously, this transformation is not the product of economic and capital development, but the product of social struggle.The welfare society has taken care of the interests of capital and the interests of the society. The government provides medical, education and public housing services to the society through tax policy.
The advantages and disadvantages brought by globalization
Socialism is born in Europe, and Europe, especially Nordic countries, has also become the base of social democracy.Germany is the most typical and basically achieves the balance between society and the economy. The German economy is also known as the social market system.As a capitalist base, the United States is the strongest to resist the welfare society among all democratic countries.During the president of Obama, he wanted to carry out some reforms with European socialism (such as medical insurance reforms on the bottom of society), but Trump was abolished as soon as it came to power.
Although the United States also has a voices of learning from European democratic socialism, in fact, there is also a need for democratic socialism, the United States is still a capital -led society, and the entire system operates around the interests of capital.This can explain the huge differences between Germany and the United States discussed earlier in this article.
It should be said that the western welfare society has not realized the embedding of economic and society, but solves the problems caused by the disassembly of the two, so that the two can reach a balanced state.However, the economic globalization of decades after the 1980s has led to a greater extent.The main feature of this wave of globalization is the rapid and high flow of capital, technology and talents globally.Like the previous wave, it supports this wave of dehydration is new liberal economics.
Economy and society's global (super national level) detachment has led countries to lose economic sovereignty.Today, no country's government can declare economic sovereignty.Like the dehydration of the economy and society in the sovereign state, globalization has also greatly promoted the free allocation of production factors globally, and then created a huge amount of wealth.
The results of it?Today people are asking: What do I have in globalization?What does society get?What did the country get?The answer seems to be very clear, that is, except for the production of a very small number of rich people, the individual has not obtained anything, because income and wealth distribution are becoming more and more unfair; society has not obtained anything, because the middle class is getting smaller and smaller, the society is getting more and more society is getting more and more society.The more differentiated; the country has not obtained anything, because the country has lost employment and loses taxes.
The crown disease is the cost of life brought by the so -called international labor division of labor.Western developed economies are facing the shortage of medical supplies. This is not to say that these countries are unable to produce medical supplies, but do not produce.Under globalization, developed countries have moved many low -value production lines or industrial chains to developing countries with cheap labor and land prices.
In the peacetime period, the international market can operate normally, and everyone can benefit from the global division of labor.However, once a crisis like crown disease comes, governments of various countries have turned to internal needs, and the so -called global markets and even regional markets no longer exist.In this case, many developed countries are facing the shortage of supplies and cannot save the lives of ordinary people.
Economy and society can be detached, but society and politics cannot be removed.In a democratic society, political power comes from society.One person and one vote make politics and society deeply embedded in each other.So how can the government solve the problems brought by economic and social disassembly?In the state of globalization, the government has no economic sovereignty and no effective ways to limit the flow of capital, technology and talents globally.Some economists have put forward the idea of uniting the governments around the world, but this is just utopia, because it is clear that the government is not the protagonist of the world but the world.
The only way is to change the way globalization.When promoting global developed countries, because of globalization, they cannot save their lives in their lives, people must seriously review and torture globalization.This is why people are so enthusiastic about globalization today.No matter what policy results this controversy is guided, it is certain that as long as the economy and society of a country continue to be dismissed, a large -scale life crisis will occur.
(The author is a professor at the East Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore)
The article only represents personal point of view
