(2020-05-20). Economic ruin, pandemic pose question: Capitalism or Socialism? workers.org 
This is a slightly edited and expanded version of a talk given during the "What Road To Socialism?" webinar held by Workers World Party on May 16. May 17 — According to the Department of Labor, the official unemployment rate is now almost 15 percent. A staggering 37 million workers . . . |
(2020-05-20). Inglorious Bastardry: Hacking for Vaccines. counterpunch.org If you cannot discover or create something, best steal it. It has been the operating principle for everything from wealth to technology. With the efforts to discover a vaccine to the novel coronavirus being all but bound by solidarity, the race on plundering secrets has already begun in earnest. No one party can claim particular
(2020-05-19). Socialist lessons learned: The political shifts brought by the coronavirus. peoplesworld.org 
Rev. Dr. William Barber of the New Poor People's Campaign has been preaching: "This virus is teaching us that from now on, living wages, guaranteed health care for all, unemployment and labor rights are not far-left issues but issues of right vs. wrong and life vs. death." Expanding on those truths, here are some more …
(2020-05-19). 5 Things the Government Must Do Now to Avoid Collapse And/Or Revolution. counterpunch.org The COVID-19 medical and economic crisis remains mostly unaddressed by both the Republican and Democratic parties. They have only passed one piece of legislation that significantly helps workers: supplementing existing state unemployment benefits by $600 per week. Those additional payments expire in four months. Until then many people who are out of work will receive
(2020-05-19). Coordination essential to beat coronavirus, keep development goals on track. news.un.org As the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis continues to wreak havoc across the world — with the most vulnerable suffering the most — the UN chief said on Tuesday that the task of eradicating poverty and achieving the development goals "has never been more challenging, more urgent and more necessary".
(2020-05-19). Poverty Forces Chileans to Cook in 'the Common Pot'. globalresearch.ca Capitalism is a system to accumulate capital. People are only a commodity in this system. The Coronavirus crisis has enabled the capitalists to pay less for the healthy laborers to make more profit. The rest are left to their own …
(2020-05-19). What Are the Roots of Global Inequality? thenation.com What Are the Roots of Global Inequality?
(2020-05-19). With Wide-Ranging Support, Jayapal Introduces Paycheck Recovery Act to Keep Workers in Their Jobs, Stop Mass Unemployment, and Deliver Direct Relief to Businesses of All Sizes. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-05-17). [Commentary] The imperative for universal healthcare to curtail the COVID-19 outbreak in the USA. thelancet.com The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States is growing steeply and spreading widely. As of March 26, national incidence surpassed every other country, and as of April 28 has reported over a million cases. The COVID-19 crisis is exposing the systemic frailties in our healthcare system. More than 78 million people in America do not have access to adequate health insurance [1]. Given that health insurance in the US is typically provided by employers, millions more are at risk of losing their healthcare coverage as unemployment surges.
(2020-05-16). Wisconsin FRSO condemns state Supreme Court ruling that ends 'safer-at-home'. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – Ryan Hamann, a Wisconsin Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) leader stated, "The Wisconsin Supreme Court – meeting virtually, I might add – voted 4-3 to strike down the 'safer-at-home' order. While this is disappointing, it is not a surprise. The judicial system, much like the government, is intricately tied to the wealthy business owners and their anti-people agenda. What it proves is that the ruling class in this state is willing to sacrifice the lives of the working class just to maintain a higher rate of profit." | Hamann continued, "Governor Evers' order itself was fairl…
(2020-05-16). Starve The Beast, Feed The Light. thelastamericanvagabond.com It is often echoed by the marginalized masses that "the system doesn't work for the people" and "it only works for the elite that own it." Regardless of ideology, it's pretty hard to deny this claim when wealth inequality and power concentration are rampant all over society with plenty of hard data to back it …
(2020-05-15). Study: Coronavirus Has Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires. mintpressnews.com A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes.
(2020-05-15). Millions of migrants across Russia, Central Asia, 'teetering on the brink', as UN launches urgent appeal. news.un.org The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched an urgent $7 million appeal on Thursday, to ease the impact of COVID-19 on migrant communities in five Central Asian countries and the Russian Federation, where the pandemic is pushing a growing number of migrant workers into poverty.
(2020-05-15). Almost 3 million more applied for Unemployment Insurance last week. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Thursday, May 14, the Labor Department reported more bad news, saying that almost 3 million people applied for unemployment insurance in the previous week ending May 9. This means that over the last eight weeks more than 36 million people applied after losing jobs and income. Another 3.5 million are collecting the federal government's Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, which goes to the self-employed. This brings the total number of recently unemployed people to about 40 million. | This report was worse than mainstream economists expected, with a drop of only 200,000 from the week before,…
(2020-05-14). Workers and COVID-19: Access to healthcare, now 'a matter of life and death'. news.un.org The spread of COVID-19 in developing countries has exposed gaps in social protection coverage which could compromise recovery plans, expose millions of people to poverty and affect global readiness to cope with similar crises, according to two policy briefs issued Thursday by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
(2020-05-14). ideas that are lying around … peoplesparty.org
(2020-05-13). US Jobless Rate Broke Depression-Era Record—but Most Media Missed It. fair.org 
The New York Times (5/9/20) featured a chart of job losses that stretched all the way down the front page. | The Bureau of Labor Statistics' eagerly awaited Friday morning Official Unemployment Rate report for April—what editors generally call the BLS's "headline" rate of unemployment —was definitely headline-worthy. This was especially evident in the next day's New York Times (5/9/20), which ran a bar chart of historic unemployment going back to 1946 across the top of the front page, and then a long red bar down the right-hand column of the entire page showing job losses for April. | It was a drama…
(2020-05-13). Trump Budget Winners and Losers. zcomm.org Thanks to this tax cut—the rich get richer: 72 percent of the tax cuts were directed to the wealthiest 20 percent of households…
(2020-05-12). [Research Paper] Mapping of variations in child stunting, wasting and underweight within the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2000—2017. thelancet.com CGF indicators have improved in India, but there are substantial variations between the districts in their magnitude and rate of decline, and the inequality between districts has increased in a large proportion of the states. The poor correlation between the national surveys for CGF estimates highlights the need to standardise collection of anthropometric data in India. The district-level trends in this report provide a useful reference for targeting the efforts under NNM to reduce CGF across India and meet the Indian and global targets.
(2020-05-12). The Censorship of Inequality in the Covid-19 Era: How Corporate and Market-Based Metrics Rule the News, and Why it Matters. projectcensored.org By Anthony DiMaggio The old adage that "the more things change the more they stay the same" seems particularly appropriate to media coverage in the Covid-19 crisis. Old patterns of media…
(2020-05-10). New York pandemic spending favors wealthy over workers. liberationnews.org 
New York politicians have recently barreled forward with plans for massive cuts to public spending.
(2020-05-14). Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Global Mental Health Crisis as Millions Feel Alone, Anxious & Depressed. democracynow.org 
Is the coronavirus pandemic generating a mental illness crisis? Millions face isolation, poverty and anxiety. We speak with psychology professor and author Andrew Solomon, as the United Nations calls on governments to put mental health "front and center" in their response to the crisis.
(2020-05-14). Headlines for May 14, 2020. democracynow.org World Health Organization Says Novel Coronavirus "May Never Go Away", Whistleblower Warns U.S. Faces "Darkest Winter" Without Urgent Action on COVID-19, Trump Calls Dr. Anthony Fauci's Warning on COVID-19 and Schools "Not an Acceptable Answer", Wisconsin Stay-at-Home Orders Struck Down, Threatening New Wave of COVID-19 Deaths, Fed Reserve Chair Warns of Long Recession as Unemployment Claims Hit 36 Million, Trump Calls Democrats' Coronavirus Relief Bill "Dead on Arrival", Native Americans Make Up Half of New Mexico Coronavirus Deaths; New Orleans Sanitation Workers Strike, China to Test 11 Million Wuhan Residents…
(2020-05-20). SRO tenants losing hope in san francisco as landlords go AWOL. indybay.org The close relationship between nonprofit and for-profit SRO landlords, real estate moguls, and the politicians who benefit from their campaign donations, is dangerous to anyone who needs shelter in this city and isn't a wealthy techie.
(2020-05-20). Halting Bigotry in Its Tracks: History of Prejudice & Racism Against Asians (webinar). indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-05-20). Wave of layoffs in the US election campaign. indybay.org The corona pandemic triggered the most massive job losses in the USA since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Unemployment rose to its highest level in more than 70 years. | In April alone, 20.5 million jobs outside agriculture were cut, according to the government administration.
(2020-05-20). India's unemployment rate remains high despite lifting of lockdown measures. rt.com 
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said the unemployment rate in the country was 24 percent for the week ending May 17, remaining unchanged from the previous week's figure. | According to its report, however, the labor participation rate rose to 38.8 percent as industries started opening up gradually after the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. | "Halfway into the month of May, it appears that the unemployment rate is around the same level as it was in April, mostly higher by a whisker," CMIE said, adding that the small relaxations in the lockdown since April 20 have not had any positive impact…
(2020-05-19). Fearing the baying mobs? Jamie Dimon roasted for belated show of caring about inequality. rt.com 
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has called for "rebuilding a more inclusive economy" in a letter to shareholders. The internet isn't buying the plutocrat's change of heart, however, reasoning he's more concerned about populist rage. | Dimon used his company's latest shareholder
(2020-05-18). The Heat: China's War on Poverty. america.cgtn.com 
China's war on poverty. Personal stories, extraordinary access and how China is eradicating poverty.
(2020-05-12). The Heat: Countries face economic fallout from COVID-19. america.cgtn.com 
In the United States the latest government figures show 20.5 million people lost their jobs in April, raising the unemployment rate to 14.7%. Both are post-World War II records. The European Union is now forecasting the worst economic outlook since the Great Depression. While …
(2020-05-08). Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America's Billionaires Thrive and Prosper. zcomm.org Although most Americans currently face hard times, with unemployment surging to the levels of the Great Depression and enormous numbers of people sick or dying from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's super-rich remain a notable exception. Financially, they are doing remarkably well. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March 18 and April 28,
(2020-05-05). The Heat: COVID19-U.S. Economy & Mexico battles coronavirus. america.cgtn.com 
Unemployment claims move past 30 million in the United States as its economy shrinks and Mexico battles the coronavirus pandemic.
(2020-04-30). U.S. Organizations React to Global Military Spending Report. peaceaction.org Joint Statement: U.S. organizations react to global military spending report April 27, 2020 Our diverse group of 39 think-tanks, non-profits, faith-based organizations, and advocacy groups based in the United States find the exorbitant amount of money spent on militaries worldwide to be an irresponsible and harmful use of global wealth. The Global Military Expenditures Report …
(2020-04-24). The Heat: Economic impact of COVID-19 in the U.S. america.cgtn.com 
More than 26 million Americans have now filed for unemployment, the highest number since the Great Depression.