How capitalism worsened the 1918 ‘Spanish flu’

Mark F ★ Jan 19, 2021

Pandemics are not historical accidents and the ones that began in 1918 and 2020 are no exceptions. The influenza virus of 1918 was not created by humans, but by an imperialist war, poor living conditions for the working class across the globe, and a lack of will to fight the pandemic, which greatly amplified both the spread and lethality of the virus. These three factors were all products of the system the pandemic occurred within, that of capitalism. And while capitalism did not create the virus, it can be said to have created the epidemic, both in 1918 and in 2020.