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As we’re all up late refreshing Georgia runoff results, spare me a few moments to talk about West Virginia, the first state to successfully vaccinate its nursing home population. 1/
As the rudderless federal government fell 87% short of its stated goal for vaccinations by the end of 2020, WV is currently posting the highest per capita vaccination rate among U.S. states. WV’s rollout varies from its larger & richer neighbors in one crucial respect. 2/
For distribution, WV relied not on chain pharmacies like Walgreens & CVS, but instead on a group of 50+ small businesses. It would appear that those with roots in the community are better able to spontaneously build the infrastructure for this vital public health initiative. 3/
This has been largely ignored by our primary news gatherers, all of whom are embedded in massive media conglomerates. West Virginia’s success flys in the face of economic orthodoxy which such conglomerates hold as gospel, namely that “if you’re not growing, you’re dying.” 4/
But economies of scale are only intrinsically desirable if the sole measure by which they are evaluated is the creation of shareholder value. The pandemic should be teaching us that judging businesses purely on these terms is short-sighted to the point of being suicidal. 5/
If we don’t think in terms of community reinvestment, employee living standards, carbon footprints, & other factors that create robustness & resiliency for all, parasitical corporations that have colonized US will eventually collapse under their own gluttonous leeching. 6/
This pandemic has been just a preview of the wasteland which continuous privatization of public goods & deregulation of multinational corporations will eventually leave to our children. END
