How the libertarian right plans to profit from the pandemic | Quinn Slobodian
Disaster capitalists dream of disassembling nation states for post-viral exploitation
When coronavirus crept across the world in early February, talk of how different nations were dealing with the virus came to resemble the Olympics for state capacity. Which country had the authority, the supplies and the expertise to crush the curve"? A balance sheet of national progress marked out a bleak race to the horizon, enumerated in case numbers and death figures.
Although the focus over recent months has remained on leaders in crisis mode and the central agencies delivering forecasts and quarantine measures, local authorities have also played a prominent role during the pandemic. Chinese mayors, US governors and Indian chief ministers have coordinated local responses, taking responsibility for populations and even locking horns with national politicians.
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