Global supply chains are being destroyed by coronavirus

Global supply chains are essential to capitalism operating efficiently, but they also provided COVID-19 with the means to spread so rapidly. “If trade is the engine of a market economy, then the hothouse for economic development has been urbanization. The concentration of human population within industrial and post-industrial towns and cities has ramped up both the production of goods and services and the market for their consumption. Cities are capitalism’s machines for making money, but in epidemics and pandemics from the Great Plague to the present have also been the epicentres of contagion.” ^[1] Capitalism, post-pandemic, is destined to fail because the supply chains it is built upon are unsustainable and inadvertently function as catalysts for future viral disasters. One global supply chain that has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic is the American meat industry: “Over the past four decades, America’s meat industry has followed other industries in using just-in-time supply chain management techniques to lower the cost and increase the quantity of meat Americans consume. Animals are now bred and fed during a precise window, at which point they are supposed to be shipped off to the processor. If the plant for which they were destined has to shut down for weeks because of an epidemic, the whole system backs up… Unfortunately, our whole economic system, not just our food processors, has been reconfigured to minimize storage and redundant processing capacities.” ^[2] The vulnerabilities and shortcomings of capitalism have been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, showing us how there is no room for error, no backup plan, for when global catastrophes disrupt our extremely intricate and delicate supply chain system. In addition, countries such as the United States are now being forced to confront the fact that they rely too heavily on foreign manufacturing. The United States outsources the production of medical supplies such as ventilators, masks, and pharmaceuticals to countries such as China because doing so is less expensive. Capitalism provides incentives to cut costs at every opportunity available. However, similar to American beef industry, "many U.S. hospitals operate a 'just in time' supply chain," as well, "which replenishes most medical supplies as they are used and rarely stockpiles them." ^[3] The reason many industries refuse to stockpile products or materials is that there is a risk that they might expire and go unused, and capitalism seeks to prevent wastage as often as possible. The 'just in time' supply chain is very efficient in terms of keeping prices low, but is not efficient during times of unprecedented disaster. As transnational links continue to erode, and international travel comes to a standstill, the United States will continue to see shortages. This is an example of how capitalism is not sustainable due to its inability to prepare for international emergencies.

[P1] Global supply chains are essential for capitalism to function correctly, but also facilitate the spread of viruses such as COVID-19.