Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The systemic nature of swine flu

by Takis Fotopoulos from Inclusive Democracy website. The author looks at the recent swine flu phenomenon in the context of globalized capitalism.
Factory animal farming...has delivered enormous growth in global meat production over the last three decades, with consumers persuaded to buy its cheap products with the same ease as they were getting the freely-offered loans of the financial boom, without asking any questions on how such consumption could be sustained or what the eventual consequences might be. It is, therefore, not surprising at all that the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico is linked to industrialised farming methods designed to provide cheap food for consumers.