Workers’ rights in the United States are exceptionally limited, while the coronavirus pandemic is exceptionally widespread. This is not a coincidence, writes EricLevitz
There’s the beef. Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP/Shutterstock Workers’ rights in the United States are exceptionally limited, while the coronavirus pandemic is exceptionally widespread. This is not a coincidence.
This discrepancy is partially explained by the extraordinary scale of America’s meatpacking plants. In Germany , meat production is far less concentrated into megafacilities that pack thousands of workers within their confines. As a result, COVID-19 outbreaks in any one European plant will typically produce far fewer infections than one at a U.S. behemoth.
The hyperexploitation of American meatpacking workers does arguably produce some benefit for U.S. consumers — our meat prices are lower than those in most developed countries. But giant meat producers and their shareholders are the primary beneficiaries of their plants’ execrable efficiency; meat-packers have been posting record profits.
A virus with a low k value needs a bit of luck to get off the ground. If such a bug gets itself into the right human — say, one who’s too committed to choir practice to let a cold keep them home — it can gain a foothold in a community. If it infects a bunch of lonely homebodies, meanwhile, it will die out before making its presence felt .
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