Above photo: A soldier examines a blood sample during a clinical infectious diseases course at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, September 10, 2015. US Marine Corps/Cpl. Steven Fox.
And what doesn’t.
Up until recently I dismissed the hypothesis that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab as a crackpot conspiracy theory meant to increase anti- China sentiment in the US. Then two friends gave me very well researched articles making the case that the Lab Theory, as I will call it, was credible and should not be dismissed.
There is as yet no proof for either the Lab Theory hypothesis, or for the From Nature hypothesis. Still, the issue will rage in the mainstream media. If we don’t address it properly, we will look ignorant, and we will be dismissed.
Here are the key points to make in discussing it:
1. Even if the virus did escape from a Wuhan lab, it was not done on purpose. No credible sources believe it was an act of bio-terrorism.
2. If lab studies of biological pathogens are this dangerous – and be clear that these lab experiments (and accidents!) have happened in the United States many times – they should be either banned, or highly regulated by independent international organizations and treaties.
3. The cause of the death and destruction from COVID-19 is the neoliberal inhibition and destruction of sound public health policies and infrastructure in the United States and around the world. If the Lab Theory is true, it cannot be said that China caused the death and destruction resulting from COVID-19. Many countries, including China, successfully contained the virus and had limited to no damage to their populations or economies as a result. Their methods were public and available to all countries of the world.
4. The narrative that blames China for the COVID-19 pandemic is part of the heightening US propaganda war to build support for an aggressive foreign policy directed against China. Information on this imperialist aggression can be found on the Code Pink website. This aggressive policy tremendously increases the danger of nuclear war, and possible extinction of human civilization.