Surplus vaccine doses

The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear global inequality of our time, as only two percent of people who live in the African continent has been fully vaccinated.

According to Airinfinity Ltd, a science information company headquartered in London, western developed countries could have 1.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of this year. As a matter of fact, surplus COVID-19 vaccine shots in US, UK, EU and Japan will not be shipped to poorer countries.

As said by the WTO spokeperson, Keith Rockwell, if we were to delocalise part of vaccine production in developing countries, more shots would go into arms in Africa and Andean countries. Not mention of Israeli data which shows vaccinated people are becoming ill with COVID-19, but that's another story. 

Neha

 

This week an Afghan eight-year-old girl, Neha, was very happy after she had landed at Melsbroek airport in Belgium. "I never want to return to Afghanistan", she said.

A picture of the Afghan girl jumping at the Belgian airport then went around the world. Her happiness symbolizes the hope and relief of many people who fled the taliban regime in Afghanistan 🇦🇫

Sharia law in Afghanistan

As soon as the US and other Westerners pullout from the Afghan territory, Taliban leaders will be able to impose the Sharia law in Afghanistan. This means that religion will be mixed with government, as we have already seen in Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

The two islamic countries just above mentioned, which are respectively a theocratic monarchy and an islamic republic, often give conflicting interpretations of the Sharia law.  For istance, there are differences with regard to dispute settlements, legal matters, punishment, and marital disputes. In this context, Taliban leaders are going to establish Sharia regime in Afghanistan.  

On the contrary, everything including religion must evolve with time. That's the reason why religion law may not have a place in modern societies governed by constitutional systems.

Taliban advance as the US withdraws

On August 15th, Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital virtually unopposed. This indicated the end of a Western political experiment which lasted two decades. In this context, it seems not easy to understand the reason why the US and the EU have been ignoring Taliban's cruelty toward Afghan people. 

Actually, the main objective of the world superpower is always the same: control over oil and gas resources which are located in central Asia (mainly Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan). Taliban and the US are now allies in that corner of the world where there is still a Russian (and maybe Chinese) influence.  

Ideology of racism

An interesting article written by Hamid Dabashi, an Iranian professor at Columbia University in New York, defines the ideological conviction of the social construction of races. The author says there are powerful interests vested in sustaining the bloody history of racism in Western countries. This means that the ideology of racism is an useful tool for those in power to divide people to rule them better.

In this context, the richest 1% of people use racial categories, such as black, red or yellow, to conceal the real battleground, which is the clash between the upper class and the middle class. A poor person branded as "white" has nothing in common with a rich manipulator of such racist ideologies.

Low-taxes havens

As it is known, after many governments around the world had declared a state of emergency, citizens were encouraged to stay at home. As a consequence, since March 2020 an increasing number of people have been buying what they need online. And it seems unavoidable that many stores will permanently shut down. Unfortunately, the more big tech companies sell their products and services online, the more retailers shut down their businesses. The picture below shows an old shop whose owner had been selling olive oil and wine for decades. Since early march 2020 it has been shut down. 

The main problem is that big tech companies, such as Amazon and Google, shift their profits to low-taxes havens. And countries where revenues are earned haven't been allowed to tax big tech multinationals. That's why big tech companies can be very competitive and so able to destroy retailers around the world. In other words, they're destroying the middle class slowly and gradually.

In this perspective, two days ago in Venice, finance chiefs of the G20 large economies have just endorsed the first step of a plan to stop multinationals shifting profits to low-taxes havens. The deal would establish a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15%, as big tech companies would be taxed on where they sell products and services, rather than on the location of their headquarters.  

Fourth wave or false information

Since late June there has been a great deal of talk about a fourth wave of coronavirus. Many countries, such as France, Italy, and Ireland are likey to have a fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus, as the new variant begins to take hold. It seems that the rapidly transmissible strains were first identified in India, where government imposed restrictions.

Unfortunately, these bad news have a big impact on people's mental health, not to mention of false information, which are important in manipulating public opinion and creating an atmophere of uncertainty.

Menanwhile, many people in the EU would like to enjoy beaches, coffees, and restaurants, although governments have painted a bleak picture of the Summer ahead.