wants to do. he then took to his energy to television screens becoming a commentator and a broadcasting sensation. generations are children were introduced to the game through his namesake madden, m f l. football. one of the most successful sports video games of all time. john madden was 85 years old. ah, this is al jazeera, these, your top stories. countries across the world are struggling to deal with the omicron outbreak with some reporting, their highest infection rate. since the pandemic began. many a ramping up testing and vaccination, while several, including france have introduced restrictions. palestinian president mahmoud abbas has had his 1st formal meeting with an israeli official in israel in more than a decade. it was hosted by israeli minister of defense, bunny gant's, hurry force, it has more i think there are

a couple of things prompting this american pressure almost certainly to see progress or at least some indication of willingness to talk by the israelis with the palestinians at the same time as the prime minister natalie bennett is still rejecting the idea of the u. s. reopening, it's palestinian focused consulate in jerusalem, or also the security situation in the occupied west bank. and inside is jerusalem, as well in recent weeks has deteriorated. and so there is some imperative ver, for the 2 sides to talk a parties to that you're on nuclear talks, putting out conflicting messages about where the progress is being made. the 8th round of negotiations kicked off again on monday. the statements made a day later agreed on only one thing. movement is needed soon. hong kong police of right at the office of an independent online media outlet and arrested 6 people for

what they call conspiracy to publish a seditious publication. farms down nice has confirmed one of those. arrested was a step. you see edison ronson schon, police say they have a warrant to search and sees relevant journalistic materials. you a section of state anthony blinkin has condemned an attack by me on miles military was killed at least 35 people in kaya state on christmas eve, women, children, am to staff from a group save the children, were among the dead. indonesian officials say they will not offer refuge to a group of more than a 100 ringo and a strong boat near the country's arcade province. they say the vessel will be turned away, but they will help repair it. there's the headlines. these continues hand out a 0 on to all hail the lockdown. lazarus, the home of jesus christ, his long drawn pilgrims and visitors from around the world. hundreds of years. it's

old city, rang to the sounds of shopkeepers and crops. people. this entry though sounds of dwindled, a handful of businesses struggling on, but hearing that splashes of color show signs of a fight back. resigns obese danny decided to renovate an old warehouse and to work and live in the old city with a mission. it, me and another person opens the work that kid he was talking organically and will open by young palestinian is really, designers, and entrepreneurs have been moving in, inspired by earlier artists to let them on. once that were 450 businesses operating in the old city, now there are just 50. the old cities always be in the heart of nazareth. now a growing group of residence wants to get it beating again. it will come back because the city still have very much for the world economy is headed for recession. china won't be there to save at this time.

northern islands health service at breaking point south korea set for one of the west growth periods. in half a century. the richest person in the world just gave $98.00 and a half $1000000.00 to help on. why am i reading these headlines to you? well, it's to prove a point. these could all of these leaving post pandemic 2020 headlines. in reality they, they were all published in november 2019. a month before close at 90. had even be heard. because well, before the current of ours paid didn't get much of the world was already deep in a crisis of capitalism and now with millions out of whack, ty, industries, every stagnant and health care systems scrambling for vaccine. the question is, did capitalism turn the closing emergency into a disaster?

loo, o capitalism. it's an ideology and economic system, a political. but how the system based on private ownership and the profit world in a ton of crisis. when the situation demands, we act not the individual gain, a collective benefit, stay at home and protect lives with it said test test test. without preventive measures, it could be a spiking cases. all these cancellations are a way to flatten the curve cause it 19 hasn't been like any other crisis. job losses, health care struggles. a critical need for relief from the state level struck segments of society that normally don't face these kinds of grave economic stresses . ensure all of a sudden critic pandemic, once in a century type of crisis. it's become evident to many that pre k times for crisis.

i didn't tie countries went down this year i spoke with a group of people whose work has been all about dissecting and analyzing capitalism . when people say they want to go back normal to complain because that sounds pretty good to me right now. the thing about morality actually inc and politics actually producing a lot of people want to be pretty one out, not even in other people, there wasn't keep money to come in and talk confused from one of the richest in history. and we didn't have the money in my opinion, capitalism is the pandemic. that is the root cause of so much of the suffering we're experiencing now. i mean, i want things to go back to normal. i want to be able to go to

a cafe. i want to be able to see my friends. i don't want things to go back to the normal that we've been living with for the last 20 years. wells, concentration of exploitation, of working people. that's the paradigm. that's the context that says the stage for our current calamity. this fires has intensified a spotlight on health care, what it costs, who gets access and its ability to respond in a crisis. one system that runs shockingly county to the needs of so many it's supposed to serve is the one in the united states. american health care is largely privatized and lacks pricing regulation, both key traits of a capitalist system. this means not only is every element of the health care system from hospitals to drug manufacturers, owned and operated by the private sector. but those businesses of free to charge whatever they like. this makes staying healthy in the united states, a scarily expensive proposition. there's a small percentage of the population about 18 percent. that does get some state

support for medical costs, but for the vast majority, private health insurance is the only recourse they charge. notoriously expensive premiums making them unaffordable for many and a filled with loopholes and gaps that mean even in short, americans can be left with hefty medical bills to pay. that's why. before the pandemic, it was estimated that 87000000 americans were uninsured, or underinsured, and medical bills were a leading cause of customer bankruptcy. new in the united states, people can access health care because they can afford health insurance even if they have insurance. they are buried in debt after the fact. what happens when someone like the crown of ours hits a population that is indebted, devastating population that has no savings, right? 40 percent of americans before the crisis were reported to not be able to handle a 4 $100.00 emergency. america's health care crisis has intensified during the pandemic. a tidal wave of layoffs have meant that as many as 27000000 americans

have lost employer provided health insurance. and without that cover a hospital state a treat cove. it could cost as much as $73000.00. this is despite a government plan announced in march to cover some covert related medical bills, the lack of coordination and the need for medical supplies to keep turning. a profit has led hospitals into bidding war. so if a crucial supplies like p, p e, mosques, tests, and medical equipment, doctors and nurses warning that critical protective gear is running low. this is a hospital where the health care workers have taken to wearing a garbage bag with like being on e bay with 50 other space bidding on a ventilator. the hospitals are in for profit, and so they don't have adequate staff, right? because that would keyed into revenue, they don't want to have extra medical supplies, just languishing not being used. so what we're going to see is a lot of people who are going to perish, not because of the virus, per se,

but because of the lack of access, the adequate health care, the lack of access to protective here, we're going to see people who don't seek treatment because they're afraid of not being able to pay for it. it's already been reported by emergency room doctor is that you know, people, the last, their last words are literally but who's going to pay for corona viruses. i knew that existed in humans since 19 sixties. and he calls a range of different illnesses from the common cold, to more lethal varieties, such as the outbreak of saws in 2002, and merge in 2012 in 2015. the world health organization, even listed corona viruses as being among the top possible causes of a major epidemic. so how is it that pharmaceutical companies have been caught? so off guard by this virus, it may, this year, brussels based research center, the corporate europe observatory, published

a detailed investigation into the effectiveness of the innovation medicines initiative. i am i, it's the world's biggest public, private partnership in life sciences. and it directs billions of dollars worth of funds to buy medical research at the world's biggest pharma companies. what the investigation uncovered was that not only did firms in 2017, turned down an e u proposal to work on vaccines for pathogens like corona virus. but 2600000000 euro of i am ice funds were transferred into projects that represented much more commercially profitable avenues for the pharmaceutical industry. this investigation reinforced to point that big pharma insiders and whistle blowers had been making for a while. that serious matters like pandemic preparedness, of being held hostage by commercial considerations on march 5th as karone of ours cases spread across the u. s. congressional hearings taking place. we also took on a decade ago of the interesting problem of making karone of ours of vaccines

because we recognize these as enormous public health threats. and yet we have not seen the big pharma guys and the biotech st rushing into the space. so dr. p to hurt is one of america's leading vaccine. scientists said that a vaccine his team had created 4 years ago in response to the south outbreak, may have been able to provide patients with cross protection from the virus at the heart of this. but it simply hadn't been commercially enticino for drug companies to invest in. the bottom line is, had we had those investments early on to carry this all the way through clinical trials. years ago, we could have had a vaccine ready to go, you know, one of the big problems of capitalism, the capitalists, direct investment. the capitalist say, you know, it's really important viagra, because that's a huge market. even though the current arms exist, not invest in vaccines because that market doesn't really exist. and also, if you really want to vaccinate the whole world in this preemptive measure, no,

let's create something that we can sell now. so, you know, we like capitalists, me direct investment at our collective peril whenever a vaccine is hopefully created. the next battle, at least for patients in the united states, will be over affordability. and that's when we're back to one of the fundamental piles of the american health care system, where unlike and almost every other nation, basic pricing controls simply don't exist. and it's not even as though this is a secret and you're saying it, oh, for sure. the affordable for anyone who needs it. i'm saying we would, we would want to ensure that we work to make it an affordable, but we can't control that price because we need the private sector to invest. that was donald trump's health and human services. secretary alex's on a congressional hearing in february this year, an interesting side note before he was appointed to his rolling government. as i worked as the top lobbyist for the pharmaceutical firm, eli lilly, and company. the hunt for a corona virus vaccine has now suddenly become one of the most well funded areas of

biomedical research. not only a governments and pharmaceutical giants investing in it, the so called super heroes of the corporate world have all stepped into the fray. a ceo of netflix is donating $30000000.00 toward research for a corona virus vaccine. microsoft co founder bill gates has continued the fought against garage of ours investing billions of dollars on the construction of factories working to develop a coven 19 vaccine. some of the wealthiest people on earth found isn't ceo's of megan corporations. i'm making headlines for donating to coven courses through their own philanthropic organizations. but it's not just about the money. it's the perception that it comes with all the trappings of the corporate world efficiency returns on investment, streamlining of operations. all of this has transformed what was wants simply charitable, giving into something else. philanthropy, capitalism, lindsey mcgee, has written about it extensively in a book. no such thing as a free gift. i think we have to move past the headline. sometimes mr. gates did

talk about the need for mass testing at an earlier stage than some u. s. officials and that was a good scientific approach to take, but i really didn't question whether or not their efforts were anything more than a bad day as solution because there was no evidence that they were really having much of a positive effect on the sort of really deteriorated and ramshackle approach that was underway in the us more generally. i think what we're applauding when we see a dipping into their own trousers and giving any are some cash days. we're frauding that makes the copies. and what's the every walk that anyone could beat upgrading? that a baby would marry guy, i'm supposed to money, and that's not the case. there. billions. all a collective creation. not their own individual creation. every being a sign attractive. yeah. because no one should have money when other people are

sleeping on the streets or going about inequality is one of the defining factors of capitalism. it's meant that the world's top one percent now hold close to 50 percent of global wealth. and so, when the philanthropists among them contribute to causes, it's often only a missed liver of their net worth. jeff bezos is $100000000.00 donation to us food bags, for example, amounted to 0.07 percent of his estimated wealth. mach soccer bugs, $25000000.00 donation. again, just 0.05 percent of his net worth. the point of all these numbers isn't that 1000000000, it should be giving more. that's another discussion entirely near the point here is that philanthropy, capitalism is too often used as a distraction from meaningful possibly more expensive systemic changes ramp in corporate tax avoidance, the suppression of minimum wage levels, reliance on state subsidies, precarious working conditions. i mean, the list of what actually needs to be addressed is long. and it can often get

obscured by flashy headlines or new segments about billionaires and their generosity. q 2 stepped up and you're providing $25000000.00. we didn't have the money to do that, and i just want to thank you to this is not an access right now. this is the product of a political strategy that's been going on for the last 4050 years, whereby new taxes are slashed and private wealth accumulates. and what that private wealth does is it concentrates power and that threatens democracy. so we have this really negative feedback loop where the more dysfunctional the state is, right? the last, it's able to provide basic services, the lessons able to protect our public health. the more ammo there is for the corporate sector to say, hey, look, the state is inefficient. the state is incompetent. we, with all of our resources, can save the day. that big philanthropic power to influence is a point that's not lost on 1000000000 is light bill gates. when asked in 2012,

if he would ever run for president of the us, he responded. i actually think, you know, maybe i'm wrong that i can have as much impact in that role as i could in any political role. my role in the foundation i don't have to raise ah, political campaigns. i don't have the frank elective, i'm not term limited to 8 years a, it's a very nice office and i've been down bill gates, he's motifs. the big baldness. very few days. i can go long history. been both these things, but he's not beholden to. both is he in make you that decision is money theory that he wishes there is not when we get graphic for that's that's, that's not the construct works of what he does. it, he's not replacing the pool in a complex won't looking for simple narratives. benevolent, de leon is a great,

they have name recognition, they appear heroic, and they've got the cash. however, this pandemic has also shown a light on the other end of the economic spectrum to the key worker delivery drivers, supermarket, shelf stack. as nurses, care is the pandemic, momentarily appended the hierarchy of labor. and yet in the u. k, a set of proposed post briggs at immigration controls in february, deemed many of these exact essential workers to low paid and quote, low skilled to receive a visa to work in the country. i think not. is that a hard hapless distance that those who were deriving the most value from these are the, not the most the central workers? because what is keeping our economy going right now? are the lowest, the workers who are really, are most indispensable part of the workforce. the work is in the healthcare system and seen the funds that go to europe, one off people on this more than one of the one of nurses. oh, good,

torn. and people working. so should that system are often not learning enough to, to live on. what do we do on knowledge? because it wasn't just me. my wife is going out and applauding the health care workers and now majors. there is also a prime minister on downing street who would call the government the resources that we're going to do. and i just installed in it there's a term that's gained renewed currency during this pandemic disaster capitalism, canadian activist, and ortho, naomi klein came up with it years ago and had booked the shock doctrine and went viral during the 2008 great recession. it points to how disasters back recession war a pandemic aren't necessarily catastrophic across the board in a capital a system. they can also present an opportunity for the money minded. and we've seen

a lot of profiteering during this current pandemic already. i don't think we are the limits of that profiteering, but we've got an early sense of which doctors in your companies are starting to for example, price scouts when it comes to basic necessities like math that are on for example, being charged up for it's a 15 times their usual cost. price gouging is one manifestation of disaster capitalism. and during this looked down, it's done everything from cause a temporary spike in the price of hand sanitizer. to effect the number of ventilate is available to the u. s. government, according to a pro, public or investigation in 2014, the u. s. department of health and human services signed a 13800000 dollar contract with dutch electronics conglomerate phillips to design and manufacturer cheap and portable, ventilator for use in emergencies. although a ventilator was created and the government ordered $10000.00 of them, not a single one was ready at the start of the pandemic. like many countries,

the united states faced critical ventilator shortages, while phillips was selling too high, a price commercial versions of the same ventilator around the world. so they never fulfilled this order at the cheaper level for the department of helping you advisors. instead, the bridge to prioritize the more expensive overseas orders. and it's only been recently that the department of how human sciences has really negotiated the same order, but it has been forced to pay for the ventilators at a higher price. that renegotiation that lindsey mentioned, it resulted in the u. s. government ordering $43000.00 of the commercial ventilate, is in april at 4 times the original price. in late august, the remainder of the order was cancelled. only after a congressional committee raised questions about the expenditure, but disaster capitalism can also be less direct and more obscured from public scrutiny. like who stands to benefit from some taxpayer funded bailouts. take the u . s. airline industry, which had its request for a $50000000000.00 bailout approved by the u. s. senate in march,

while the lines were conditional on job protections. the sticking point for many is that over the past 5 years, the big for allied companies, american delta, southwestern united have not only made record profits. a collectively spent nearly the same amount, 45000000000 on stock buybacks and dividends 2 ways in which companies can directly enrich their corporate executives and shareholders. so it's not that these bailouts aren't necessary now to avoid mass unemployment, except a substantial part of the current financial problem is arguably of their own making . billions of dollars were mobilized, basically in an incident to bail out corporate america. and this is incredibly ironic because these, these corporations were, you know, in a week financial place because of their own business models because they had over leveraged themselves because they had engaged in pushing money out to shareholders

instead of planning for tough times. meanwhile, people are held to that standard. you know, if you haven't said, then it's your fault that you're suffering in the moment. so there's, there's a double standard written into the economic response. do you have a form of packet and didn't need to fill in? because we'll catch, you know, reading cute control will say, well, capitalism works when we kiss company goes to the wall when, when things are watching a bad idea, they fail to make that clearly haven't happened in any society. and then, and that's probably a good thing. when we come out, i think we can certainly say that the old month for of public product good work. and i think we can also some questions about why did last is a socialize, it's an outside crisis. again, void profit. we need to reach out to the kind of the

assets to rethink capitalism, have been going on almost as long as capitalism itself has existed and to be fair. it's practiced in notably different ways in different parts of the world. but one of the most toxic and recurring problems is that in too many cases, the system seems designed to favor of small elite segment of the population. if the idea we began with that way before the crisis of this corona virus, we will already grappling the crisis of cathy with this phrase, you know, that we need to save the economy or we need to keep businesses going. it makes sense, but i think we have that good, deeper question, which is, well, what's in the economy for look at something like g d, p, gross domestic product. all that means is that there's more affluent, but it has nothing to do with distribution that has nothing to do with the quality of people's lives. you can have enormously high g, p and, and have rector, rates of homelessness and unemployment. so we,

we have to deconstruct this idea of the economy and, and put people at the center. we are living in the moment and not being clear. because okay, about the nation could not prepare their own company or their own public sufficiently to prevent going to go on and clearly the welcoming, the sort of mentoring have not been fair to share. and they've been ordered by a view, what people are left or more market and other stuff that it's really not stuff that we will. it's clear that actually everything nearing the whole collection of action. individual action is also clear that there are some parts of the, a just small group and she's taking those a pre basic things might come down nations. this is why i miss clinton neglected in

all of the attention it's being given to look at. it's getting as much in coming to country without thinking too much about weight. i think we need to reason click on characters in the thought. i was a neat think we need written on august 2020 the year of look, downs and social distance saying he can't reach across the screen and get someone to hug. alley way explore is one of the global pandemic speakers side effects loneliness. everyone who lives alone has been forced to be socially isolated for the 1st time ever highlighting its effect from physical and mental health and discovering unique ways of coping. controlling, being alone to get that episode to of all hail the look down on al jazeera,

january when i just eat 20 years ago, the euro was brought into circulation. we investigate how the, your exam benefit from having an official currency be part of the stream. and going out social media community as sierra leone to recovery from civil war continues. we moved to decades since the end of one of africa's most brutal complex, the bottom line. steve clemens dives headlong into the u. s. issues that shape the rest of the world. as we enter the 3rd year of it, 19, we go back to where it all began and investigate how far we've come. since the pandemic january on a just the step beyond the comfort zone, we're assumptions are challenged, traveled to the ends of the earth, and further experience the unimaginable other people who live to witness award winning documentary on a. just a year from the al jazeera london broadcast center to people in thoughtful

conversation with no host and no limitations this decade is the most consequential decade in mentees. it's far too many companies that are doing bad things in the front, in part 2 of human rights activists, q mean id and environmental if, when own entity, the systems are not working, but the longer that you fight them, the more that things changed studio be unscripted on out his era, rivers, trying out greasing land is shrinking in some roots long used by wildlife migration have been blocked by human settlements. to deal with all this, kenya needs more money for conservation. and with a corona virus pandemic keeping many visitors awake revenue from tourism isn't now here at the embassy national park and your ceremony has been launched the whole pressure than individuals pay 5000 years. i think the aim this yet is to raise

one megabyte longest march of it for conservation initiatives. ah, the global surge of kobe casey's continues governments around the world trying to strike a balance between restrictions and managing the spread of army crop. ah, hello, welcome on pete adobe. you're watching al jazeera alive from our headquarters here in bo.