The cost-of-living crisis and the global resistance (Counterfire)

Counterfire (Canada) published an op-ed by John Clarke who states that the several-sided conditions of crisis that we are living through will be the driving force for further waves of struggle. The threat of new waves of Covid and the huge impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are producing an international situation that strongly suggest that such shocks are not really a fleeting development but, rather, a defining feature of these crisis-ridden times. The disruptive effects of the intensifying climate crisis, moreover, make this all the more certain. IFPRI has warned of the dire results flowing from the Ukrainian conflict, pointing out that ‘harsh impacts are already being felt beyond the conflict zone.’ In a situation where ‘commodity prices were rising steadily before the invasion,’ the resulting disruption is undermining the vital supply of Russian and Ukrainian cereals and vegetable oils, while it has also ‘interrupted fertilizer exports from Russia and Belarus, which together account for a major share of global production.’ This is all pushing the inflationary wave. The Institute also points out ominously that ‘The Russian invasion of Ukraine comes on top of years of other crises that remain unresolved: The Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, biodiversity loss, and rising global hunger.’ IFPRI candidly acknowledges that ‘shocks and crises have become the new norm’ and stresses that ‘The concentration of production and trade in too few places, and by too few companies, is a real threat to global food security.’  (See IFPRI blog posts on the Ukraine-Russia conflict here.)