Question

1. Please explain how creation of new needs (artificial needs) in capitalism opposes the real needs of humans and nature. Please also relate constant creation of new needs with coronavirus pandemy.

Answer 1

Capitalism is dominated by the supply and demand forces. When new needs are created and it is more in the demand, then supply forces work to cater this demand of new needs and the firms do not give adequate attention to the real needs such as satisfying hunger and or protection of the environment. It makes new needs to compete with the real needs and while doing so, a scenario is created when real needs are opposed by new or artificial needs, It can be well understood by the scenario of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has created new needs of finding out vaccines and drugs for the corona virus, making most of the research agencies to divert their resources to find vaccines for the virus. Further, all hospitals are told to carer or allocate beds for the corona virus patients. It means that real needs of people in the form of chronic illness related to heart, Kidney and other Specialities are being neglected. Research is also stopped upon these aspects of health care services. Then, it can be seen that COVID-19 pandemic has created new needs that are opposing real needs. Here, the pandemic is also a source of creation of new needs as new problems arrive with the pandemic and new needs are out to be in demand that has to be catered. So, new scenarios create new problems and it becomes a source of new needs.