Pandemic preparedness and the road to international fascism

The World Health Organization's broad definition of health embraces physical, mental and social well-being. Expressed in its 1946 constitution alongside concepts of community participation and national sovereignty, it reflected an understanding of a world emerging from centuries of colonialist oppression and the public health industry's shameful facilitation of fascism. Health policy would be people-centered, closely tied to human rights and self-determination. The COVID-19 response has demonstrated how these ideals have been undone. Decades of increasing funding within public-private partnerships have corroded the basis of global public health. The COVID-19 response, intended for a virus that overwhelmingly targeted the elderly, ignored norms of epidemic management and human rights to institute a regime of suppression, censorship, and coercion reminiscent of the power systems and governance that were previously condemned. Without pausing to examine the costs, the public health industry is developing international instruments and processes that will entrench these destructive practices in international law. Public health, presented as a series of health emergencies, is being used once again to facilitate a fascist approach to societal management. The beneficiaries will be the corporations and investors whom the COVID-19 response served well. Human rights and individual freedom, as under previous fascist regimes, will lose. The public health industry must urgently awaken to the changing world in which it works, if it is to adopt a role in saving public health rather than contributing to its degradation.     

Deliberative structures and their impact on voting under economic conflict

Experimental Economics - We conduct a laboratory experiment to investigate how different deliberative structures of varying inclusiveness affect collective decisions in the presence of economic...     

The building blocks of a supply chain management theory: Using factor market rivalry for supply chain theorizing

As the supply chain discipline matures, opportunities emerge to develop or define theories that are specific to supply chain phenomenon. The current research specifies characteristics that we offer which comprise the building blocks of supply chain theory. These characteristics include the flows of material through a supply chain network, the temporal management of these material flows, the dyadic and triadic interactions of firms within the supply chain network, and the outward focus on supply chain management (SCM), in other words a supply chain orientation, of firms in a supply chain. Further, recognizing that supply chain theories must contain the previously identified characteristics, we offer Factor Market Rivalry (FMR) as a theory of SCM. FMR refers to intense battles for resource positions that are needed to manufacture, provide, or deliver firm products or services. We argue that FMR only occurs within supply chain phenomena. The piece concludes with a future research agenda based upon the practical implications of further developing FMR as a theory of SCM.