It might be too soon to evaluate the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak on global politics and economy.

But it appears the pandemic has brought to the fore some often-neglected aspects of the neoliberal world order.

Critics of neoliberalism see COVID-19 as a perfect example showing how the capitalistic economic system fails to serve nations.

The crisis has once again put on display the flaws in the neoliberal ideology, this time though highlighting blows to public health systems.

Many governments were reluctant to impose quarantine measures or a lockdown when confronted with the outbreak. Some governments even hesitated about asking people to stay home to bring things under control.

The first international alert on COVID-19 was issued by the World Health Organization on December 5, 2019, but the lockdown of the epicenter of the outbreak in China, city of Wuhan, began on January 23.

It’s easy to guess what could have caused such a delay: The Chinese government felt inclined to prevent a plunge in the country’s production.

In the current neoliberal economy, any restriction that slows down the movement of goods and capital is undesirable for governments.

That explains why both the UK and the U.S. have been slow to impose lockdowns to contain the virus.

Such a lockdown would also bring responsibilities for the government. But the public healthcare system in both countries is so weak that the government cannot place even more pressure on it.

This has left both countries vulnerable to the outbreak, shattering their reputation as developed economies.

Corporate interests vs. public interests

A public health crisis of this size can hardly be managed under the U.S. or UK model of neoliberalism.

Neoliberalism assumes that the government’s main task is to pave the way for private corporations to compete to provide any kind of services, from healthcare to education.

According to the neoliberal worldview, there is no such thing as a society and hence there are no need for a powerful public sector.

The government has cut funding to public health agencies in recent years, and even dissolved the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense.

And the U.S. people are now paying for these cuts.

Under this profit-driven system, emergency situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak bring forward a conflict of interests between the public and corporations.

This is most glaring in the U.S. response. The U.S. government first downplayed the outbreak for weeks before announcing a state of emergency in mid-March.

But the decision only came as historic plunges in the stock market were reported and the U.S. Federal Reserve moved to assist banks with $1.5 trillion in loans to prevent a financial crisis.

The governments appeared to be protecting corporate interests while abandoning the rest of the society.

And the government’s initiatives to fight the virus were in partnerships with corporations like Google, Amazon and Walmart, indicating that the government is unable to help people without these partnerships.

Interestingly, state governments acted much quicker than the federal government to fight the outbreak, ordering school closures and social distancing measures.

Greater democratic participation

It’s no exaggeration to say this amounts to a historic moment for the neoliberal system. It has never been seen so fragile and flawed.

This pandemic teaches people the free market will not save them. It shows that people’s well being hinges on robust public services and not on multinational corporations.

This is best described in the words of the 91-year-old public intellectual Noam Chomsky, who in a recent interview noted the “irony” of recent reports that Cuba is sending doctors to help European countries fight the coronavirus.

"I mean this is so shocking that you don't know how to describe it. Germany can't help Greece: but Cuba can help European countries," he said. "The coronavirus could have terrifying consequences, but there will be recovery. The others there won't be: it's finished. If we don't deal with them, we're done."

Chomsky said the only hope is more democratic participation: "If we're leaving our fate to sociopathic buffoons, we're finished," he said. "An informed, engaged, involved public taking control of their fate – if that doesn't happen, we're doomed."

This chaos is the moment for the American people and the wider world to wake up to the perils of living in a fully privatized economy.

Isn’t this time for humans to stop buying into the neoliberal program?