There are many other points I could make about swine flu, such as the probable cause being factory farming (as Johann Hari points out in http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/our-hunger-for-cheap-meat_b_194165.html), but the mention on last night's news of good hygiene being most important reminded me of a bugbear of mine - the spreading of germs via taps (faucets in US English).

[I was planning to finish writing and send out my New Good Intentions Manifesto today, since it is May Day (international workers' day), but my caring feelings for ordinary people (including workers) around the world who die from germs spread via taps overrode my wishes to tell people about my analysis of society arguing against Marxism in that document.]

The problem with most taps is that you put germs from your hands on the taps, turn them on, wash your hands and then turn them off again getting germs back off the taps!

There are solutions - taps that turn themselves off automatically or ones that are designed so that you can turn them off using an elbow, but most taps (in Britain anyway) are not designed like that. The best solution with ordinary taps is to use a paper towel to turn them off. [Some of you may have noticed compromises with preserving the environment in taps that turn themselves off or using paper towels - oh, divide-and-rule on that issue again...]

No wonder some people have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) worrying about germs! Even if you are careful with taps, you can pick up germs from other items like door handles, so our best defence is our natural immune system having hopefully previous encountered similar germs (with young and old people or those with HIV probably more susceptible than the rest of us). It looks as though this may prevent the upcoming pandemic from being as serious as it could be (and as serious as we were recently being warned about a mutated form of bird flu).

I don't know that I can coherently make an argument for our capitalist rulers (and corporations making dodgy taps) wanting us to die - time off sick hits profits after all - but their sheer lack of caring really concerns me. There was a recent scare about chicken, with the advice given that it is safe as long as you wash your hands after handling raw poultry, but no mention of how to do that safely. The Scottish Government was heavily criticised for wasting money on handwashing advice, but this didn't mention the problem with taps either. Another reason to help the struggle for a socialist society democratically controlled by ordinary people who really care about each other.