I want to be very careful on this, because I don't want to misinform anyone on this matter, to the point of causing harm. I mean, it seems undeniable at this stage that COVID-19 is truly putting humanity to the test, but there's some other things to consider as well.
The Economy
Of course the politicians won't miss the chance to play political football, but this issue is truly non-partisan. It's not outrageous to point out that we must find a way to move the economic machine forward, because if we don't the implications are disastrous.
It's true that anecdotes per say are not extremely helpful, but we don't have to use them to point out available statistics. Not just in the US, but around the world, there are countless families that have little to no savings, live paycheck to paycheck and are ill equipped to deal with the current events.
Authorities can scream until they are blue in the face #stayhome and practice #socialdistancing, but if people are literally starving, the words will always fall on deaf ears.
But because I try to be intellectually sound when I voice an opinion, I would like to clarify the following: I'm not talking about injecting cash into the big corporations (like Boeing) like politicians love to do, but to work from the ground up. To start from the civilian, the common Joe, the paycheck to paycheck Jane, that are shouldering this problem grasping to the little hope they can conjure.
If we are truly to make a difference in the US, and everywhere else for that matter, we truly have to rebuild the machine.
Heathcare System
To me what's extremely clear now is how ineffective, or better yet broken our healthcare system really is. A lady walking out with 34k in medical bills due to her experience with COVID19 is not just ridiculous, but sadly documented thoroughly.
Because we live not in a democracy, but in a Corporatocracy, there's little to no chance that change will come from those who have been in power for decades. They are well bought, and know how to play to both crowds; their donors, and their constituency.
As Hillary once famously said: "One must have a public position, and a private position" - Which is code talk for I got the sheep completely calm, don't worry masters.
The question remains however: How can we revamp healthcare? And there is precisely where the majority cannot seem to agree. We could look at evidence, and hard evidence available out there. There are quite a few first world countries who have figured this out. But to enact these new systems, when the partisan hackery is what matters most to our politicians, and discourse is weaponized against us, the population.
The sad truth my friends is that we are at the mercy of two mafias, two cartels. On the one hand we have Pharma, which uses government subsidies to develop their miracle, and dare I say, addictive drugs, and on the other hand we have Insurance Companies that protect your interest in true Al Capone fashion.
Until these two mafias are declawed, they will continue to own governments and insure their reign over Democracy. That conversation, however, is almost never had, and for good reason, the "hey squirrel" move always works a lot better.
Many died, but did you see the stockmarket?
Headlines are over the top ridiculous these days, and of course we gobble up the clicks left and right. More so, because we got nothing better to do, trapped in our self or not self imposed quarantines.
I don't know why this is so hard for so many people to grasp. The stockmarket means little to nothing for most people. Yes, it might (key word might) indicate a strong growing economy, but it's not the end all, be all tool to measure happiness, or even the economic health of the working populace.
In other words. To Joe and Jane, the S&P500 recovering these last few days has not, in any way shape or form, given them the opportunity to recover lost wages, or purchase some milk and bread from a store.
As long as we continue to be distracted with the circus, we won't recognize this tragedy for what it can truly be. A time for big change. The con is up!
MenO
Well giving the money to average Joe can be very risky for the wall street boys as they are not going get their profits and that's why they are just giving the image of economy to the stock market! because them boys are handling it and no one has got any power on them.
the con to me is the virus..
I can't fathom these statistics..
more folks have died from the flu this year.
we had the worse flu season on record.. before the coronavirus.
but it was ignored.. because it would have overshadowed the coronavirus.
that is my conclusion.
this did much to cement my opinion.
You are utterly correct that this event is forcing people to grasp facts they have long endeavored to not, because they correctly understand that those they depend on for their livelihood are absolutely opposed to viewpoints based on those facts.
However that dependence is today broken. Today perhaps billions of people are trying to understand how they have misunderstood reality, so that they can understand reality. $1200 isn't going to prevent that understanding. Neither are mandatory vaccinations, or censorship.
Most people are going to die without understanding, although I hope they die of old age decades from now. The liars in chief are tricky, and lie well. The fact is that the economy isn't being killed by pandemic. It's being killed because of centralization, and the inability of decentralized production to continue providing goods and services because it doesn't exist.
Today we either face that those things we can make ourselves or acquire from folks in our communities that do are available and will continue to be while those shipped from China aren't, or we continue to misapprehend what butters our bread. I reckon that as facts continue to force that awareness on us, more and more folks will seek to grow food, make stuff, and otherwise increase decentralization as centralized mechanisms continue to fail to provide necessities.
Regarding health care, I don't think ANY country has 'done it right'.
DRACO has been seeking funding for in vivo trials for ~a decade now, and no one, from Russia to the USA or anyone in between has funded those trials. This exemplifies that all polities are susceptible to corruption and that Big Pharma is so big that no country can undertake a health care system that prevents that corruption from owning it.
DRACO can probably actually cure SARS2. It can probably actually cure Ebola, AIDS, influenza, and the common cold too, but we probably will die without ever knowing, because curing those diseases ends the business model of Big Pharma and Insurance. Hell, because it would need to cure corruption by those miscreants it would probably end Big Government too, which really seals it's fate.
This is why we die: so banksters can profit.
Thanks!
Not your key to the city .... not your city???
The politicians is not concerned because they are not affected but we are concerned because we are affected but how long are we going to be only concerned and not make the stop. Those who should take the step are not concerned we that we are concerned we should take the step
my country (Greece) was getting fucked by our politicians... They screwed up everything and as usual what should have been the priorities like healthcare and education are now facing huge problems. The thing is that's happening almost in every country, showing the real issues we are facing. It's not just my politicians it's in every single country. What this virus did except all the harm is showing or reminding to us what the real problems are.... hopefully after this end we will do something about it as society which call me a pessimist i highly doubt...