Saturday, June 13, 2020

That's one solution: stick a pin in it

Sadly, people with power have given up on curbing the epidemic and its damage to our lives. Nevertheless, medical workers trudge forward, doing their utmost amidst suffering and futility.

“None of us are at peace. We’re sort of bracing for it to come back. All of us are wondering, can we go through this again?”

... "We risked our lives to save as many lives as possible, and people can’t wear a mask — they can’t stay six feet apart.”

The national abdication of leadership in the face of some people's demand to "re-open" leaves each individual responsible for calculating their own risk. We each, individually, are left to decide which constraints we'll place on ourselves. For myself, I'm into masks, getting outside as much as possible, and seeing people only six feet apart. Your mileage may vary.

It's not as if there aren't efforts to envision what we would need as a society for an equitable, effective response to the coronavirus. Here's much to ponder from the Black to the Future Action Fund:
  1. Put cash directly into the hands of people
  2. Complete cancellation of student loan payments
  3. Priority for all Black owned small businesses in the next round of PPP (paycheck protection program)
  4. Free testing and coverage of Covid-19 treatments for everyone
  5. Increase testing sites in underserved and rural communities
  6. Mandatory race, gender, and class specific data collection
  7. Cancel rent, mortgages, and evictions + public utilities and internet costs
  8. Safe housing options for victims of domestic violence and at-risk family members of essential workers
  9. Protect our vote
  10. Fund and protect the US Postal Service
And no doubt, defund the police!

As always, it's up to an aroused people to make it so.

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