It's pretty unbelievable how poorly prepared we are for Coronavirus (or any health emergency for that matter). Setting aside the testing problems, which is partly due to reliance on various components and chemicals which would have needed to be stockpiled well ahead of the flood, the lack of basic equipment which would apply to any public health emergency - masks, personal protective equipment and the various consumables required to allow our health system to function in an emergency - is unforgivable. It is also an unfortunate feature of our system.
We live in the "just in time" era, when companies like Amazon have nearly perfected the science of keeping goods in constant motion from the time they drop off the assembly line, to when they arrive at the customer's door. State governments have shed responsibilities to the private sector, have trimmed budgets to the bone, government departments normally operate below full staffing levels, and the result is we have reduced services which bring home the point that Government does not work. It's a cycle perpetuated when we elect people that do not value what good the government can do, and then we are surprised (or not) that it fails us when we need it. We will hopefully learn from this, and be better prepared for the next time, but it is too late now to "prepare".
We need to repair, and that will take more than the ungodly sum of 2 trillion dollars - a package seeded with many handouts to the wealthy as well as a potential disincentive for people to even try to participate in what is left of the economy (though something had to be done for them since unemployment benefits are dismal in many states). To fix this we need, firstly, leadership which we can trust, which takes the crisis seriously and understands at least, how to find a way out. Since we do not have that, the way will be found the same way you find a light switch in the dark, by fumbling around until you find a wall or something familiar, then carefully feeling your way to the switch, while trying not to jam a toe or trip. The path we are forced onto is going to cost many more lives than if we had a realistic, clear and unifying direction which we could all begin to work to, but it's what we got. It won't help in the near term that many of us still value evidence based facts more cheaply than our personal truths, but as this goes on, even the "dipshits" will hopefully get with the program.
Barring a breakthrough, its seems likely that we won't see "normal" for months. With luck, the normal we create after this is all over, will be a break from the old normal which got us into this mess. By then, we will truly need to Make America Great Again, and hopefully we will recognize that cannot be done without the efforts, contribution and shared rewards for All Americans. Thats a big hope, but this is a big problem, with big stakes that will probably be bigger next time. We may only get one mulligan.
With apologies to lemmings (which don't actually run themselves off cliffs - unless chased by a sadistic mouse).
We live in the "just in time" era, when companies like Amazon have nearly perfected the science of keeping goods in constant motion from the time they drop off the assembly line, to when they arrive at the customer's door. State governments have shed responsibilities to the private sector, have trimmed budgets to the bone, government departments normally operate below full staffing levels, and the result is we have reduced services which bring home the point that Government does not work. It's a cycle perpetuated when we elect people that do not value what good the government can do, and then we are surprised (or not) that it fails us when we need it. We will hopefully learn from this, and be better prepared for the next time, but it is too late now to "prepare".
We need to repair, and that will take more than the ungodly sum of 2 trillion dollars - a package seeded with many handouts to the wealthy as well as a potential disincentive for people to even try to participate in what is left of the economy (though something had to be done for them since unemployment benefits are dismal in many states). To fix this we need, firstly, leadership which we can trust, which takes the crisis seriously and understands at least, how to find a way out. Since we do not have that, the way will be found the same way you find a light switch in the dark, by fumbling around until you find a wall or something familiar, then carefully feeling your way to the switch, while trying not to jam a toe or trip. The path we are forced onto is going to cost many more lives than if we had a realistic, clear and unifying direction which we could all begin to work to, but it's what we got. It won't help in the near term that many of us still value evidence based facts more cheaply than our personal truths, but as this goes on, even the "dipshits" will hopefully get with the program.
Barring a breakthrough, its seems likely that we won't see "normal" for months. With luck, the normal we create after this is all over, will be a break from the old normal which got us into this mess. By then, we will truly need to Make America Great Again, and hopefully we will recognize that cannot be done without the efforts, contribution and shared rewards for All Americans. Thats a big hope, but this is a big problem, with big stakes that will probably be bigger next time. We may only get one mulligan.
With apologies to lemmings (which don't actually run themselves off cliffs - unless chased by a sadistic mouse).
RSS Feed
