So 2020 is behind us and before we congratulate each other, let's remember a hell of a lot of people didn't make it. 2021 is getting off to a grim start. Covid it totally out of control, one of our political parties wants to shred what's left of the Constitution and fear is winning. All's not lost. The Constitution will hold. Vaccines are on the way. The racists, xenophobes and conspiracy nuts will soon crawl back under their rocks and into their caves. At least, that's my hope. But this is about the year that just passed. Let's look at a few lessons.
1. There is no going back to normal.
The old normal sucked anyway. We bullshitted ourselves into thinking the economy was wonderful. Sure it was for some. However, for too many the struggle was paycheck to paycheck, massive debit (credit cards, student loans,cars, housing etc etc...). How many people you know who loved their jobs? Too many companies pay lip service to a safe, happy and fair workplace while fighting tooth and nail against anything to improve living conditions for workers, like a livable minimum wage or job security.
The wheels were going to come off sooner or later, what Wall Street types call a "Correction." And come off they did! Covid-19 beat the market to the punch and derailed the economy (with a lot of help from our government's totally inept response). The notion of paying people through state unemployment systems was a disaster. None of those state systems were remotely ready for a tsunami of new claims all filed within a few short weeks. Some, to this day never got anything. The expansion of who's eligible and $600 extra were good but then they let it lapse while the pandemic was / is still raging. Our fearless leaders them played hot potato with more economic aid until January costing 45 four more years. Soon it will all be on you, Joe.
I think Joe will at least take Covid more seriously and maybe have it more under control by this spring or summer (2021). The carnage of small businesses lost will not last forever as some seem to think. They will come back but it is going to take a long time. We will not all settle for jobs as soulless, mindless drones for Amazon, Walmart and Uber. People who can work from home will continue to do so. We can only hope our society has learned the value of cashiers, stockers, drivers and other service workers who essentially take care of us.
2. Global Pandemics are equal opportunity killers.
Yeah, if you have a bigger bank account, you have a better chance to live. Big bank accounts cannot always fix stupid. Going around maskless, putting off treatment / testing with the virus multiplying away inside you will not end well even with the best medical treatments. Too many were too self-important to let a little thing like a global pandemic put a crimp in their day, still insisting on eating out, church services, beach parties and mass biker rallies. Fine, if you want to risk yourself but you have NO right to risk my health, your neighbor's health or your grandma's health. We learned being self centered can be a killer. Why not politicize a common threat as well? That's gotta help, right?
I think the biggest mistake we made was politicizing Covid-19. If all states don't lock down and we still allow interstate travel no one is locked down. Some where I read it is akin to having a peeing area inside a swimming pool. This was not hard. Stay home for just two to three months, pay everyone three K a month until it is over and Covid-19 is a small footnote in a medical text book twenty years from now. Oversimplified you say? Not all that much. When viruses cannot spread they die out. Instead, we made it political. You cannot tell me what to do! I need to work! This is understandable with no help from Uncle Sam. I want my nails done! I want to shop! Let's invite everyone for Christmas and Thanksgiving! How's that worked out? Let's see... Over 300K dead. The economy is in shambles. Education is struggling and our entire healthcare system is at risk of collapse. USA number one, right?
Yup, most deaths, super high infection rates and an obliterated economy. So how did these small female lead counties do so much better? Well, they took Covid-19 seriously, shut down while paying their citizens and had no time or tolerance for bullshit conspiracy theories. Check this out...
3. American Racism and Ignorance
We spent the last four years learning just how racist we are. Non-whites already knew. I, as a white dude, had no idea how many of my fellow Americans are just straight up racists. I had this illusion that it was mostly a southern backwoods redneck thing. Nope, it is nation wide. Northern cities, eastern cities and even out west they all came out to bask in the new light of the Glorious Leader, Donald Trump. In a twisted way, it's one of his biggest accomplishments, shinning a bright shinning light on how far we still have to go. In what universe is anti-fascist considered a bad thing? This one! In what universe do we have to remind people Black Lives Matter? This one! Why? The American Oligarchs like it this way. Let me see if I can explain it.
It is better to have poor people pointing the finger at each other than towards the top. Here are a few narratives they use on poor whites; "Blacks and illegals get a free ride from the government, advantages in hiring (Affirmative Action) and they are inherently violent." Poor low information whites buy it while the elites send their jobs overseas, suppress wages, defund schools, take their pensions, and literally kill them with unsafe working conditions and opioids. Meanwhile, they run off to the bank with all the money. And keeping people stupid also helps.
