Reflections on COVID-19

The following words were written by several of my colleagues. Of course, I endorse what they say (I wouldn't publish them on my blog otherwise). 

COVID Relief Bills

I am a senior and I live on Social Security Retirement Income.  I received a COVID Relief check for $1200 in March of 2020.  I received a COVID Relief check for $600 in the first week of 2021.  And I look forward to receiving a further Relief check for $2000 moving forward, as it seems that Democrats and Republicans are happy to buy our future votes; they are not paying for it. 

But, … 

First, I am happy as a clam to receive these gifts; hell, I didn’t pay for them (I don’t pay any federal Income Tax).  The government sends you money, you don’t go looking how to give it back.  Fact is, I should NOT have received a Relief check, as COVID-19 had no economic impact on me.  Sure, I have been inconvenienced (wearing a mask, social distancing, many of my favorite haunts closed or doing a bare-bones business – no fun); but even without a check, my ability to pay for my necessities and my pleasure has not been impacted.  Indeed, most American workers were NOT laid off; they work their work, and they get paid.  While I am sure they love their checks as I do, they didn’t need them.  Finally, those who do need these checks – those who did lose their jobs – need a whole lot more; if you lost your job, $1800 with the expectation of $2000 more will not pay for your food, your transportation, and your housing.  These folks need so much more than relief checks.  And the small businesses that did not survive need so much more, too. 

Second, just sending relief checks shows a lack of empathy and a lack of imagination.  Most Americans – especially male Americans – find “meaning” in their work.  Sending money makes them feel they are receiving a welfare check.  Politicians have made political hay about re-building our infrastructure for decades, what an opportunity!  The Fed should create jobs, good-paying jobs, meaningful jobs; there are millions of Americans whose bodies and souls are looking for rescue.  Infrastructure jobs include the building and the maintenance of roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications.  And maybe doubling teacher pay.  And funding NASA to create more miracles.  Is it wrong for this Relief money to pay for things the country needs and that recipients will be happy to give their labor in return?  For those who do not receive employment, an Unemployment check is regular and it can save lives.  There should be a moratorium on evictions, and the banks should pay for it by deferring mortgage payments as long as needed, for individual homeowners and even landlords.

Last, we seem to be paying for these Relief checks with increased Debt.  While, for decades, the wealthiest of all Americans have paid little or no federal income taxes.  Why?  Because they have little or no taxable income.  At this very moment, Jeff Bezos is worth $182 billion!  He pays himself $81,000 as CEO of Amazon.  His taxable income is less than that amount.  His taxable income is $1 out of $2,000,000 of his wealth.  Why is his wealth not taxed?  Because Republicans would jump up and down screaming socialism and “punishing success.”  Had these uber-wealthy Americans paid meaningful income taxes (or wealth taxes) over the years, we would have no National Debt.   And we could fund COVID-19 without breaking into a sweat. 

COVID Vaccines

We can thank Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed for the record-breaking pace of COVID-19 vaccine development in the United States.  Are the two American-made vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) safe and effective?  In clinical trials, so far so good.  Why we are isolating ourselves from the vaccines that the rest of the world has developed is an open question.  Nation-wide, the roll-out of the two vaccines has begun.  Time will tell if they are indeed safe and effective.  As for me, I have the mind of a Tech, and many of us wait for a few new version fixes before we adapt.  Better be safe, etc.   I am NOT anti-Vax, I am content wearing a mask when I am not at home, social distancing 10' everywhere, and washing my hands and face at every opportunity.  I feel safe just being smart about active viruses in the air. I will take a vaccine after I feel secure that it is safe and effective.  I will wait but I will vaccinate! 

Of course, evolution marches on, and we now have a new strain of Coronavirus.   It is more contagious. Is it more deadly?  Maybe not.  Will the virus continue to evolve, like the flu, every season?  Most likely.  Will we need annual vaccinations like the flu vaccine?  Probably. 

Our plague is a life-form.   Its evolution is its fight for survival.  Lucky us! 

COVID Social Behavior

Perhaps we have over-reacted to this plague, perhaps not.  If you have lost a loved-one, we have NOT over-reacted.  As of this writing – the first week in January 2021 – 365,000 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19; that is about one in every 900 Americans.  Maybe you don’t know anyone who has died from COVID-19.  But 21 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and it is highly likely that you do know one or more persons who have suffered from COVID-19.  How badly have they suffered?  Maybe you think it is no big deal, maybe you know otherwise. 

I appreciate our federal health-and-science-based bureaucracies.  I want them to tell us what they learn, with suggestions as how to respond to the plague.  I don’t want them, or the federal government, mandating our behavior under penalty of law. I think that the “regulation” of our behavior belongs to state or even local officials, keeping science at the forefront.  Fifty, or a thousand, (scientific) experiments are better than one!  I believe that the politicization of our COVID-19 behavior is a criminal mistake and that our sitting president is the ringleader of stupid. I believe that wearing a mask should be an individual decision, but that smart Americans should give a wide berth to anti-social and stupid Americans who don’t give a rat’s heinie about others’ health.  I believe that our institutions – government, businesses, schools – should also make up their own minds how to operate in our plague.  When there is a conflict between an institution and an individual, the rules of the institution must prevail.  Example: Walmart says wear a mask, but you don’t want to – you wear a mask or shop elsewhere.  “But all the stores tell me to wear a mask.”  “Yeah, adapt or die” (not of COVID-19 but of starvation and stupidity).  Am I suggesting that anti-mask folks are stupid and anti-social?  Yes.  But that they can do as they please as long as the people or institutions they interact with don’t object.  It’s a free country – until you have to interact with others’ freedoms. 

Will we ever get back to normal?  Sure, but THIS is the “new normal,” get used to it.