Let’s come to terms with a few things.
Covid – 19 represents something we, despite our own good sense as a world population, expect. SARS, Aids, Ebola, Ecoli and other fast spreading infections are huge warnings that this will continue to happen – and we need to be prepared for this.
Our infrastructure for the care of people cannot handle this for two reasons
First, it’s privately owned and intended to make a profit. Profit motive, at its core makes its primary goal the antithesis of human wellbeing. It’s not bad for companies to aim at profit. It’s bad to consider healthcare a profit system. (I’m not arguing that Doctors shouldn’t make good money. I’m arguing that profit should not be the goal for the funding of a medical system).
Secondly, our Republican representatives, our so called “conservative” political party, have sold off, defunded and otherwise worked to derail our publicly owned systems to push people into becoming customers of the privately owned systems – and to take over the public investment at no or little cost. This party is conserving nothing. It’s radically destroying the protections we built, after the great depression, to keep these kinds of things from happening.
Think about this:
If we all had a plan that assured we would have enough to eat, that we wouldn’t be evicted from our homes for losing our jobs, if we couldn’t go into debt because of school or medical bills and we had environmental protections that prevented unsafe food and pollution practices, then, where exactly would the emergency be?
It would be with the care of the people dying from this disease and the prospect of not working would have an impact, but it wouldn’t “destroy our way of life”. People who drive ubers or work at restaurants wouldn’t be worried about being homeless or without food or medical care and wouldn’t be worrying about the medical costs destroying their lives.
By making a substantial social safety net, we don’t ruin life. We preserve it. Conserve it.
And the emergency in business would be substantially less too. They could idle with the understanding they could draw on assistance to keep workers whole while the issue was dealt with. Yes, they would need to idle in some cases, for public safety, but that would just be put on hold.
But in our current system, businesses will be punished for standing still, for doing what is right in cases like this. And they will layoff and cut workers in order to “stay in business” but that’s like cutting off your legs because you drank poison. Even if you recover from the poisoning, you now have no legs. Cutting your means of production is killing the golden goose. Idling it is not perfect, but you can still come back from it.
So when people argue against a progressive agenda with environmental and social safety nets, they are arguing for short sightedness, they are arguing against the ability to do the right thing. They are arguing not for reasonable capitalism, where the company makes a good profit – they are arguing for a profit only motive. They are arguing for money over everything else. And it’s a suicide argument. Everything – our health, welfare, safety, morals are all sacrificed on the alter of greed. This cannot be the case.
Capitalism is an economic system designed to make money. It is not a form of government. Democracy is a system designed to protect all of the people. To pursue life, liberty and happiness. Life. We cannot protect life by protecting greed. We can only protect life by intentionally protecting life.
Better vote Democrat. Register to vote if you have not. Register to vote by mail if need be.
IN PA https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/OnlineAbsenteeApplication/#/OnlineAbsenteeBegin
Or look up mail in or absentee ballots in your state.
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