A bit of a follow up.

I feel like what I said previously about how we might recover from the current crisis might be interpreted by some as overly rosy and glossing over the fact that nearly everything about enduring this is an unspeakable tragedy that will result in up to millions of preventable deaths.

Now, from what I understand no response to the virus would have been perfect, that just isn't how pandemics work, but here in the USA we have absolutely been knowingly betrayed by our leaders directly leading to the situation we are in now.

Let's talk about that situation a bit, I don't think people are really internalizing how long this is going to last for, local governments are talking about a month worth of closures, the feds are discussing stimulus bills with a two month time frame, businesses are refusing to commit to anything more than a couple of weeks of being shut. This is optimistic at best and harmfully disingenuous at worst.

I've mentioned before I listen to a lot of sports talk radio, and I have a timeline for you:
March 9 - Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert, during a post game interview, was dismissive of the Coronavirus reports and capped off the talk by coughing directly on the Microphone.

March 11 - Ruby Gobert tests positive for the virus in a stunning display of karma.

March 12- The NBA suspends its season.

March 13 - Virtually every other sports league from amateur to professional follows suit.

Now some of them gave dates to come back to play after a month or so, but virtually none of them are talking about that now, most events like the PGA tour or Kentucky Derby have been rescheduled until the fall, and almost no one thinks the NBA is going to finish the current season, baseball is similarly up in the air.

The leagues are very much in touch with health authorities all around the world, and billions of dollars are at stake with their seasons, I tend to believe that they are not over-reacting here. Which means basically we are fucked.

This is a marathon not a sprint, and the plans to survive it, at every level have to acknowledge that fact, so far I haven't seen a lot of that.

This brings up some interesting possibilities. One of the biggest ways capitalism prevents change is that by forcing the working class to, well, work every day it keeps us from being able to protest or push for change because we have to choose between food and shelter or improving our lives. One reason we aren't seeing the powers that be emphasize how long this will last is that none of them are super thrilled about a pissed off population suddenly realizing it has no job anyway and there is nothing stopping them from stringing Jeff Bezos from a streetlamp anymore. When gas is cheap(ish) and no one can fire you for taking some time off then suddenly you might find yourself a bit more free to find a half-brick and throw it through a day traders office.

You better believe the DOJ and local police forces are thinking about this stuff already.

This is why some form of Universal Basic Income is probably inevitable, desperate, bored people are much more likely to go off on the structures of government than just bored people. The president is many things, but he does know that money solves lots of problems and that is likely why he supports payments like that, I mean mostly that is because he thinks it will buy him the election(it might, sadly) but keeping us quiet is probably on someone's mind in the administration too.

There is a lot of resistance to UBI in any form, including one time "handouts" but I think the need to be seen doing something will overcome the inherent reluctance to give money to people who don't deserve it, by which I mean poor people. But the current plans are not thinking long term either, if a bill passes the Senate tomorrow and gets signed into law by the end of the week that will only pay for maybe a month for people, then they have to go right back to figuring out how to keep us happy, or at least quiet, for the rest of the crisis at minimum. The only long term solution is UBI or suspending civil liberties and just straight up killing poor people. Which I am sure is preferred by a lot of people but unlikely to be a good long term strategy since poor people are the only thing that will get the workforce going again when this does end.

The ideal result is UBI does happen, and when the crisis does end in a year and a half or so, attempts to end it are met with such resistance it that it becomes a non-starter. My guess is we won't be quite that lucky, but maybe it puts some cracks in the walls.

I want to switch gears and talk personal stuff now. I feel like I am not as scared as many others, oh I am terrified by the issues I talked about above, but on a personal level I do not have a huge worry and I wonder if that is healthy. Oh I am washing my hands and keeping my social distancing and so on, I'm not an idiot. But I hear and talk to a lot of folks who seem legitimately terrified of the virus itself.
I know that I personally am not in a ton of danger, I can surely put a lot of people in danger if I catch it unknowingly, but I am not worried for myself really. I am also still working and apparently a pizza delivery driver is "essential personnel" so my income should remain relatively stable, and if we do end up getting check I might actually exit the crisis in a much better financial situation than when I started it. I am scared yes, but only on an existential level and not for my own personal safety, and compared to a lot of folks that seems different.

I don't want to be scared, my brain gives me plenty of things to keep me awake at night without fears of the plague, but I do wonder if I am missing or not internalizing something important. I guess there is still time.

Be good to each other, ask for help if you need it, everything passes and this will too, eventually.