Pragmatism in the Face of Peril
So… Coronovirus. That Rona. Ms. Rona. COVID-19. Or most accurately it’s viral name SARS-CoV-2. Whatever the fuck you call it, it’s insidious. The whole world has come to a halt. And I’ve been glued to the news and these crazy ass press conferences from all over. Let’s just say there’s a lot of ways to handle this, and a lot of ways not to as best evidenced by Trump. So what should we be doing and what can be done by the federal government to abate this crisis? I’ll try to be brief and concise, because time truly is of the essence.
Stay Yo Ass in the House.
This one is relatively simple. If someone in the household has a debit/credit card sign up for food/grocery delivery services and only leave the house in the event you cannot and are primarily cash based. Check your local news to see if grocery stores in the area have designated times for seniors to shop. Normally it’s in the morning. Wear a mask if you can find one or otherwise if you absolutely must leave the house. Other appropriate instances for leaving the house include places that are food deserts and require you to go to gas stations for basic staples. Otherwise, if you aren’t shipping personal protective equipment or handling a transaction vital to your financial health (banking, construction, electrical, vehicular) STAY HOME.
Better Hygiene All Around.
I think it’s swell that people are washing their hands more often and correctly (20 seconds, warm water and soap), BUT we know that there’s a whole swath of white people and men who only wash the upper parts of their body’s & let the soap run down their legs in addition to thinking it’s OK to not wash your hands after using the bathroom at your house. Y’all really gotta do better. That now includes wiping down your phone more frequently. And if you can find hand sanitizer God bless you. I’m holding on to my few ounces for dear life. Health really is wealth. You can’t pay COVID-19 off. Act like it. Stand back 6 feet and don’t be hanging around your housemates, especially the ones who are emergency workers.
Personal Protective Equipment Priorities and Ventilator Supply Shortages.
If you as an individual, or business entity such as private Dentist, Veterinarian or Construction firm etc. have a supply of N95 or even lesser masks I implore you to donate them to your local hospital or nursing homes or Home Healthcare affiliate so that we can get the people who are at most risk protected so that if more fall ill there will be a work force, including janitorial and hospital cafeteria staff to take care of civilians who get sick. As far as the national stock of ventilators are concerned the shortage is due to capitalism ruining a pilot for developing a smaller more effective version and Trump’s disbanding of critical government structures put in place by Obama after the Ebola crisis. What can we do about that? You can stay your ass at home and make sure that the inadequate amount being mass produced & distributed at a not snail’s pace by Trump because of the incompetent misuse of the Defense Production Act are available to those who need them most. This is so that doctors don’t have to play God with you and someone’s grandma because your silly ass had to be over all your friends small ass apartment parties and back yard slip‘n’slides. Then wanna say God got you. Yeah iight, little did you know God was a sleep deprived racist ER Resident with a poor moral compass.
Liberal Politics Are Gonna Get (More of) Us Killed.
There’s is no reason for sensible people to be acting like Joe Biden, or any other status quo candidate the DNC can muster up, will make due to steer us out of this crisis long term. Aside from his disqualifying multiple and recent credible sexual assault allegations, he actually has that toxic stan base that will go so far as to share white supremacist memes and degrade his Black women campaign staff. Then they’ll have the nerve to turn around and say insistence by way of valid questions posed around the premis that all healthcare should be free under Medicare 4 All and not just COVID-19 are attacks. You cannot write this shit. No amount of fawning over the “normalcy” of yesteryear or the calm steady common sense of Andrew Cuomo as a potential Presidential candidate will save us from shit like him pushing for cuts to Medicade and not taking swift action to release as many prisoners from Riker’s with as few exceptional circumstances required as possible. Now is the time to adopt a more radical (Leftist, Communist, Marxist, Socialist) politic and research and organize around rent, debt and general strikes. Solidarity and community cannot be just words, but have to be consistent actions now. Our collective survival depends on it.
In Closing…
I hope this post reaches you well, and if it doesn’t, I hope better days find you. Regardless. Use your voice or whatever reasonable power you think you have to make things easier for yourself and others. Affirmations and self care will be important in the months to come to fortify you psyche amidst chaos and cabin fever. Whatever that is for you, be it DJ battles on IG, Tik Toks, bingeing TV shows, games and films, working out or walking your pet (briefly) and/or regularly contacting friends and family, make sure you do it often to stay sane. This could be a while. Don’t wait to be told another 30 days after the current lie expires and have it screw with your mental health more than knowing this is going to last longer than April 30th. Expectations don’t always lead to disappointment, but please consider the source.