A Humane Pandemic Response

This can be our finest hour. We can respond to this pandemic with care, wisdom, grace and compassion. We can be a beacon, not just of liberty and technological progress, but of shared purpose, mutual aid and brotherly love. This plan envisions a humane response to the pandemic.

If I was a legislator or worked in the executive branch, this would be my recommendation on how to navigate this pandemic. I would work with my colleagues to improve these ideas, make this plan a reality and implement it. Note: This is based upon no actual experience with epidemiology or economic interventionism, just my armchair study of the human condition, and ideas sourced from global news outlets on what’s working, not working and still has yet to be tried.  

Why am I writing this? I need a plan that reads like it was written for people and not shareholders. I haven’t yet seen one. I have seen briefings, bailouts, tweets and executive orders, but no humane plan or coordinated effort to contain the pandemic. Before we get to the economic recovery and transformation, which I explored in “A Vision for a Post-pandemic Economy”, let’s first flatten the curve and do it with care, love and dignity. I think we can do this for about $2.03T.

COVID-19 Containment and Cooperation ($760M)

• DAILY CALLS WITH STATE GOVERNORS and public health officials to share latest status, what’s working. Calls lead by Dr. Fauci.
• DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT utilized to temporarily nationalize selected factories to ensure the US has the PPEs and testing kits it needs as soon as possible. $690M (Source: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157850641471999&id=614736998)
• COVID TRACKING APP to empower everyone to know where the high concentrations of cases are so they can avoid them or take enhanced precautions; copy / partner with South Korea to make the app available in the U.S. $10M
• CASE TRACKER TASK FORCE - The CDC needs to hire and train 300K case trackers at $100k/yr for 2 years, preference given to people of color and those recently laid off, to ensure each municipality can track and isolate COVID-19 cases. $60M

Economic Support ($401B)

• HOUSEHOLD FINANCE. Grant of $2k/mo per household making less than $100k/year for the next 4 months. ~50M HH x $2k x 4 months = $400B
• LOCAL / CLEAN ECONOMY INFRASTRUCTURE. Create partnership with Yelp, the SBA, U.S. Green Business Council and B Labs to develop and publish a zipcode by zipcode list of available services and goods for delivery or pick up, offered by local small businesses (less than 50 employees), green businesses and B Corps. This allows for money to start circulating again in the local / clean / impact economy and for laid-off workers from retail and service businesses to be rehired. ($1M)
• RENT + DEBT DEFFERMENT. Defer all rent, mortgage payments, car payments and credit card payments for 4 months, adding those payments onto the end of the loan, interest-free.

Healthcare Recommendations + Support ($40B)

• STAY SAFE. Existing social distancing, face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and sequestering are important and are now federally recommended, supported and funded (see above), and executed legally by each state’s Governor under executive order.   
• EAT HEALTHY. When people are unhealthy, they are more likely to need medical care. If we can get healthier, we will need less care, and the healthcare workers will have more time to test and treat those with COVID-19. So, in the same way we planted victory gardens in WW2, we need a victory health regimen in this crisis. We need to all be in the best physical shape possible, exercising everyday, spending time outside (responsibly) at least twice a day, eating an organic and plant-forward diet, sleeping well and taking key supplements to reduce inflammation and improve our immune system, such as buffered vitamin C, ionized zinc, garlic and tumeric / circumin.
• GET STRONG. There are a number of 30-day exercise programs online that anyone can do regardless of whether or not they identify as an athlete or even exercise. However, not all exercises are created equal. Among the best researched and most effective methods in increasing our strength, stamina and immune response are yoga and HIIT (high intensity interval training), for example, Julie Marie’s 30 day “Yoga for Weight Loss” for beginners who want a mix of HIIT and yoga (available on Amazon Prime).
• ENHANCED DISTANCING. Allow people to run errands only 2 times a week. Monday and Wednesday for those with a driver's license / ID card ending in an odd number, and Tuesday and Thursday for those ending in an even number. This has people plan their household needs better, travel less, reduces exposure, and gives frontline essential workers a day to train, restock, and 2 days off to rest and rejuvenate.
• DELIVERY. Each month for the next 4 months, I would ensure each household received a box that contained masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, supplements (C, zinc, garlic, turmeric), coupons for organic produce, recipes for resilience, and recommendations for exercise and responsible social connection activities (see below). $10 x 4 x 100M households = $40B 

Heal and empower people, restore faith in government and distribute justice ($1.7T)

• FAITH IN GOVERNMENT. Part of the reason America is in a mental health crisis is that we have never trusted the government less. I believe Americans need to be reassured that the government has learned from its mistakes and is improving matters. First, I would address the American people and take full responsibility for the federal government’s botched efforts. I would take responsibility for decimating the pandemic response team in 2018. I would take responsibility for the 4 months we wasted before we lifted a finger, the preventable deaths, now totalling over 35,000 and projected to be at least twice that. 
• JUSTICE. I would take responsibility for refusing the tests offered to us by the WHO. I would take responsibility for not taking this seriously and investing $700M in PPEs, testing machines in December of 2019, which would have prevented the bulk of this loss of human life and the $7 trillion economic loss that resulted. I would set up a fund, similar to the 9/11 fund, for the families of the essential workers and first responders who have died from COVID-19, to ensure these families are not financially impacted by our government’s malfeasance. I would ensure that everyone in congress and the executive branch who knew about the warnings, refusing the WHO tests and took part in eliminating the pandemic response team be charged with gross negligence and manslaughter by the Justice Department. ~20k deaths x $500k payout to families = $10B
• GRATITUDE. As a thank you for all the essential workers who risked their lives everyday to provide us with food and services, I would ensure that every essential worker has access to a G.I. Bill after the pandemic, entitling them to a full-ride (room, board, healthcare) for 2-years at a public college or trade school of their choice, so that, if they choose, they can a step towards their long-deferred dream. 53M workers x $60k x ~50% uptake = $1.6T
• SOCIAL HEALTH. Given that we still need to go outside and be social for our health and well-being, I would encourage physically-distanced gatherings by block. On alternate Saturdays from 1-5pm, the homes / units on the North and East side of the street will set up a 10 foot perimeter and sit outside to socialize, while their neighbors on the South and West sides of the street walk by and chat. The following Saturday, the neighbors on the South and West sides of the street would “host”. Encourage games, music, talent shows, etc.
• GRIEF. We are grieving. All of us are grieving on some level. We can be grieving death. We can be grieving a lost job / work community / income. We can have anticipatory grief over the knowledge that we cannot go back to normal after the pandemic. We can have grief that our elected officials keep letting us down. We need space for all that grief. I would ensure that every American had access to grief work, hiring and training community counselors in grief work and standing up a hotline for every American to be listened to and guided through their healing. Hire and train 1k grief counselors for 2 year contracts @ $100k/yr. $200M
• PURPOSE. We are confused. We each have a unique purpose, however, it is now less clear than it used to be. It is said that purpose is a bridge between our souls and the world. Now that the world is undergoing massive change, we don’t know who we are in relationship to it. We need purpose discovery work to regain a sense of sovereignty, vitality and empowerment. Plus, there are numerous physiological benefits to purpose (staves off depression, improves immune system health, longer life, stronger cardiovascular system, improves memory and cognition, increases likelihood to exercise and utilize preventative care, fewer doctor and ER visits), prosocial benefits (more civically engaged, more likely to learn, more inclusive, better emotional regulation, increased wisdom, grit, temperance). Sources: ScienceOfPurpose.org We’d hire and train 1,000 purpose coaches for 2 years at $100k/year to deliver group purpose discovery programs such that every American had access to it. $200M 

This plan may sound wild and crazy, but it is a far cry from a Wall Street or corporate bailout. It is certainly more preferrable to the Hooverville we're headed towards. And just like with renewable energy and sustainable business practices, if we were wrong and didn’t allocate capital as efficiently as possible, we still would be living our values in beautiful ways and make life better for those who most need it. Why not err on the side of values this time? We erred on the side of capital for the last 3 "stimulus packages", so I think its only fair that we've got next.

Of course, this is just one way to handle the pandemic with compassion and care. And I know you have great ideas and a giant heart. What’s missing? What would you do differently or add to make this response our finest hour?

Please share your thoughts in the comments and tag anyone you'd like to join this conversation.

About the Author

Brandon Peele (he/him) is a Midwesterner, best-selling author, international speaker, the Vice President, People Science at ion Learning. Over the last two decades has written / co-written 4 books on purpose activation, and worked with organizations like Morgan Stanley, LinkedIn, the US Marine Corps and Johnson & Johnson to activate purpose-led and inclusive cultures. 

He has also taught at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota and Northern Arizona University, and has had his work featured in media outlets such as Forbes, U.S. New and World Report and Conscious Company Magazine.

He is a PGI Certified Purpose GuideTM, Imperative Certified Purpose LeaderTM, serves on the Council of the Global Purpose Leaders and has an MBA in Leadership from Columbia Business School. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Stephanie.