SAVE LIVES OR SAVE OUR ECONOMY? WE NEED A HAPPY MEDIUM? WE NEED TO SAVE OUR SOCIETY!

This article, written by me, under my Global Drew Pen Name; published, May 20, 2020, in my Global 3T Blog / Website; https://global3t.com/!

Man talking about wrecking the economy, and that is putting it mildly. The lack of real leadership on all levels, of government, with their partisan issues and strategies, is killing us, our economy and, consequently, our society.

This weaponized social catastrophe, labeled the COVID-19 Pandemic, has exposed first and foremost the fundamental failure of a Profit First Health and Medical Industrial complex; which is ill-equipped and ill-prepared for the often predicted, regularly happened and ever-present pandemic threat.

The Repubs are systematically attempting to disable if not prevent a General Election, for the presidency; while enriching and empowering #T_Rump and other conservative factions of well-connected and often non-capable cronies; with contracts and positions of power and status.

Also, state and local government spending, to address the crisis, has shown puppet political hacks from both political parties are incapable of acting in the real best interest of the people; using the stimulus programs and unchecked crisis spending as a grabbag and free-for-all for cronies and insiders; all to the detriment of People of the USA.

The Global Slow Boat From China-centric supply chain shows how utterly inefficient and incapable it is of responding to such dire circumstances; with little or no real domestic backup or recourse.

The bigger problem is the USA is not equipped to manage its own production needs, whether they be crisis fueled or otherwise; due to decades of dismantling the USA manufacturing ecosystem. Blame it on decades of the short-sightedness of the ‘numerical modeling’ addiction to the ‘Cost Cut for Profits’ by corporate MBAs!!!

My real concerns and fear are if these damned Dems and Repubs do not find common ground, between the Dems and the Left’s position of protecting the population at all cost and the Repubs and the Conservative Right’s position of putting the economy first without any real concern for life; we the People will end up with nothing.

The big question is; “What benefit is served by saving the population so they can starve to death because the Economy is in total ruins?” On the other hand, what is the benefit of saving big business and the stock market, if the end result is there are no people to continue to use and support it, beyond the short term win? We have to find a realistic, acceptable for all “Happy Medium”.

Before I am accused of supporting the Repubs and the Conservative Right’s Money First ideology, I must state, in my opinion, no matter what we do within in the totally inadequate, in most nations, capabilities of our global health and wellness ecosystem; there will be millions of casualties Globally.

What writing next, about my feelings about how the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis in On Chicago and the rest of Illinois, has relevance to how state and local leaders are managing the crisis nationally.

I am actually getting sick not from COVID-19, but of ‘Uber Rich’ Governor Pritzker and ‘A Little Bit Rich’ Mayor Lightfoot, and their legions of spokesperson’s, touting their hardline ‘Shelter In Place’ until it is over no matter the cost to you or how long it takes; as if that is possible or rational. Today one spokesperson, said, “staying home is easy”.

Mayor Lightfoot wants us to, enjoy ‘Shelter In Place’ by living vicariously through her private tours of major tourist attractions; in a kinda ‘just lIke you are there’ way. This she does while constantly demanding in an ‘I’m Your Mother tone’, stay at home, save lives. The implication being ’cause if I can do it so to can you’. Take about, ‘doing as I say, not as I do’. Mayor Lightfoot, you don’t stay at home and we see it every day. You are living your life outside and with people; being chauffeured around town; at the peoples’ expense.

Governor Pritzker is now facing a lot of push back and is now walking back his threat to, it seems, trying to criminalize, so-called violators of ‘stay at home’, ‘Shelter In Place’, defiance on the part of ‘desperate to survive’ small business people; with the possibilities of misdemeanor charges. Governor Pritzker, we know who is not ‘Sheltering In Place’; as you are demanding we do.

Mayor Lightfoot acts as though staying at home for months is no big deal, cause it “Saves Lives”! Guess what, most of the peoples’ lives are built around socializing at Work, In Parks and Gyms, on the Lakefront, in bars and restaurants, in Churches, at sporting and cultural events, Volunteering; all with people. 

In-person, face to face, socialization no matter the mode is critical to the survival if not the perpetuation of the Human and most other species; on Mother Earth. Socialization is in the DNA, of the Human Race.

By the way, Mayor Lightfoot, what’s with the knee jerk, “no absolutely not”, reaction to a reporter’s questions of, ‘will the Lakefront bike paths be open to Bicycle commuters’? I can only assume you are not now or have never been a bicyclist, commuter, or possibly otherwise. Not yo mention hundreds of runners, who would be on the lakefront paths, are now running on sidewalks, expelling heavily respiration; most wearing no masks due to the heat wearing a mask, while running would produce.

Let me tell you, bicycling, it is one of the ultimate expressions of social distancing. Not to mentions, keeping bicyclists off the streets of Chicago, will ‘Save Lives’! Chicago is ranked the nation’s 15th most dangerous city, in the USA, for cyclists, in a 2019 article in Insider. 

Tell us, Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot, how do we jettison millenniums of inbred social human behavior? Please, do not say, because you say it should be so because it is your job and you demand of us we do so and in some cases, threaten us, with legal recourse if we do not do so. 

Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker, please do not presume to be parental overseers of your constituents and end up being, like your predecessors, Sir Nose Devoid of Funk with no empathy for Regular Peoples’ Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs, Wants and Desires!!! Yes, I was paying attention in Psych 101.

I enthusiastically supported, during the elections. the mayor of my city and governor of my state. So I feel empowered to be critical, of their actions and behavior, with which I do not agree. It is my constitutional right, to do so; is it not? I also want to reiterate, that which I am stating about the leadership of Chicago and Illinois is most certainly applicable to almost every city and state in the US of America. 

The reality is Stay at Home, ‘Shelter In Place’ and Social Distancing is a now redundant Sound Bite at best and, in my opinion, a Big Publicity Stunt at worst; well-intended in some cases, not so much in others. 

While many Shelter In Place, essential workers are deployed from a variety of tasks from saving lives to garbage removal. They, essential workers, and we are subjected to essential workers coming and go into our so-called sheltered spaces. 

There is such reckless a wild west environment, I am constantly seeing news reports of realtors, landlords and property managers subjecting to dwelling occupants to their ‘right’ to show your space, in which you and your family are doing your “Shelter In Place” thing. Why is there a need for those who are home or apartment shopping, to want to invade peoples’ homes during a viral pandemic, to get a ‘look-see’? The big question is why is the government not preventing this activity.

Construction work is going on on occupied buildings, which are causing toxic substances to permeate the air of people, again, attempting to ‘Shelter In Place’! Most reports have been about non-essential work, which could have been delayed; until “Opening Up’ has become more of a reality.

Except for the most hardcore ‘Shelter In Place’ practitioners; most of us are forced to forgo the practice of ‘Shelter In Place’ on a regular basis as a matter of survival. We can’t all afford nor want meals and grocery delivery.

Those essential workers, many of whom are in the Low-income bracket, must go and come on a daily basis to their homes with family members, from vulnerable groups including older adults to very young children.

Did I mention, in my many trips to the Grocer, throughout Chicago’s near northside, over the past 3 months, I have seen no signs of getting the street pushers, homeless, mentally ill and beggars, of the streets. If that is not putting the rest of us at risk…!!!

IS ‘SHELTER IN PLACE’ A JOKE, ON US???!!! WHAT MUST BE DONE!!!

In my opinion, the Next Stimulus package needs to provide for the systematic but quickly ramping up of the healthcare ecosystem, to enable the accelerated total reopening of our economy, by the start of Summer. This Second Stimulus package should be one of true moral and ethical intent; 

1. There should be major provisions for the equipping and shoring up of our Health Care Ecosystem, which is now known to be adequate levels of preparedness.
2. Everybody deemed essential workers, should be guaranteed;
3. Hazard Pay
4. Adequate PPE
5. Paid Medical Leave Time off
6. Access to Medical Care
7. There should not be any PPP, tax cuts or aid for major corporations
8. Do not, by any means, bail out the uber greedy, executive and investor only serving, gluttonous stock buyback Airline industry; especially not while there is no tourism economy for it to serve.
9. PPP should be based on business income not the number of employees.
10. Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company employs less than 50 people.
11. Stimulus check should be for the lowered half of the income earners and all real poor people.
12. The first round of stimulus check included those still working and earning $90,000; why?
13. the stimulus checks provisions in the current bill passed by Congress, include those still working and earning $120,000; again why?
14. I believe those of the Congress was seeking to reward their high paid employees and cronies.
15. It has been revealed that a large percentage of stimulus check recipients, save the fund and do not stimulate the economy; no doubt it was the high-income earners, who save the funds.
16. Rather than providing fake stimulus funds to working high wage earners, put that money into more broadly available, substantially effective and longer-term Unemployment Compensation. 
17. This should be so, in light of the fact that most authorities are warning we should expect this COVID-19 induced economic depression to last well into 2021. 

I implore Democrat and Republican, Federal, State, County and Municipal Leaders to:

1. Launch a fully equipped, prepared and enabled health care ecosystem, 
2. Provide stimulus funds to those in real need, who will actually stimulate the economy,
3.  Provide real accessible support to every small and medium-sized business in real need of it,
4. Provide real protection, financial support and post COVID-19 empowerment to the Essential Workers.
5. Get the Economy Opened with a realistic people-centric New Normal, not some draconian power-brokers and detached rich person vision; which is a version of Marshall Law.
6. Most of all provide funds for those who really need it, to survive; through adequate Unemployment Benefits and Public Assistance, for as long as possible.

Let’s face facts, humans are Social Animals in the Darwinian sense. ‘Shelter in Place’ is not who we are as a species. Had not the ‘Shelter in Place’ we have, so far, been able to endure, not happened in the winter to spring, transition months, it would not have been as adhered to as much as it has, locally. regionally or nationally.

This weekend, Chicago, Illinois and the rest of the USA, as has been the case in some sun and warmth-blessed southern states temps, will hit the 70s to 80s and trending up from there. People are going to hit the streets, parks, beaches and anything open to us hard and heavy. Cabin Fever, if not just the overwhelming need for fresh air and social distancing from their families, will compel many, if not most, to do so. 

What are you elected officials and representatives of the people going to do; sick the police on your own constituents, as is depicted constantly by western media, like some dictatorial banana republic dick head; like the one in the white house?

I do acknowledge many political leaders, on both sides of the aisle, have pushed back aggressively on such extreme enforcement measures. That being so, I do expect changes will be enacted, to not so harshly penalize those who are already being penalized by the ‘Bizzaro Universe’ level assault on mankind.

What is at stake is preserving our collective Mental, Physical and Spiritual Health and Wellness, as well as preserving what is left of our economy; the Dow Jones + S&P excluded?

How are you, Federal, State, County, Municipal, Institutional and Corporate Leadership going to strike an optimum balance between so-called saving lives at all cost and saving the economy at all cost? 

An Inquiring Mind Wants To Know!!!

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