Lord, the Pain of it
The good mayor of El Paso is at wit’s end. He is worrying himself into the grave. The City’s hospitals and morgues are overflowing. Seems that the people have to work to eat, and, if they work, they get the virus and get sick, and, too many die. Damned capitalism is as deadly as the virus; together they are a catastrophe. Maybe, if he would just step across the border into New Mexico, better yet, hop on a plane to San Francisco, better to get as far away from Texas as possible, we could explain the problem to him without being drowned out by the ignorant Texas dogma coming out of Austin; crapola he’s heard his whole life.
In a functioning state, there are dozens of examples, the government would have handed out masks and hand sanitizer, and free food as the need arose. It would have worked out a deal on the rents. The government would have mandated the changes needed to make the workplaces safe. If the government had done these things, had functioned, instead of blithering on about capitalism and the American way, the people could have kept on working without getting sick and dying by the droves; and, the economy could have kept on working. What our government didn’t do is killing us by the hundreds of thousands; destroying the nation.
So why did Texans vote for the GOP and specifically the Latinos in Texas? I mean I understand the Anglos wanting to keep their foot on the necks of brown people, but a lot of those poorer working stiffs voted for the capitalists.
Terry
Was a time, may still be, to an extent, when Texas children were brain-washed from infancy, and especially in school. Fed a diet of propaganda that included what it meant to be a Texan, how to think like a Texan, how to be a Texan. Weren’t we all to an extent? I think that most of us never get beyond this early imprinting. When we say that we are thinking, we are simply thinking what should we think about this.
excellent, insightful point, Ken….the only way we get real change is if we go back to our childhood and kick the bottom out of it…
I agree with Rjs it is an excellent point, yet things do change. It is a little bit like the point made by one of the computer moguls years ago that the hardest thing about inventing is imagining something. I know I rejected most of my childhood instruction specifically religion and politics, but I certainly view the world in a capitalist frame.
From Ed Yong at The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/11/americas-best-prepared-hospital-nearly-overwhelmed/617156/
Read that one too . . .
The following from a post at Digby’s site is what I have been saying to people since about May and the WW 2 analogy was being applied:
https://digbysblog.net/2020/11/come-be-a-hero/
“As I put on my PPE before a shift in the ER, I think of seasick WWII soldiers, riding toward a beach as other young men on shore tried to kill them in the surf. Compared to what they faced, what I do is easy.
Then, no one knew how long the war would last or if they would survive. People back home collected rubber and bacon grease for years, gave up countless liberties and luxuries, and no one ever called the war a hoax, even if they never saw a Nazi in their backyard.
We’re eight months into COVID. World War II lasted six years and a day. The Great Depression lasted 10 years. The 1918 flu lasted two years and two months.
Are we really that soft? That careless? That selfish?'”
Now I just say: It’s a damn good thing we are trying to fight WW 2 with our current crop of citizens. 1/2 would be bitching about their liberty being stolen because they have to….(fill in the blank).
Frankly, the Depression and the Dust bowl that also came along would have been a better historical event to draw on for rallying We the People.
Either way, FDR was the person of both times and even the Democrats are wanting to call on his memory and legacy.
This article by an ER doc sums it up.
https://digbysblog.net/2020/11/come-be-a-hero/
As I put on my PPE before a shift in the ER, I think of seasick WWII soldiers, riding toward a beach as other young men on shore tried to kill them in the surf. Compared to what they faced, what I do is easy.
Then, no one knew how long the war would last or if they would survive. People back home collected rubber and bacon grease for years, gave up countless liberties and luxuries, and no one ever called the war a hoax, even if they never saw a Nazi in their backyard.
We’re eight months into COVID. World War II lasted six years and a day. The Great Depression lasted 10 years. The 1918 flu lasted two years and two months.
Are we really that soft? That careless? That selfish?
Seems this system is not working well. If I post a link, the comment goes away. I have confirmed it in that I tried posting a link to a Digby post twice. This comment you are now reading.
Daniel:
You know our system tracks where you go!
Ken
much as I hate to say it, I agree with you (entirely?)
I would add that the best way to pay for it would be to increase the unemployment insurance tax so those working where it is safe would help those unable to work (because it’s not safe) survive. worker paid unemployment insurance: because it could happen to you.
this incidentally is a Roosevelt idea. one the current Dems and Progressives are trying to replace by welfare paid for by ‘the rich.’ because that has always worked so well.
Becker
i don’t know about soft and selfish, but people have always been soft in the head. about half of this country has been fed a steady diet of lies for a generation at least. they haven’t got a chance.
i think vonnegut had one of his characters say “help us believe the lies that make us brave.” that’s why if vote for dems. they are liars like all politicians. but the lies they tell are “good” lies. mostly.