Covid-19 Panic

Monday I drove down the mountain to do my weekly grocery shopping. As a senior, read high risk person, I was hoping the news outlets were exaggerating about the panic buying they were reporting. They weren't! All of the markets I saw were packed with people, and many of the shelves in the market where I shop were bare. I was surprised at some of the things people were trying to hoard – such as bread and milk, neither of which have long shelf lives (frozen milk?). This made no sense to me at all. Forget about social distancing; the people in that store were shoulder to shoulder, and it took much longer to shop as everyone was trying to find alternatives for all of the things the market no longer had.

So here we had people greatly increasing their chances of getting the virus by coming into close contact with a large number other people, and they did so in an effort to prepare for the eventuality of getting the virus and/or having to shelter in place. It sounds like a self fulfilling prophesy, doesn't it? But no one said panic is reasonable. In this case the fear was so palpable that I thought I must be missing something. I looked up at the hills half expecting to see the four horsemen of the apocalypse ready to launch a cavalry charge, and expecting to hear the gun nuts locking and loading as they prepared to get and protect what they think they and their families will need in order to survive until the final day of judgment. I know that is a hell of a statement for someone who thinks it is unlikely that there is a god. And since I am obviously not qualified to render an opinion on the subject, I will leave it to you to opine about what kind of judgment there will be for people who try to prolong their miserable mortal lives by fighting non-believers and believers alike for resources even when they are sure the end is in sight for everyone.

My own opinion is that our salvation is intertwined with the threat. What I mean is that even though our contact with others is a risk, it is by helping each other that we will be able to minimize the damage caused by the virus. Good people are already reaching out to help friends and neighbors, and they are still taking reasonable precautions, including social distancing. Some leaders are also trying to reason with people and calm people without understating the threat we face. This morning while outlining the steps he is taking and what he thinks we need to do, Governor Cuomo told us not to panic. I really want to thank him for saying that the panic buying is not helping. Unfortunately saying there is enough for everyone if everyone acts reasonably is a bit like an economist telling people not to sell as the stock market is crashing. What the economist is telling people is true, but most people are afraid of getting stuck with worthless stock if they follow the advice not to sell. I should add here that many people are also afraid that we will not find a way to get groceries to people in need of them. So I was pleased this morning when I saw that markets, such as Stater Brothers, were having senior hours to protect high risk people such me from the panicked throng as we shop for necessities. Hopefully we will shop for what we need now rather than simply forming a throng of panicked seniors who are determined to stock up for some possible future need.

Trump is not responsible for the pandemic, but he is a so untrustworthy that he is more of a hindrance than a help. In this regard the pandemic is just revealing once more an ineptitude that is truly astounding given the expertise and resources readily available to any POTUS. We have to put an end to the age of Trump. I don't care what the risks are in going to the polls in November. A mail in ballet would be nice, but I will do anything to vote against Trump!

Let Us Know, Joe?

I would rather have a progressive who compromises with moderates than a moderate who tries to unite the nation by making concessions to uncompromising right wing Republicans. Today the panicked pundits are wringing their hands over the threat Trump poses to this nation, and they are urging Bernie Sanders to show his support for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, by dropping out of the race. That is not going to happen – at least not yet. Bernie just announced that he is staying in the race. I know many people will disagree with Bernie's contention that he is winning the ideological debate while losing the electability debate. But Bernie is not wrong in stating that most people and particularly Democrats now favor a single payer health care plan! Most people also know that the system is rigged to allow the rich to get much richer at the expanse of the working men and women of this nation.

So if Bernie is almost certain to lose the race for delegates but he is winning the policy debate, why is he still running? The answer is that the reaction of the voters to Bernie's agenda is not that simple. In regard to health care and other systemic economic issues the devil is in the details. While most people know the system is broken, the many decades the Republicans have spent vilifying socialism and crying about tax and spend liberals continues to muddy the water. Older voters in particular are sensitive to any increase in taxes, and they often voice their objections to all taxes while ignoring the fact that what those taxes pay for actually saves them money in the long run. Meanwhile a younger generation is saying: “Hey gramps, that pothole you curse when you hit it every morning is going to cost you a lot more than the taxes you would have to pay to fix it!” The bottom line is that there is not just a divide between Democrats and Republicans, and a divide between progressives and moderates, there is also a divide between younger and older generations.

Could that be why Joe Biden has gone from portraying himself as the safe (read moderate) candidate to now insisting that he is actually a progressive candidate? To state the obvious, he will need the Bernie or progressive wing of the party and the youth vote to win the general election! In this regard I want to tell the people who are blaming Bernie for Hillary Clinton losing to Trump in 2016 to stop it! That election was Hillary's to win or lose, and, with a little help of Comey and Putin, she lost it. Then as now Bernie continues to press for systemic changes because he knows we are in need of such changes. Bernie did not set out to sabotage Hillary or to elect Trump. Whether Bernie should stop campaigning for his policies now is not an easy one to answer. Asking his supporters to hold their noses and vote for an agenda they consider inadequate in order to get rid of the dangerously corrupt and incompetent Trump agenda is going to be a hard sell. Like it or not, Bernie has redefined progressive, and Joe's attempts to now claim the progressive mantle makes Joe sound like he just does not get it. Bernie's young supporters do not have to see the end of the rainbow, but they do have to feel as though they are at least moving toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

Joe Biden has to be aware of the unrest of our times. He has to know that what he is offering is not new or exciting. At best he is saying that he has been a progressive and is not adverse to change. He should assure the voters that he will encourage and embrace any positive changes congress can deliver, and he should urge voters to elect Democratic senators and congress members who can bring about those changes. In other words, Joe Biden's first goal must be to seek unity within his own party. He needs to convince us that he will be a moderate who compromises with progressives rather than a moderate who makes concessions to uncompromising right wing Republicans. Because we all know what a nihilistic pile of crap the Republican Party has become, Joe must accept the fact that making concessions to Republicans and compromising with progressives are mutually exclusive choices.

Is there anything Joe Biden could do that would keep me from voting for him in the general election? Probably not.  As Bernie said, "beating Trump is the most important thing." What I am saying here is that we need Joe's help in convincing disappointed young people who support Bernie to vote for Joe. As I said about Hillary Clinton, this is Joe 's election to win or lose!