In the face of the current challenges of the coronavirus we all find ourselves rethinking our lives and prioritizing what we find to be most important to us and what, if anything, we should be doing to deal with this challenge on a societal level.
Some things become very clear. First, all of us are at some degree of risk and we do not yet know the extent of that risk. We are personally vulnerable, and we do not control those risks. Second, we are in this together, as a society and even as a human race. The result is that we cannot reduce our personal vulnerability very effectively without also reducing the vulnerability of others. This is not the kind of crisis in which we could simply isolate ourselves and let others do the heavy lifting. At that point we become part of the problem and not part of the solution.
Now, back to our American basics. First, we must remember that our national heritage is democracy -- a society that values all citizens and that works to help those who are most vulnerable and needy. In other words, we take back the direction of the nation from the economic elite who played a large part in dismantling our social safety nets in the name of profit.
Our resources must be first directed to saving lives and providing assistance to those most critically affected by the massive dislocation that is required to combat the spread of this disease. Spending our resources bailing out banks and corporations rather than earmarking those funds for the survival of our citizens is total folly. It only exposes the bankrupt vision of that economic model.
We need to take personal responsibility for restoring democracy to save our lives and our futures.
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Bob Passi
Baxter
