大象传媒

We won鈥檛 have official data for some months, but it鈥檚 already clear that the new coronavirus pandemic is unleashing severe economic disruptions that are likely to be long-lasting. Numerous small businesses are shuttering and laying off staff. The stock market plunged so deeply and so frequently that the built-in 鈥渃ircuit breakers鈥� to halt trading were tripped several times already. And there has been a general halt to most economic activity in the country as governments are strapped to address a surge in unemployment compensation claims, support medical industries and infrastructure, and mitigate the worst economic effects as parts of the U.S. join what was already .

If there鈥檚 ever been a time to radically change our social service policies, this is it.

The solutions to the acute problems of the coronavirus outbreak are pretty straightforward. Even Hillary Clinton鈥攏ot one of our most progressive politicians鈥攑osted: 鈥渇ree testing, fee waivers, emergency sick leave, quarantines, cancellations, giving a damn.鈥� .

The danger has been apparent since mid-January, when Chinese scientists published the virus鈥� genome and researchers began working on developing tests. But as the virus spread, we鈥檝e found ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented economic catastrophe. We鈥檝e been shown that our deregulated capitalist society cannot protect the population during a national emergency.

The unchecked spread of the novel coronavirus across the United States has exposed not just that cracks run through the economy, but that there is no foundation beneath it.

Right now, as we enter into the second week of a growing national shutdown, the world is seeing the results of that:

1. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of small businesses, and the jobs they provide, are at risk, and no amount of tax cuts or other deferred assistance will help them;

2. People are not inherently rational in moments of crisis (witness the hoarding of toilet paper, as if we were running out of trees); and

3. A minimized federal government is a recipe for chaos, not market efficiency.

And the Trump administration has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to enact the bare minimum of measures to contain the outbreak.

Unfortunately, it鈥檚 likely to get a lot worse before it gets better.

How To Contain An Outbreak

We can learn lessons from other countries such as South Korea, Singapore, and even China, which implemented widespread testing and quarantining. The numbers of new cases in those nations has drastically declined.

But our efforts so far have been woefully insufficient. Health care workers across the country are in dire need of medical supplies and protective equipment鈥攕pecifically N95 single-use masks and ventilators鈥攚hile the Trump administration has been reluctant to use the power of the federal government to boost production, instead . Reports as of Monday are that the Trump administration is because he鈥檚 more concerned about the stock market in an election year than he is with a lethal pandemic that in about 100 days has already , in the U.S., and which is accelerating fast, according to the World Health Organization.

The lone sane voice in the administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, . Earlier in March, Fauci on how long it would take a vaccine to be available, and has consistently provided a realistic and grim view of the pandemic鈥檚 course, in contrast to Trump鈥檚 rosy (and blatantly false) claims.

Infections in the U.S. are beginning to spike on a curve that mirrors Italy鈥檚, with the New York City metropolitan area becoming the new hot zone for the virus. The number of new , and is expected to accelerate over the coming weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Manichean scale, there鈥檚 Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has suggested that . He鈥檚 not alone. Right-wing pundits have taken up the call that saving the economy is more important than preventing the loss of several million people. This from the same crowd that denigrated the Affordable Care Act over a made-up scandal about 鈥渄eath panels.鈥�

What can we do?

Government To the Rescue… Maybe?

A for Americans has been introduced in Congress, although even now some commentators say it won鈥檛 be enough to avoid a recession. To no surprise, the Republicans would prefer to bail out corporations and make sure Planned Parenthood can鈥檛 benefit from it. Democrats in the Senate were able to ensure that $500 billion in corporate bailout funding could not be kept secret until after the election, and that neither Trump鈥檚 businesses nor that of anyone else in government could benefit from the bailouts. But as of Wednesday, , and whether to extend it.  

So, it鈥檚 come down to the state and local governments.

Governors and mayors in some of the hardest hit states鈥擶ashington, New York, California鈥� are closing schools for the remainder of the academic year or ordering city populations to 鈥渟helter in place.鈥� The chorus of demands from governors for the federal government to invoke the Defense Production Act to produce critical medical supplies is growing louder, even as the .

And for those who are in denial, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who, in what looked like a scene out of Jaws, , the local officials stepped in and closed the beaches anyway.

More so now than before, which state you live in may be more of a determining factor in how well you weather this storm. Florida might as well be a different country than New York.

That may be the point of federalism, but it鈥檚 also the default position of the government during a catastrophe; not just now, but also during Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Maria in 2017, after 9/11, even during and the . The feds can coordinate efforts, handle logistics, provide funding, and most important, provide leadership.

The real work, though, happens at the local level.

Forty years of defunding social services has left us with little in the way of a functional national government to respond to a major emergency. And every day that the president dodges responsibility or refuses to direct businesses to produce critical medical supplies, .

We will get through this, however. We always do. The question is at what cost鈥攖o us as individuals and as a nation.

Priorities and Politics

Once the virus runs its course鈥攁nd we have no idea how long that will take鈥攊t鈥檚 still an election year, in which the most unqualified and unfit president in U.S. history is standing for reelection.

Presumably, former Vice President Joe Biden is going to be the challenger. Will our current situation open his eyes to the need for a more socialist platform, such as the one that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been pushing?

That would be smart. Because if there鈥檚 ever been a sign that we need a national health care program, to provide paid sick leave for all working people, and to implement countless other protections for people who have been trampled by big business and their stand-ins in Congress, this is it.

The shutdown of the economy has demonstrated鈥攁gain鈥攖hat working people, not bankers, keep the economy running. When Congress passed a corporate tax cut in December 2017, businesses used the money to buy back their stock (boosting prices) and give bonuses to executives. Very little of it made it into the hands of working- and middle-class Americans.

That鈥檚 why an aid package needs to put money into people鈥檚 pockets. The current deal being floated, which includes a one-time payout of $1,200 per person, may sound nice, but that鈥檚 not even one month of rent for many people, and it doesn鈥檛 much help the rising number of newly unemployed. (Meanwhile, the , up to the equivalent of $2,900 USD per person per month. that would give individuals $2,000 per month for four months.)

We could do that, too. It鈥檚 called deficit spending.

The U.S. treasury can print more money to get us through this crisis鈥攐r any other emergency that comes our way. It鈥檚 just that in recent years, the neoliberal conventional wisdom has said we can鈥檛 do that, because, as former President Ronald Reagan said in his inaugural address, 鈥淕overnment is not the solution to our problem, .鈥�

So instead we squandered our fiscal strength on cutting corporate taxes.

If we were to print more money, we could keep the economy afloat and pursue an aggressive industrial policy to make medical equipment and build hospitals and quarantine facilities. And we can take advantage of this situation to strengthen our social safety nets so we鈥檒l be better prepared for the next pandemic鈥攐r maybe event prevent it.

This is a moment to rethink how our government functions. Are we really 50 individual nations competing with each other to procure medical equipment? Or are we one nation, undivided?

It鈥檚 time to choose.