privilege

[dancesintherain]

i've for quite some time been against "reopening the economy" in my home state.  By that I mean returning to businesses, easing restrictions, etc. 

I only recently realized how much my resistance is stemming from a place of privilege.  By that, I mean that I work at a job that can be done from home and that continues to pay me.  So I don't have things that I'm losing outside of social contacts. 

I recognize that millions of people don't have that luxury.  News presentations on lines at food ban;ks and at grocery store free groceries have made me cry.  It's sad seeing so much financial hardship.

 

So...what are your thoughts on "reopening?"  As much as I can recognize my privilege, I do still think it would be a bad idea.  700 new cases a day is not flattening the curve.

[DogMan]

your economy over there was well placed previously, set in place by obama and the new bloke rode that wave and built on it

 

so you (USA) are pretty well set to offer additional help to those less  fortunate  than essential service workers

 

i really have no idea, and very little point of reference to even muse on it too much. But wanted to throw that in there

[dancesintherain]

Yeah, I'm worried that the gains we made have been eliminated.  So many people are unemployed.  So many are turning to food banks and groceries that lines stretch around blocks.  It's bad.

[confused]

Dogman you are so right that we have the resources to help people. But, the greed and corruption are so bad it does not get to the people in need.

 

I hear you dances. My husband and I are both essential workers so we don't have the financial need to open things up soon. 

I don't want my children to return to school yet, but they are over 18 and can care for themselves. 

I guess it will happen slowly, regionally, with more rural areas before the cities.

I do like our governor, Newsom. He follows the science, not the politics.  The western states Wash, Oreg, Cali are working together.  He gives daily briefings and prepared us for a long haul and no big gatherings in the near future. Right now they are focusing on the healthcare, providing supplies and help for workers and monitoring nursing homes.  I work in a residential mental health facility. We don't have seniors, but it still is 80 people in close quarters. We do our best to enforce 6 ft distance. We just started wearing masks. They provide disposable but I have a fabric one i wash and reuse.  

I think it is too soon yet. I could not believe the pics I saw of people on a crowded beach in Florida.  You would not think they know there is a pandemic. 
 

just saw this. Ventura county allowing small (5 or less) gatherings and some businesses, golf courses, county parks to reopen

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/coronavirus/ventura-county-eases-restrictions-in-modified-stay-at-home-order/2348463/

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by confused

[sugarsugar]

I have young family members laid off now. What gig workers with families to support do, and expenses based on a now nonexistent income—so my relatives are working in grocery stores now and feeling vulnerable. I wonder if everyone wore masks and distanced, we could open more so people could earn food money?  I don’t know. I feel almost guilty that I’m still working and I’d like a solution so more can work and be safe. 

[dancesintherain]

thanks @confused and @sugarsugar I hope it goes progressively, but I too feel the guilt. 

[wookie]

I'm someone who is not as privileged I guess.  Whatever that means.  I share a house with people who do not clean up after themselves and are more exposed due to being delivery drivers.  They pick up nothing and it was assumed I was a free cleaning lady for them.

My landlord wanted me to be a go between communicator (free of charge) for them because he's afraid of covid-19 and doesn't want to pay a superintendent. Fuck him.

I stopped cleaning the hallways.  That is my landlord's job.  The guys upstairs do not know how to clean a lint trap.  I've decided it's no longer my duty.  It's my landlord's.  I've stopped sharing the laundry because I was the only one cleaning the lint trap.  It's not my job.  I'm not here to get sick and potentially die from their cluelessness.  They can burn down the house by not cleaning the lint trap. It's their problem.  The landlord knows the problems and should fix that himself.

I'm not putting myself on the line because someone is too lazy, cheap or fearful to play their role.  You wanted to be a landlord so be one, and pay people a stipend if you expect them to clean up after other's shit. 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by wookie
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[dancesintherain]

your living situation sounds awful.  I'd have a hard time ieven focusing on this virus if things were so unstable at ome.

[wookie]

27 minutes ago, dancesintherain said:

your living situation sounds awful.  I'd have a hard time ieven focusing on this virus if things were so unstable at ome.

I take quiet moments and forgiveness as it comes. My landlord is human.  So are the other tenants.  We're just stuck in this situation.

[dancesintherain]

16 hours ago, wookie said:

I take quiet moments and forgiveness as it comes. My landlord is human.  So are the other tenants.  We're just stuck in this situation.

I'm impressed by your perspective in such a challenging environment.

[0112358]

I hear you on both coming from a place of relative privilege and on not opening up the economy too soon.

The truth of the matter is that we in the US, as a society, were already letting everybody down in terms of food security, health care, housing, and education before Covid-19. We also, decades ago, decimated protections that were in place against banks getting too big and creating dangerous financial products. We tied healthcare to employment and employers. We don't appear to care about homeless people. We imprison people for self-medicating with or using small amounts of drugs. A pandemic was inevitable, and Trump dismantled the group that was responsible for planning for a pandemic.

People were already suffering, is what I'm saying, and we also could have been prepared for this, but we decided not to be. If we open things up too soon, people will do more than suffer, they will die. A lot of the damage is also already done, in terms of job loss.

What needs to happen is for us, at the federal and state levels, to start caring for and supporting each other. We need a real safety net and real healthcare. It can't happen overnight, of course. The only thing left is for people who can to either volunteer or donate money or both.

[dancesintherain]

I agree that there's much that should have been worked on before this virus hit.  Maybe now we'll have a chance to work on them and create a new normal.  The pragmatic side of me says probably not.  But it's still a possibility.