Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Pandemic.

There will be a new world developing over the next 2 years. Some will get to work. Others will get to die. This sounds harsh. Reality is not without pain.

I experienced a lot of physical pain this week. My back went out. Then after recovering from back spasms I wrenched a muscle in my chest.

The pain was crippling. All I could do was sit in a firm chair. The Global Citizen special relieved my stress. I am still recovering. I had mild fevers too.

All injuries today are approached haltingly that it could be Covid—19. It will be years before a vaccine is made widely available. I did not have the virus.

I have learned for myself that this awful time in our shared lives is like all things just temporary.

Before this emergency most Americans were oblivious to the pain lived daily by people without means.

Now many of them know what it’s like to have less. Disease is a leveler of inequality; a forced end to armed conflicts. I am learning to love the pandemic.

Most of America is now a welfare state. Learning the hard way that a strong social safety net is not a bad thing to have in place if things go badly.

I refuse the pie-in-the-sky prediction of reopening the economy. There will not be the same culture anymore.

New York will lose $10 billion during this crisis. The Fed will literally allow us to drop dead.

Forget what you thought was good for you before this emergency hastened by globalization and policies devised by right wing zealots.

You are not better than anyone else. The massive base of working poor must be enabled to get out of poverty.

Progressive policy making will make this a better reality and recovery for all.

We must confront racism, voter repression, and cruel doses of capitalism meant only to make millionaires become billionaires.

Those who are happy looking down upon others have a long in waiting come uppance to experience for the next decade.

America’s folly of allowing right leaning demagogues to enrich themselves with wars of choice is at an end.

The entire world will suffer together. I have learned to love the pandemic since it has the potential to unlock dormant energy from people who deserve a healthy planet.

Our system cannot sustain our population. If you watch news provided by just 6 state supported companies you get their picture of what they want you to believe is a good outcome.

Restaurants and other small businesses were being thrown out of business by greedy landlords long before Covid.

The pie-in-the-sky I cling to is the hope that we can allow industries to die for the sake of human survival.

Let the cruise industry end. The billionaire class only believes in welfare for other billionaires. Let movie theaters end. These businesses are not worth our lives.

What worked for the 20th Century does not work for the 21st. The corporate state will use all of its resources to convince you that a world of endless sequels and violence is just entertainment.

Our streaming platforms have made theaters unnecessary. They want you to pay for their shoddy product. I say no.

Let us create together a spirit for a new era of capitalism tempered with a strong social safety net. And provide grants to cities that grow green renewable energy.

I dream of fast food becoming a thing of the past. Let them go out of business.

Move low wage workers into a federally funded training process to work for higher wages in green businesses.

I was living mostly like a partially quarantined citizen before Covid. Now the rest of society is equal with my reality.

I have empathy for those who thought being upwardly mobile was okay. People must know that no matter their circumstances it’s not okay to leave people behind because access was eliminated by a narrow greedy class.

Living large is not okay. Many places across the country are finding out the hard way we have a housing problem because too many were sold a bill of goods that huge homes were your right.

The American dream is a nightmare of 20th Century thinking. Mostly white male identity that enabled huge cavities of poverty in cities and suburbs alike.

Let this pandemic open your eyes. Let go of your apathy. Downsize soon. My husband and I just want a one bedroom apartment with a normal rent. No living space should cost over a thousand dollars.

If the census is accurate we will see New York City get less from the Fed. Allowing developers to build million dollar cell blocks was never a good idea.

I think people need to become aware of the big picture. NYC & Co. Times Square Alliance are the corporate takeover of public spaces. Their short-term view is a disaster now.

Tourist economies were for third world nations. Why did the richest country in history turn New York into a seamy tourist theme park? Wax museum, a Believe-It-Or-Not gallery, and a lot of junky movie theaters. Our politicians did nothing for actual residents of this city.

Now we are in free fall. Will social conditions devolve back to the 1970’s? More than likely a state of disrepair will prevail. A result of our political class applying short cuts instead of the hard work of creating sustainability.

I just read that the city of Tulsa, OK offers $10,000 to new renters if eligible. Apartments are $825 a month. Bye bye New York.

Tao of Bob

My newfound support of Bob Dylan applies strongly to our country. My blog will feature his lyrics when appropriate. Here’s this week’s debut installment:

Come writers and critics, who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon, for the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win.

For the times they are a changin.

See you next week dear readers!