Instead of waking up anew with superpowers to create that new planet we all need, I was floored to find out about the relief package being approved in Congress.
IT IS FRIGHTENING to know that the people we have elected to represent us have come together to form a bill that will dole out direct payments of a mere $600 to families in this time of crisis as if this amount is enough to cover significant expenses. In Australia, their government went into a heavy lockdown and sent out $600 a week to its citizens while the virus raged on. They are currently out of that lockdown (though they did have to go through them multiple times) and can now freely visit their families. I know it’s tough to compare our country to others due to government structure, history, policies, etc., but I think we can all agree that the response to Covid-19 was, at the very least, severely mishandled.
The pandemic shutdowns in the US started in March. Though the detrimental affects of the virus were known months before that. Since then, there have been layoffs, furloughs, and entire businesses have shuttered their doors. We are living in unprecedented times and have been since the start of the Trump presidency. He has proven time and time again that he is completely unequipped to handle complex situations and his morbid indecision on a planned shutdown for the entire country has cost the US 318,000 lives and counting. That is staggering. That number represents 318,000 individuals who are no longer able to hug their families or laugh about silly memes. They’re no longer present for holidays or big life events. They won’t have any milestones of their own to celebrate. The most painful part of the 318,000 people who are no longer with us is that it was preventable. If the government took responsibility knowing the severity of this virus and shut things down, gave people money to survive, and communicated a succinct strategy there would be a lot less families broken by loss, shattered by the government’s carelessness, and crumbling with grief. The loss of life will forever be a stain on this current administration, and all of the Republicans who have and continue to downplay the pandemic (but are getting vaccinated) will not be forgotten for what they’ve done.
This current stimulus bill isn’t just the work of the GOP, though. This is a result of what the Democrats were willing to give up and deem appropriate. It’s what they saw as an effective compromise that was at least something, but certainly not enough. Yes, there were previously no checks in the bill before, but I don’t understand the assumption we should be grateful for the scraps we’re given. People are in serious financial crisis right now, spending money on credit cards they can’t pay off, borrowing money they can’t pay back, not having any money at all for stacking bills. This isn’t $600 for the last few months since the previous stimulus of $1200. This is ONE single payment. It’s truly insulting to believe that it’s going to seriously help anyone. People are staying home, which means money needed for utility bills, food, and everyday household products are skyrocketing. We’re realizing how expensive that is, but companies aren’t increasing salaries. So what may seem like “enough” is really a disparaging slap in the face. It’s almost as if there’s a jarring disconnect between our elected officials in Congress and reality?! Please see below expertly photoshopped meme:
— cathy *acab forever* humes (@CrappyFumes) December 17, 2020
If you’re unfamiliar with the person who’s head Nancy’s photoshopped over, she is from a show called Arrested Development about a wealthy family who faces some hardship after the patriarch is sent to prison for white collar crime. The woman in the above picture is the matriarch of the family who is woefully unaware of how much normal everyday items cost and in the scene above thought a banana cost $10. This disjointed reimagining that $600 is sufficient is why this meme is so funny/sad. Schumer and Pelosi need to be held accountable for accepting a check of so little substance. I don’t wanna hear any bs about “in-fighting” because that just seems to be a mask for silencing people. No one is above criticism, especially our elected officials. I really wish there was more transparency in the whole bill-creation and debate process. I want to know who said $600 is enough and what exactly their arguments were.
I’m still reeling about other countries receiving so much help from their governments, the amount of measures put into place to ensure their safety and the severe lack of organization of our government and its leaders. It absolutely should not have been up to each state to impose rules about when restaurants or bars should be open and whether or not to wear masks. I will say this again, it’s not just Trump who’s to blame for this cluster- but every single politician who fell in line and didn’t fight for their constituency. Every politician, no matter their party affiliation who ignored the data and used this pandemic as a platform to make money and push their agenda or whatever is responsible for the astronomical number of lives lost.
This has nothing to do with one party being better than another. This whole pandemic rests on the shoulders of the entire government comprised of both parties. Yes, Republicans were in the senate majority, and they are especially at fault, but Democrats were there, too. I just feel our representatives might not be fighting as hard as they should be and with iniquitous intentions. So many politicians have made money off of the pandemic and from being in their positions in general. Insider trading and other questionable practices aren’t new issues facing our government, but they are making it more and more clear how detrimental this selfishness and greed is to our democracy and our safety.
We need new leadership. We need new laws. We need new processes. This isn’t working. None of this is truly working. While we celebrate the hopefulness of the vaccine, the election of a new president and vice president, we also lament what it took to get us here and the enormity of everything we’ve lost and continue to lose in a country who cannot face its history and myriad mistakes.
I truly hope this new administration ushers in some drastic new changes, including more money for families. While I am so happy the orange lard bucket is moving out, there’s still so much work to be done.
Okay, back to meditative music and trying not to doom-scroll. Still awaiting my superpowers…