So let’s talk about money, specifically money in COVID times.
Here’s the thing, most Americans, most people in general but specifically Americans, are completely screwed when an emergency comes around. That emergency could be a car breakdown, a loss of job, or in Americans case a health emergency (which could be a broken bone, a tooth needing work, or a coronavirus test that needs to be paid for).
Now normally, an economy would cope with a single person having a health or other emergency, to be clear the individual would still be screwed and society should help with that but the economy would cope. However now we’re having a LOT of people having health, work and other emergencies (school coverage, etc). Unfortunately this is not normal. Whatever your government tells you, when a large chunk of the population can’t work they can’t afford the same level of groceries, the same level of eating out, entertainment, other luxury items and even basics, and certainly can’t afford rent. They go through their pantries or starve, and often become homeless.
So a government saying we won’t pay for people staying at home for health reasons and need people to go back to work and schools basically means they’re not “punishing the lazy” as they’re want to say. They’re saying work or die and most people are not keen on the dying. They’re effectively destroying the entire retail chain. People don’t have money, they don’t buy as many groceries, they don’t eat out, they don’t buy luxuries, they don’t pay rent, everything falls apart.
I’m not an economist. This is basic stuff. This is really idiot level stuff (I know, I’m an idiot). If we want to survive the pandemic we need to pay people to stay home till it passes over and we need to fund the unemployed. Paying the rich or tax cuts won’t help. And we need to pay the essential workers (which now includes not only the doctors and nurses, but the least paid grocery workers, delivery drivers, farmers and transporters) some extra pay to cover for the fact that they may die from working.
Even if you hate the poor (and I hate you if you do but that’s a side issue) go chat with your government about not destroying the entire economy because you think people are lazy. Tell your government to help actual people in need for once in their fucking lives, pardon the freedom.