No Looking Back
By: Frank Lukacovic
Tags: Politics, Economics, History, Capitalism, Covid 19

No Looking Back

We shouldn’t yearn to return to the past

We are now over two months into most of the United States being under some type of lockdown order. Here in the state of New York, we are currently required to wear masks if we need to go out in public and we can only begin to reopen some businesses if we have two straight weeks of decreasing hospitalizations.

A lot of Americans have started to get used to the current situation, whether it’s working from home, being unemployed, or now being counted on as an essential worker. These are difficult times for everyone, so it’s understandable that many just want to go back to the world before the coronavirus.

That isn’t the mindset we should hold. Our country had a wide range of problems before the virus and we should be doing whatever it takes to correct them as soon as this over. There are many politicians and business leaders who would love if we just returned to our previous lives of living paycheck to paycheck, going into debt, and buying up all the consumer goods we can.

It is clearer than ever that the United States is essentially a wealthy nation with a lot of poor people. Wealth inequality in America is at historic highs and wages have stagnated for forty years. The 1% dominate policymaking allowing themselves to garner more and more of the wealth. Meanwhile, the average American is left with crumbs.

In addition to stagnant wages, Americans have dealt with rising health care costs, exploding student debt, and skyrocketing rent. Most developed nations handle these issues a little differently. Health care is a right rather than an employee benefit. Public higher education comes at no cost to the student, it is a public good. Public housing, along with public transportation are made a priority.

The United States can have these things too. The pandemic has peeled back the curtain on what’s possible. The federal government can afford whatever they want. It is about priorities. The Federal Reserve injected trillions into financial markets and Congress passed a $2 Trillion spending bill in no time. Why were they able to do that? Because it was a high priority and doing nothing would have fatal consequences.

We must remember these actions post-pandemic. We cannot let politicians weasel out of pursuing popular policies that would benefit average Americans by claiming we can’t afford it or the deficit is too high. Medicare For All should be the top demand going forward. Tens of millions are losing their private insurance and have nowhere to turn. Ironically, we had a year of Democratic debates where candidate after candidate warned, in bad faith, that Bernie Sanders wanted to kick 150 million people off their insurance and now millions are losing it due to no fault of their own. We should ask Pete Buttigieg if we are still allowed to keep our insurance if we like it.

We also need to think about economic security going forward. Almost half of Americans say they can’t afford a $400 emergency. So many are hanging on by a thread, as monthly expenses continue to rise. We need to consider ideas should as raising the minimum wage, a universal basic income, and a federal job guarantee. COVID-19 has even led to successful billionaire Mark Cuban to endorse the idea of a federal job guarantee during a Yahoo Finance segment. After stating he always considered himself a libertarian, he said, “Federally-guaranteed jobs will help put people back to work, which puts money back into the economy and stimulates demand. Because unless we lift up from the bottom, we’re not going to have any consumer demand.”

Cuban said these jobs could be tailored towards training health care workers to fight the virus or take care of aging populations. There is also plenty of work to do in the infrastructure and transportation department. Cuban is essentially endorsing the plan Bernie Sanders put forward during his Presidential run.

Understandably, many Americans want to return to a similar life before coronavirus. We need to make the case that we can do much better and that it was that approach that led to our destruction, not just the virus itself. A rush to reopen the economy without structural changes will fail all of us in the long run. Trump and the Republicans are praying that reopening the economy now will salvage whatever is left of this hyper-capitalist state we’ve built. Really, the opposite is true. Reopening too soon, without precaution will only put people more at risk, both health and financially. Instead of individuals being able to count on their leaders in Washington to provide assistance in the time of need, they are being hung out to dry. Their businesses will not be able to survive as many people will still be reluctant to visit. Those being forced to work are being asked to risk their lives in some cases.

In addition, many of the jobs lost aren’t coming back. The government’s poorly planned response has led to an undesirable situation. The requirement for small businesses to use a large chunk of their grants on payroll did not mesh well with the extra payout on unemployment. This made it difficult to bring employees back and businesses not allowed to open don’t qualify for loan forgiveness. With a functioning government, we would have ensured that payrolls were taken care of until this subsided instead of allowing the unemployment rate to skyrocket to levels not seen since the Great Depression.

Our reaction to this pandemic has truly exposed the failed state that we are. Legislatively, we did not do enough. President Trump has been an absolute disaster in attempting to be a leader, lashing out at reporters, and offering up dangerous “cures” for the virus. If it wasn’t crystal clear before, we need some time of awakening or revolution. This society we have built is not meant to protect the most vulnerable. It is meant to enrich a select group of Americans. The Result is more cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any other country on the planet.