Rip It Off

I'm finally starting to see more people commenting that instead of being mad at state governors for having to shut things down, they should be mad at the Senate majority leader for blocking all attempts for further stimulus packages or any type of support for people while their businesses are closed.

Basically, what I've been saying since April (and again just last week): the thing people should be protesting is not the fact that they were forced to close, but that there is no support for businesses or individuals to keep them afloat during these necessary closures. Instead, remaining partially open and counting on people to continue patronizing businesses (leading to unsafe conditions for patrons and workers, and further spread of the virus) is the stimulus.

Look at some other countries where they did support people. Yes, it was difficult, but I've been comparing it to ripping off a bandage - by doing a really hard thing, they just got it over with, and now they're able to recover sooner.

In addition to this article I shared the other day about countries where they've gotten back to normal and almost forgotten there was a pandemic, there's this TikTok video from Australia showing people going about their normal activities, while Americans left jealous comments. And the blogger I follow from Wuhan has also written about how things there have gone back to normal. I can confirm, my colleagues there are back in the office and sitting together in conference rooms, sans masks. Ben Kavanagh, a British teacher in Wuhan who became famous for his vlogs during the peak of the lockdown there earlier this year, also announced recently that he would soon be returning for a new teaching job there, and that Wuhan is fine and getting on as normal.

This whole thing could have been over, without a vaccine, if the world could have truly shut down for 2 weeks - let's play it safe and say a month. Instead, we're just making it drag on, and on, and on...