SMOKE AND MIRRORS

It's the day after Memorial Day. Now we can forget everything. We can forget that almost a hundred thousand people right here in the United States of America have died from the corona virus. That soon, at least two million people will have contracted that virus just here in the USA. That worldwide, over three hundred and forty thousand people have died from it, with over five million cases. That over thirty million people have filed for unemployment in the past few months here in the Land of the Free. We can forget. And it seems like some of us already have. But that is the key. It seems like that. I don't think anyone, deep inside, forgets any of that. Or what is happening still. I think that some are simply in denial, in the fight or flight stage, because the truth is huge and awful and terrible to consider. And not just the truth about all the death and misery and economic uncertainty. I think what is really scary to think about is how this disease has laid bare the system. All its flaws and iniquities. How deeply out of balance it is. How very much the time is out of joint.

I was thinking this morning about how completely free of reality our economic system is. We have enough resources in this day and age to feed and shelter every single human being on the face of the planet. Every one. And we have the technology to provide healthcare for everyone as well. We also have the means to create energy to safely and cleanly. We just don't, because we are tied to an antiquated way of running the world that is so far out of step with the times it would be funny if not for being so tragic. I mean, what in the world does the stock market have to do with how much food has been grown? What does the GDP really mean to someone who's mother or father or son our daughter is dead or dying? Not a damn thing. It's all smoke and mirrors. Make believe. We have been locked down to some degree or other for months now. Somehow, the world has continued to turn. The lights have stayed on. The essential places where we get food, still running. We even had free money sent to us from the government. It makes me think that what we call commerce is just a bunch of malarky. And I think it's time has run out.

What is, after this is over, we realize that we don't need what we thought we needed? What is we realize we are stronger that we thought? That we can entertain ourselves just fine, that we don't need to spend ten hours a week sitting in our cars going back and forth to do something we can just as easily do at home? What if we realize that what is truly important to us isn't what people who are trying to sell us things want us to think it is? What is what we really want is time with the people we love? And travel? And time to watch the sunset? And learning how to bake bread?

I think that is exactly what will happen. What has most likely already happened. We are changing, whether we know it or not. I can't wait to see what happens.

Here's a song. It's What If We Give It Away? by REM.

THURSDAY

Last night, dreams were mostly mundane, neither serene nor apocalyptic. The main one I remember is me having a long talk with my nephew about getting a job, paying debt, and figuring out how to do all those things. He's all of twenty, and recently moved from one coast to the other, and I love him dearly. It was a quiet dream, and I did most of the talking, which was weird. Usually in my dreams, I am tossed about like a piece of driftwood, and when I speak it is in reaction to something that has or is happening. But this was all must my, of my own volition, giving financial advice to my nephew. And it didn't even wake me up. Of late, my dreams have made a point of waking me up at least once in the night. But I slept right through to just a few minutes ago, when my dog made his "I need to pee" semi-bark.

Finance. What a dull subject. I usually don't like thinking about it all that much. But that has changed. Less work, more and more people losing jobs. At least several more weeks of being in our national quasi-isolation with walks, howling, social distancing, and many many many Zoom meetings. We are more fortunate than some, less fortunate than others. Average. And what is going to happen to us? To all of us? What if this goes into the summer? What if more and more jobs evaporate? What if our economy, under the unsteady leadership we currently have, tanks? I've seen the words global depression on more and more headlines, and I don't think they're talking about sorrow. I mean, how many of us are very much anxious for our little one time checks to arrive? How many of us have already spent them? We must rethink how we are doing things, both in the nation and in the world. Last fall, Andrew Yang's universal basic income idea seems a bit nuts. Now it seems like the least we should do. In the best of times, economic inequality seemed like a bad idea. Now it feels like a crime against humanity.

Put another way- the powers that be have let us all down, in almost every conceivable way. Global pandemic ravages the world, sending us hiding in our homes. The environment was getting so bad that, now, thanks to this plague closing factories and keeping cars parked, people in India can see the Himalayas for the first time in thirty years. Most people I know- and I bet you're the same- live paycheck to paycheck, with at best a month or so of savings to cover bills if something should come up.

Something to come up.

Like, oh I don't know, Corona Virus?

Or as I prefer to call it, the Trump Flu.

Here's what I want, my Five Pillars for a New World.  First-: freeze mortgages, rents, student loans for everyone. For six months. This will give us all time to figure things out. Second: forgive all tax debt for anyone making under $100,000 individually, or $200,000 as a couple. All of it. Third: eliminate the tax breaks given to the super rich and corporations. Being extremely wealthy in a time like this comes with obligations. And if they say "jobs will go away if we do that", tell them to look around, smell the coffee, and grow a soul. Fourth: rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. The world is already taken apart, when we put it back together (and we will) let's do it in a way where we stop killing the planet. Fifth: Universal Healthcare.

Also, please federalize the response. Now. Please continue to support testing for the virus. How can we know who is sick and who can go back to work and who should stay home if we can't all be tested? And if you own stock in a possible cure, come out front and say so.

Oh, and let's make it a felony to lie, obfuscate, or do anything for personal gain at the expense of the population in regards to this disease. I want investigative panels, like we did during and after World War II, that deal with such criminals. And no immunity for anyone, regardless of office. You do the crime, you do the time.

OK. Now a few happy thoughts. Last night, played Dungeons and Dragons with my wife, my brother, and my sister. It was awesome. Just playing a game, chatting, laughing, spending time together. Also, we grilled some burgers in our back yard for the first time this year. And they were awesome. While I do want things to change, the joy of BBQ in the back must remain. Also, new script has taken a turn, and I like it. I don't know what is going to happen in regards to film and tv work after all this, what people will want and what state the entertainment industry will in after the Duration, but I know I am writing something that I enjoy fills my heart. And best of all, a few old friends who have been sick seem to be on the mend. Not all of them. But some. And that is a good thing.

Today, I think I am going to call my senators and representative and let them know what I think. It is still a democracy. They still have a job. I am still a citizen.

OK. Here's a song. It's Thursday, by Jim Croce, and I like to think of it as a song sung by America to our current despot.