Just as John Barrymore became known as "The Great Profile", so Donald
Trump will go down in history as, "The Great Liar".
At a time when America needs a Leader with Vision, we are left with a
Narcissistic, self serving Libertarian.
And to any who are still smoking the magic dragon, none of the
potential presidential candidates will lift up the cause of the
Working Class. That task remains the responsibility of the Working
Class.
Carl Jarvis
On 3/24/20, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Power in a Time of Coronavirus
By Norman Solomon, Reader Supported News
23 March 20
Every day now, we're waking up into an extreme real-life nightmare, while
responses are still routinely lagging far behind what's at stake. Urgency
is
reality. The horrific momentum of the coronavirus is personal, social, and
political. In those realms, a baseline formula is "passivity = death." The
imperative is to do vastly better.
Consistent individual actions - such as "social distancing" and extensive
handwashing - are absolutely necessary. People should stay home if at all
possible. Other steps include disinfecting potentially contaminated
surfaces
and following the admonition to not touch your face.
Meanwhile, a huge social burden has fallen onto charities and other
nonprofit organizations with resources that are tiny in relation to the
scale of this catastrophe. Even in normal times they can't do much more
than
slightly ameliorate the shredding of government social safety nets, the
shrinking of the public sector, and the profit-obsessed cruelties of
corporate capitalism.
Under the weight of the coronavirus emergency, the crucial political
challenges involve fighting the bastions of dominant political malfeasance,
lies, and plunder at the top of the U.S. government.
"In order to save lives, protect working families, and boost our economy in
sustainable and healthy ways," Oxfam concludes, "we need to take actions
that are swift, bold, and well beyond what Congress has thus far been
willing to approve." After partnering with Data for Progress to do national
polling, Oxfam released a report that shows public opinion favors much more
drastic legislation in response to the coronavirus rampage.
"Registered voters in the U.S. strongly support immediate, aggressive
action
in response to both the public-health and economic crises," the March 20
report says. "Among the measures they endorse: paid sick leave for all
workers, emergency funding for food supplies for those affected by the
crisis, free testing for the virus, and moratoriums on evictions,
foreclosures, and utility shutoffs."
An immediate necessity is to galvanize political power from the grassroots
to step up the pressure for an all-out government mobilization against this
pandemic. That means continually pushing to generate maximum resources
toward people who need them most - now and for a long time to come.
Rather than being a respite from political power struggles, the coronavirus
emergency is greatly intensifying them. More aid for those immersed in
greed
will mean less for those in desperate need. The quest by corporate
profiteers to mercilessly exploit dire situations has never flagged.
Showing the vital importance of his national voice as a presidential
candidate, Bernie Sanders has outlined some of the gluttonous corporate
maneuvers now underway.
"Just in the last few days," he pointed out on Sunday, "we've seen numerous
examples of lobbyists and their agents fighting for special favors: the
airline industry is asking for $50 billion, the private space industry is
asking for $5 billion, the hotel industry wants $150 billion, the National
Association of Manufacturers wants $1.4 trillion, the International Council
of Shopping Centers wants a guarantee of up to $1 trillion, Adidas wants to
sneak in a long-sought provision allowing people to use pre-tax money to
pay
for gym memberships and fitness equipment - even when many gyms and retail
stores are closed nationwide - and corporate pork producers are using the
coronavirus to push Congress to expedite guest worker visas, even at a time
when international travel and immigration is largely shut down."
In this time of "unprecedented crisis," Sanders said, "we need an
unprecedented legislative response that focuses on the emergency health
care
needs of the American people and that puts working families and the poor
ahead of CEOs and huge corporations."
With this pandemic, fueled by the intentional neglect and greedy stupidity
of Trump and Company, we have profuse reasons to heed words from legendary
labor organizer Mary Harris, "Mother" Jones: "Mourn the dead and fight like
hell for the living."
To fight like hell for the living - to protect people from the ravages of
the coronavirus and a harsh economic system - will require unrelenting work
from progressive movements willing and able to organize effectively in
every
political arena.
