by Regardless of your political affiliation, I don’t think there’s anyone out there who genuinely wants another lockdown. Nobody wants to wear a mask. Nobody wants any of this shit.
Unfortunately, our wants are irrelevant. What we need is to find an end to this pandemic. We need our loved ones to stop dying. And we all need to be able to support ourselves financially through this entire process.
The reason the first lockdown failed was because many people did not take it seriously from the start. Areas opened up too quickly. And I get it. Everyone needs to make money to survive. Of course, nobody wants to die from Covid, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that not working is not an option for many people.
So if we’re going to do this whole lockdown thing again, it needs to be done differently.
- Support for small businesses, arts & culture, etc.
Imagine how shitty our lives would be if big businesses like Walmart, Target, and Amazon were the only businesses who survived this mess. Well, that could very well happen if we’re not careful. Non-essentials like movie theaters, arts centers, and small businesses need extra financial support right now.
Over the past eight months, tens of thousands of small businesses have shut their doors for good, while many large corporations have grown exponentially. And with a lockdown part two, that number is bound to increase.
There was a huge government bailout for banks in 2008, why can’t there be one now for small business owners, too?
2. Stop rushing to open back up
I know. It sucks and it’s depressing to stay home and do nothing all day. But you know what else is depressing? The fact that the US has the highest number of deaths worldwide. If we want this second (and hopefully last) lockdown to be more successful than the first, we have to be patient.
Why did anyone think it was a good idea for schools to open back up? What did we think was going to happen? Of course there would be outbreaks, and they’d be forced to close again.
Scrambling to open back up again at the first sign of diminishing cases is not a good idea, and clearly an unsuccessful strategy.
3. More money for the people!
Eight months and we all got one $1200 check? Seriously? We still need to eat and pay our bills, regardless of whether or not we can work. People shouldn’t have to choose between money and their life.
Another lockdown means that we need another (or more than one) stimulus check, and more support for the lowest income Americans. Now is the time to increase taxes for the wealthiest Americans so that everyone can survive the next few months.
But…
But who am I kidding? Another lockdown seems unlikely to happen. Regardless of how high the number of cases are climbing in the US, Americans don’t have the maturity or willpower to stay home. In fact, many politicians have already declared that they will not shut down even if cases continue to rise. So I guess we better get very comfortable living with coronavirus because it doesn’t look like it’s going to go away anytime soon. The fact that a virus has become a political issue in the first place means that our very lives are up for debate, and that is the saddest part of all.
tori's thoughts 
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