Official reports show that 33,000,000 Americans have filed for unemployment in the past month. The equivalent of the work force for half the states in the Union. Remember, that’s just the people who’ve filed. It doesn’t count those who haven’t yet filed or, more importantly in our gig economy, those who still have some sort of job but have seen their income drastically reduced either by less hours or fewer sales for the self-employed. I’m giving away more free books than ever, but selling less. But I have a job for which I am thankful.
There are lines for foodbanks in Geneva, Switzerland. We’ve seen the photos of miles long lines of cars at foodbanks here in the States. Meat-packing plants are closing because they’ve become hot spots.
Those in power want to normalize thousands of deaths a day. They compare it to car crashes, which is ludicrous. They say it’s only the old, which isn’t true. They are painting this as a binary choice: open or closed. When the smart path, is a slow, phased re-opening. But they’ve thrown out the re-opening playbook done by experts.
Yes, the economy is in the tank. Re-opening abruptly isn’t going to “re-start” it. Many jobs and businesses are gone forever. Many others will take years to recover. Because I’m a writer, my brain meanders. I often start pulling on a job thread. Driving past the Knoxville Airport the other day I saw planes parked and lined up, out of service. Nothing like that since 9-11. Yet we’re having a daily 9-11. So the flight crew is what? Furloughed? The people who work the ground? Cut back? The shops in the airport? Probably closed. The companies that supply those shops? Cut back, such as the bookstore no longer racking titles. The airport hotel that housed flight crews and travelers? Cut back. All the shops along the road the airport is on? And on and on the ripple touches everyone.
Laurie Garrett is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who penned a book: The Coming Plague. In 1994. She was recently interviewed in several magazines and in the NY Times. She predicts we will have three years of turmoil and I humbly agree with her. I was rather stunned today while driving to see day cares open; to see restaurants open and people inside. I still am dumbfounded every day to see cars lined up at Chik-Fil-A and Starbucks. Seriously?
I’m not one of those half-full/half-empty people. I’m a “what’s in the damn glass” person.
And what’s in it is COVID-19. If people not being able to go to the beach or their favorite restaurant causes civil disobedience and unrest, what will not be being able to feed their kids cause? That’s how bad it can get. Ponder that. Process it. Re-opening is not going to fix it, nor is the long off November election. We are in a broken system that is being attacked relentlessly. It is up to us to save ourselves.
The first step is to accept reality. It’s bad and will get worse. I wish it won’t, but my wishes don’t change things. Neither do yours. So I will reboot this blog and we’ll get started preparing. The good news is we’re through the initial surge where preparation seemed foolish. It’s more urgent than ever. And we will do it.
The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also now in Kindle Unlimited.
The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide (same as above, minus the preparation part in order to be smaller in print)
FWIW: Lost Girls is free today, 11 May through 13 May. The first nine books of my Area 51 series, where I rewrite the entire history of mankind are .99 each through all of May. HERE
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