This latest slate of news almost always seems to be exclusively bad, does it not?
First of all, there is this virus that has spread globally, and incredibly quickly. It appears that it began in China, but where it began is hardly important right now. What is important is that this virus is here now, and it is real. Perhaps it should be no surprise by now that some people seem to be denying just how real it is, or how much of a threat it poses. In recent days, we have seen news stories of very crowded beaches in southern Florida, as apparently locals are taking advantage of days off by going somewhere that is crowded with people, even though the whole point of these days off (not all of them are exactly voluntary) is to try and limit interactions with other people, in order to contain, or at least slow, the spread of the virus.
The economy appears to have taken a very serious hit. The numbers for the stock market are way down from where they were not too long ago. Pretty much all of the gains seen during the past few years under Trump have been wiped out, and with incredible speed.
More importantly, the virus has sent many people home. Not everyone (including yours truly, who still has to show up to not one, but two jobs, but for which I am thankful), but most people are home now. It is not at all certain for many people what will happen, how long this will last, and if or how much they will be compensated for time taken off involuntarily, for something that is beyond any of our control. There are fears that many people are going to be losing their jobs, that some businesses – perhaps especially small businesses – simply will not be able to weather this particular storm.
Trump is already claiming that a recession might happen, and perhaps is likely. He is now borrowing from Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders, in calling for each American to receive $1,000 in order to help deal with financial losses due to Covid-19. Sanders actually was calling for $2,000 per month, which would surely help Americans cope with this.
It is hard to imagine life simply returning back to normal after all of this is said and done. You never know, maybe it can and will. But for the time being, it sure feels like returning back to what we considered “ normal” before this whole thing broke out is unlikely. Again, some businesses and stores may not be able to survive. There is talk that movie theaters might never be quite the same, and might not survive in the same way that we have known them before, with so many people being stuck at home now exploring their options with streaming to keep entertained and keep cabin fever at bay.
However, this is likely to get worse, not better. On Thursday, California installed a "shelter in place" for all residents, effectively eliminating any non-essential travel or leaving from home. On Friday, President Trump declared New York state to be a disaster zone, due to the obviously huge presence of the coronavirus. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shut down any non-essential business.
Shelves in supermarkets are getting more empty, rather than restocking, as panic buying just continues. Schools are being shut down for longer. My son here in northern New Jersey initially had scheduled school closures for two weeks, starting this past Monday, the 16th, and stretching to next Friday, the 27th. But that has now been extended to well into April, even the second half of April. Kansas recently became the first state in the country to cancel school outright for the duration of this academic year.
Frankly, it does not look like this is about to end anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment