I'm not going to lie: I downplayed the disease from day 1. I'm one of the guys that read about it in January and joked about it, while I salivated over the primary election in my country till the fabled "Super Tuesday" votes in March. I even emphasized that the economic reaction would be far more severe damage to our lifestyles that contracting the disease ever could be. I was wrong. Right now, "essential workers" are debating what the worse fate is, and they are not content. There is a rally around the world that we must end the "social distancing" measures because "the cure cannot be worse than the disease", but the backlash is pretty tangible. There are billions of people facing the pandemic, and they very dearly do not want to die in vain. None of us want to die in vain.
However, conditions for the remaining "essentials" are very poor. Nurses and doctors are deprived of protection, and are the most vulnerable. Some have even quit their duties of caring for the sick, either because of unjust policy or plain old negligence. Workers in Amazon warehouses are asking for more stringent cleaning of their work environment, so that they too do become fodder for the pandemic. Some of these workers have been terminated in retaliation. As of April 2, there are tens of millions of Americans (myself included) that have lost their livelihoods and the security and dignity of normal, industrious lifestyles. Something is terribly wrong.
There are experts for every small iota of discrepancy. We all know of some flaw in some institution, and most of us can vaguely agree that whoever is in charge, whoever can afford responsibility, should fix the problems. We all know that calling someone "essential" means very little if their treatment and elevation in our society does not happen in equal measure. So, in recent days, many have decided to quit their posts and publicly demonstrate the fact that as "essential workers", they are being mistreated.
Many of us agree that there is injustice in this world, but counter-intuitively, we also know that there is unstoppable progressive change throughout history. The nCoV-2 virus is, in some ways, considered an equalizer. It does not respect borders, social class, or even age. It laid us all flat, and we are still in the middle of waiting to recover. However, our governments, charged with the well-being of the citizenry, have not done enough to fix systemic problems that now have been laid bare.
Quite frankly, I started this blog to process every piece of drama that has erupted in the recent weeks. My hope was that I could articulate what I know for certain, what I doubt, and what I believe in. My hope was that some you, the readers, might agree with me. Well, if there is anything we can collectively agree on, it should be the "grace" that disasters such as global pandemic afford us a chance to be heroes, to be leaders, and to care for our fellow humanity. We are always going to be one race. Our economies and markets are in no way separated. When a pandemic affects the entire world, then it affects all of us individuals.
The General Strike that is developing on social media should be taken very seriously. Why? Because ideological demonstration with a clear platform is a very good alternative to the wanton rioting that will occur if our governments cannot handle this crisis. If you believe in a solid societal foundation, then you believe in collectively bargaining for that. If you believe that you are entitled to a dignified living, free of insecurities like homelessness, starvation, and disease, then you believe in providing that to others so that they in turn can provide that to you.
I might be full of hot air, but I really needed to get this out there. The General Strike is a well-established idea, considered by visionaries throughout the recent centuries. It is time for that theory to be proven. If we want to survive this crisis, if we want a chance for a better world, then we must strive to make that progressive change ourselves. If you're out there, isolated and unsure, you are not alone. We are all on the same page. All I ask of you is for you to say what you need to say, do what you need to do. Just don't do it alone. We can do this together.
