I fully understand your point. I just disagree with it. I believe that keeping everything shut down for another two months will cause irrevocable damage. And that damage will continue to be a menace, long after this virus is considered an afterthougth.
Samsies, we are very much on the opposite side of this. I am well aware of the damage a prolonged shutdown will have, I still think it is worth it to save as many lives as possible. When peoples lives become expendable to the all mighty dollar and the stock market, I have a fundamental problem with that.
is I love. Absolutely love. Let's cry about corporate greed, but then absolutely turn around and Sh!t on small businesses. What the eff' do you believe small businesses are? They are the retail stores, the movie theaters, the gyms, the bars and restaurants. If they are not open, they go under. And if enough of them go under where do you think their employees are going to find future employment?
This is how the economy works, I am sorry to tell you . People go out to the store or the gym and pay what they need to. In turn, those businesses pay their employees and then they go out and spend the money then want or need.
Oh, and before discussing what a meager paycheck is, perhaps you should check in with the workers at gyms for example to see if they are happy to work there.
Really? is that how the economy works? Guess I had no idea being a small business (have the LLC filings to prove it). I make my living depending on people to have disposable income to spend on luxuries like art. Trust me, I am not ignorant enough to not realize that the first thing people cut back on when money is tight is discretionary spending. Spare me your economics lesson.
You seem to have this idea "Oh well nothing we can do, just gonna have to open back up and hope too many people dont die" when you know full well that there is an option for businesses to stay closed and the federal government provides aid and services to keep them afloat. It is not a open and hope to not spread the virus too much or stay closed and go bankrupt. there is a large swath in between for some wiggle room that you are just flat out unwilling to accept. Is there money to keep everything closed indefinitely, nope. But we certainly have the funds to keep things closed past May.
It is easy to say to open movie theaters back up, attendees can socially distance at the theaters. But what about the workers who will still have to deal with dozens, if not hundreds of people, interacting with, and cleaning up after to make barely above minimum wage. Those employees whether you like it or not are putting their lives at risk to earn $10 an hour for other people to have fun at a movie. And some of those employees have at risk parents, they may be at risk themselves. You keep ignoring this point, but people should not have to be making the choice between going to work and putting themselves and the ones they love at risk just so they can keep a roof over their heads.
They do. It is called unemployment. And the SBA loans. And the checks that people received. But you cannot just continue to print money. The government runs on tax revenue. The greater the unemployed and the more small businesses that go under, the less tax revenue exists. That is pretty fundamental. It short circuits. The more they have to pay out, the less they have to continue to pay out over time. Then the benefit well runs dry.
You do understand once those businesses are allowed to open, and they do decide to open, those furloughed employees HAVE to come back to work right? And if they do not they will be fired and no longer eligible for unemployment. Boy, what a choice that is. My store is opening back up, I have to either go to work and put myself at risk or I lose my job and lose my ability to earn unemployment. If you think that is a choice, we have a fundamental difference on what choice means.
For the upteenth time, if people want to return to work and the government has declared it is reasonably safe to do so (reductions in cases for 10 straight days...which btw no state has met, let alone a reduction in 2 or 3 days) they can. but if people for whatever reason do not want to return to work for fears/concerns they should have the option to stay home and still get some assistance. People should not have to choose between the health of themselves and their loved ones and putting food on the table. PERIOD.
You know and I know the first people back are predominately going to be low income workers, and they will be returning to work because they are desperate to make ends meet mostly instead of because they want to. It is not morally right or fair to put the those less well off to be on the front lines of this recovery, potentially putting their health and lives at risk just so our economy can keep chugging along.
I am not saying that they cannot do this. I am saying that there is only so much time that they can do it for.
You have repeatedly thrown up roadblocks to solutions like this. I never said it was a simple wave a magic wand thing, but it is a solution that would help far more people than the pain it would cause to mortgage lenders. Sorry, everyone should have some skin in this game, banks and mortgage lenders should not be above making some sacrifices for the greater good to help keep people in their homes and keep the economy moving. They could institute some sort of incentive for people that can keep their payments as usual to keep those lenders and brokers still working, but allowing people that could really use a 1 year suspension to take advantage of it. There is always room for negotiation and a middle ground, it is not black and white absolutes.
And I disagree on the "empathy" part. Sounds like you believe I have none. Which is an utter crock of despicable crap.
I think it is important to distinguish the difference between empathy and sympathy. You have repeatedly and multiple times though this thread have shown sympathy, for myself in my situation and to others, and that is truly great and compassionate of you, and it is greatly appreciated. And I in no way, mean to or meant to diminish that.
However, that is not empathy. Empathy is having the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and relate and understand them. It does not mean you agree with them, but you do understand them and can relate to them and put yourself in their shoes. When you say things like "I am sorry for what you are going through, but we need to get the economy going, I want to have a future for my girls" That is not a very empathetic statement. You are putting yourself and local business and business owners before the struggles and concerns of others.
I get that you are concerned for how the economy will look at the end of this, I am too. I depend on people have discretionary spending to survive, but you are repeatedly insinuating that the greater economy as a whole is more important than the health and safety of the people living in it. And you can think of me as a POS for saying it. But statements like that, to me, are not very empathetic.
What are you talking about? You have not seen the economical effects that is has on every nation. In fact you have seen exactly NONE. So I have no idea of how you can even begin to make that statement.
America can take care of its one people. But at some point the rubber hits the road. Once you have created a new class of citizens that are permanently unemployed, well I am not sure you really want to see what society is like at that point.
What I have seen is what other nations have done to protect its citizens and businesses and by and large they are all doing more than what we are willing to do for our citizens. We have enacted large scale funding programs and stimulus for our citizens before (the new deal) and it changed the lives for all americans, but it seems to me the political will to do it just inst there anymore. Instead of tax cuts for the rich, we should be giving services to the poor and middle class, so they have the money they need to spend on the economy, making it grow benefiting rich and poor alike
I know its a typo of yours but, "America can take care of its
one people" perfectly exemplifies america and its interests. We are an oligarchy that has corporate socialism for the rich. Banks need a bailout, okay. Airlines, oil and gas, car manufacturers you name it, if you are a large industry/employer and you need saving we they United States government are here for you.
For the rest of us, its rugged individualism "pull yourself up by your bootstraps no gov handouts" sucks to be you
