thenation--2020-04-14--No, Italy Is Not the Case Against Medicare for All

Democratic and Republican pundits have no shortage of bogus talking points to discredit calls for Medicare for All .
The “ How will you pay for it ?
” refrain was central to the ( apparently successful ) bipartisan attempts to isolate the Bernie Sanders campaign .
A memorable recent incarnation of this effort came when Democratic nominee Joe Biden weaponized the Italian health care system—which has been besieged by one of the world ’ s most lethal outbreaks of Covid-19—against universal health care during the March 15 Democratic presidential debate .
“ With all due respect to Medicare for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have a single-payer system in Italy .
It doesn ’ t work there.
” There ’ s really nothing a European like me enjoys more than listening to US politicians rant about the mythic “ endless lines ” and inadequate levels of care we face in our single-payer systems .
Before moving to the United States , I had never once worried about accessing the health care I needed .
As for our waiting lines , nothing compares to the struggle to find an American doctor that will simultaneously take new patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endless process of disputing inflated bills and going back and forth with the web of insurance companies and private-sector middlemen that are somehow involved at every stage of even a simple procedure .
The Democratic front-runner ’ s position here is actually far to the right of Italian far-right spokesperson and former prime minister Matteo Salvini , who wouldn ’ t dare attack the public system right now .
In fact , he recently committed his party ’ s members to donate a portion of their salaries to support it .
Here ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elide : When Covid-19 reached Italian shores , it found a country in the midst of a private-sector transformation that has been turning the country ’ s single-payer health care system into an Italian version of Biden ’ s beloved “ public option ” —and putting millions of people at risk in the process .
The callous slashing of public funding undertaken by all Italian administrations since the 1990s and the parallel proliferation of private clinics have left the country with fewer health care personnel and hospital beds , and longer wait times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacks on public expenditure in education , pensions , and social security , have been coupled with a dramatic restructuring of labor relations that has left a significant portion of the Italian workforce struggling with increasingly precarious forms of employment on one hand , and the threat of unemployment on the other .
What does this mean in a time of pandemic ?
Stripped of paid leave and unemployment benefits and unable to afford missing a day of work , people have been going to work sick .
Sound familiar ?
Since the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ researchers have identified reasons for the disproportionate devastation of the country ’ s outbreak ( 20,465 deaths as of April 13 ) : demographics ( a higher elderly population ) , timing ( the identification of patient zero on February 20 followed an unusual upsurge in hospitalizations for cases of severe pneumonia misattributed to the common flu ) , and the haphazard implementation of the lockdown ( which unwittingly encouraged affected individuals in Lombardy to flee , dispersing the contagion nationwide ) .
Crucially , Italy ramped up its testing capacity early on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ European country until very recently .
The United States lagged behind : By March 9 , the Italian government had tested over 53,000 people and imposed a near-complete national quarantine , while the States had only conducted 4,183 tests .
This was back when Donald Trump was still cynically tweeting about how this coronavirus was nothing more than the flu .
Inconsistencies in testing capacity have made it difficult to compare the relative rates of contagion by country , but as the scope of the threat becomes clearer and countries—including the United States—attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is starting to look like less of an outlier than originally thought .
The skyrocketing rate of infection in Italy is not , as Biden would have it , stress testing or disproving the efficacy of universal health care .
The chilling fatality figures do not in and of themselves offer any evidence that the country would have fared better had its system been run by the private sector .
In fact , Italians have rallied behind the single-payer system on social media , and even the most hostile news outlets have come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a national reorganization of health care personnel and facilities might be all that stands in the way of full social tragedy .
To be sure , Italian authorities ’ mistakes were legion : They failed to take prompt action during the window available once they learned of the outbreak in China and didn ’ t provide the public with adequate guidelines on how to slow the contagion—e.g.
, avoiding the ER or a GP ’ s office if you presented symptoms—until it was too late .
But these failures have very little to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care system , and very much to do with the fatal ingredient in the cocktail of tardy responsiveness and at-risk demographics : a decade of austerity policies .
Since the turn of the century , and more aggressively after the global recession of 2008 , the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale ( SSN ) , Italy ’ s universal health care system , has undergone continuous spending cuts and rounds of privatization .
The “ Americanization ” of the SSN has been ongoing since the 1990s , when Italy joined the European Union .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as an accelerator , and when the recession really hit the country in 2011 , the ensuing financial panic was quickly used as political leverage to impose a range of structural reforms aimed at reassuring financial markets over the soundness of Italy ’ s debt .
It was a case study in Shock Doctrine .
The Piani di rientro , policies aimed at containing health care expenditure across the country , became the fundamental instrument through which the then-decentralized network of regional health care services could be re-centralized under the unifying agenda of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regions with high deficits under the scrutiny of the Ministry of Health and , for the first time , the Ministry of Finance—turning the delivery of health care into an issue of financial stability .
In concrete figures , these plans have amounted to the cutting of €37 billion from the SNN since 2010 .
Between 2008 and 2017 , a hiring freeze led to a decrease of 42,800 health care personnel—particularly doctors and nurses .
Those at work are asked to clock longer hours for less pay .
In the meantime , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined , from 3.9 per 1 million people in 2007 to 3.2 a decade later , according to OCSE data .
That ’ s far lower than the European average of five , though this has also been curtailed from 5.7 in 2007 .
The United States ’ is 2.8 .
A study published as recently as last month shows how between 2004 and 2014 these policies worked really well at reducing costs .
They also had the “ inadvertent ” consequence of increasing the rate of “ avoidable deaths ” by 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and medical facilities , Italy ’ s national system is the system that is now handling the pandemic .
And what are all those flourishing private clinics that were supposed to save us all from the inefficiencies of the public sector doing ?
Pretty much nothing , at least until they are forced to , as many reports coming out of Italy have shown .
In fact , the Italian government had to step in by means of an emergency decree , the “ Cura Italia , ” to allow regional governments to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of their personnel , beds , and equipment available to the public sector .
And of course , this is not free of charge : Private facilities will be compensated for 100 percent of the costs of such “ inconveniences ” —at a much higher rate than what taxpayers would be paying if the same services were provided directly by the public sector .
This , on top of other contributions they already receive from the state to begin with .
As the number of victims of Covid-19 has risen to over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month and a half , Italians wonder how different the situation could have been had hospitals been provided with adequate staffing , beds , and equipment .
As the number of cases in the States skyrockets and health care workers face shortages in supplies and personnel , Americans should brace themselves to ask the same question .
If there is anything to blame for this catastrophe other than the virus itself , ask an Italian .
Many of us have been saying it all along : Austerity kills .

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Democratic and Republican pundits have no shortage of bogus talking points to discredit calls for Medicare for All. The “How will you pay for it?” refrain was central to the (apparently successful) bipartisan attempts to isolate the Bernie Sanders campaign.
A memorable recent incarnation of this effort came when Democratic nominee Joe Biden weaponized the Italian health care system—which has been besieged by one of the world’s most lethal outbreaks of Covid-19—against universal health care during the March 15 Democratic presidential debate. “With all due respect to Medicare for All,” he said, “you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn’t work there.”
There’s really nothing a European like me enjoys more than listening to US politicians rant about the mythic “endless lines” and inadequate levels of care we face in our single-payer systems.
Before moving to the United States, I had never once worried about accessing the health care I needed. As for our waiting lines, nothing compares to the struggle to find an American doctor that will simultaneously take new patients and accept my insurance, or the endless process of disputing inflated bills and going back and forth with the web of insurance companies and private-sector middlemen that are somehow involved at every stage of even a simple procedure.
The Democratic front-runner’s position here is actually far to the right of Italian far-right spokesperson and former prime minister Matteo Salvini, who wouldn’t dare attack the public system right now. In fact, he recently committed his party’s members to donate a portion of their salaries to support it.
Here’s what Biden’s comments completely elide: When Covid-19 reached Italian shores, it found a country in the midst of a private-sector transformation that has been turning the country’s single-payer health care system into an Italian version of Biden’s beloved “public option”—and putting millions of people at risk in the process.
The callous slashing of public funding undertaken by all Italian administrations since the 1990s and the parallel proliferation of private clinics have left the country with fewer health care personnel and hospital beds, and longer wait times. Current Issue View our current issue
These cuts, along with similar attacks on public expenditure in education, pensions, and social security, have been coupled with a dramatic restructuring of labor relations that has left a significant portion of the Italian workforce struggling with increasingly precarious forms of employment on one hand, and the threat of unemployment on the other. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
What does this mean in a time of pandemic? Stripped of paid leave and unemployment benefits and unable to afford missing a day of work, people have been going to work sick. Sound familiar?
Since the situation in Italy turned critical, many researchers have identified reasons for the disproportionate devastation of the country’s outbreak (20,465 deaths as of April 13): demographics (a higher elderly population), timing (the identification of patient zero on February 20 followed an unusual upsurge in hospitalizations for cases of severe pneumonia misattributed to the common flu), and the haphazard implementation of the lockdown (which unwittingly encouraged affected individuals in Lombardy to flee, dispersing the contagion nationwide).
Crucially, Italy ramped up its testing capacity early on, testing more people than any other European country until very recently. The United States lagged behind: By March 9, the Italian government had tested over 53,000 people and imposed a near-complete national quarantine, while the States had only conducted 4,183 tests. This was back when Donald Trump was still cynically tweeting about how this coronavirus was nothing more than the flu.
Inconsistencies in testing capacity have made it difficult to compare the relative rates of contagion by country, but as the scope of the threat becomes clearer and countries—including the United States—attempt to rapidly expand their testing, Italy is starting to look like less of an outlier than originally thought.
The skyrocketing rate of infection in Italy is not, as Biden would have it, stress testing or disproving the efficacy of universal health care. The chilling fatality figures do not in and of themselves offer any evidence that the country would have fared better had its system been run by the private sector. In fact, Italians have rallied behind the single-payer system on social media, and even the most hostile news outlets have come to recognize that its ability to coordinate a national reorganization of health care personnel and facilities might be all that stands in the way of full social tragedy.
To be sure, Italian authorities’ mistakes were legion: They failed to take prompt action during the window available once they learned of the outbreak in China and didn’t provide the public with adequate guidelines on how to slow the contagion—e.g., avoiding the ER or a GP’s office if you presented symptoms—until it was too late. But these failures have very little to do with the public nature of the health care system, and very much to do with the fatal ingredient in the cocktail of tardy responsiveness and at-risk demographics: a decade of austerity policies. Since the turn of the century, and more aggressively after the global recession of 2008, the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), Italy’s universal health care system, has undergone continuous spending cuts and rounds of privatization.
The “Americanization” of the SSN has been ongoing since the 1990s, when Italy joined the European Union. But the 2008 global financial crisis acted as an accelerator, and when the recession really hit the country in 2011, the ensuing financial panic was quickly used as political leverage to impose a range of structural reforms aimed at reassuring financial markets over the soundness of Italy’s debt. It was a case study in Shock Doctrine. Related Article Undercounting Covid-19 Deaths Is a Deadly Mistake Jeet Heer
The Piani di rientro, policies aimed at containing health care expenditure across the country, became the fundamental instrument through which the then-decentralized network of regional health care services could be re-centralized under the unifying agenda of austerity. These financial recovery plans put regions with high deficits under the scrutiny of the Ministry of Health and, for the first time, the Ministry of Finance—turning the delivery of health care into an issue of financial stability.
In concrete figures, these plans have amounted to the cutting of €37 billion from the SNN since 2010. Between 2008 and 2017, a hiring freeze led to a decrease of 42,800 health care personnel—particularly doctors and nurses. Those at work are asked to clock longer hours for less pay. In the meantime, the number of hospital beds has drastically declined, from 3.9 per 1 million people in 2007 to 3.2 a decade later, according to OCSE data. That’s far lower than the European average of five, though this has also been curtailed from 5.7 in 2007. The United States’ is 2.8.
A study published as recently as last month shows how between 2004 and 2014 these policies worked really well at reducing costs. They also had the “inadvertent” consequence of increasing the rate of “avoidable deaths” by 3 percent.
Despite the impoverishment of people and medical facilities, Italy’s national system is the system that is now handling the pandemic. And what are all those flourishing private clinics that were supposed to save us all from the inefficiencies of the public sector doing? Pretty much nothing, at least until they are forced to, as many reports coming out of Italy have shown.
In fact, the Italian government had to step in by means of an emergency decree, the “Cura Italia,” to allow regional governments to request publicly subsidized private clinics to make some of their personnel, beds, and equipment available to the public sector. And of course, this is not free of charge: Private facilities will be compensated for 100 percent of the costs of such “inconveniences”—at a much higher rate than what taxpayers would be paying if the same services were provided directly by the public sector. This, on top of other contributions they already receive from the state to begin with.
As the number of victims of Covid-19 has risen to over 17,000 in the span of just a month and a half, Italians wonder how different the situation could have been had hospitals been provided with adequate staffing, beds, and equipment. As the number of cases in the States skyrockets and health care workers face shortages in supplies and personnel, Americans should brace themselves to ask the same question.
If there is anything to blame for this catastrophe other than the virus itself, ask an Italian. Many of us have been saying it all along: Austerity kills.


thenation--2020-04-14--Why Not the Best? Elizabeth Warren for VP.

Every election is called “ the most important in our lifetime , ” but this one really is .
Because Trump ’ s unique pathology is seriously endangering our post-coronavirus health and our democracy , not since 1860 and 1932 has there been such a fateful choice for president .
Depending on the outcome , our country may go headlong down the road to authoritarianism or return to majority rule .
Presumptive nominee Joe Biden has broken with tradition by announcing that he will choose a black woman for the first open Supreme Court seat as well as a woman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most important thing , ” he said about the selection of a running mate , “ is that it has to be someone who , the day after they ’ re picked , is prepared to be president of the United States of America if something happened.
” While the six or so women who may be vetted each have their own strengths , Biden ’ s test of being “ prepared ” to be president on day one—not regional , racial or generational balance—suggests a clear favorite : Senator Elizabeth Warren .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ stage as a presidential candidate , Warren is singularly ready to be a historic president if the situation arises because she ’ s a once-in-a-generation public talent with exactly the temperament and relevant economic , health , and anti-corruption policy experience to help Biden win and govern .
Here are the reasons why : She ’ s a policy “ nerd.
” During the campaign , her refrain was , “ I have a plan for that ” —and she did .
Her 50-plus “ plans ” over the past year distinguish her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provided a de facto real-time transition report for the next president .
Ever since she returned to her Senate office last month , her economic and health proposals to deal with the coronavirus pandemic have been widely touted .
President Obama , for example—who doesn ’ t do things thoughtlessly—seemed to drop a big hint with a tweet to his 115 million followers that “ as she often does [ Warren ] provides a cogent summary ” of how to handle the pandemic .
She has always been a visionary and a leader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paul Revere when she sounded the alarm before the 2007–08 fiscal crisis and then led the successful effort for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau .
Three years ago , she warned the Trump administration that it wasn ’ t doing enough to anticipate the next pandemic .
As a presidential candidate , she had a fully developed federal cornavirus plan in January , and was the first to urge Trump ’ s impeachment after the Mueller report and to raise the subjects , among many , of reparations and a wealth tax .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , who inherited millions , she was the first in her family to go to college ; then it was on to law school and teaching law for 30 years at the University of Texas , the University of Pennsylvania , and Harvard .
She also won an uphill race against a popular Republican incumbent senator in 2012 in Massachusetts .
Warren comes from a working-class family and can be trusted by voters far from the Eastern or Washington establishments .
She ’ s a personable mensch .
From her instinctive hugs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to her “ pinkie promises ” with thousands of young girls , she embodies someone who is confident yet also grounded , compassionate , honest , and humble .
And she ’ s funny .
She would be an effective “ attack dog ” if needed in the fall .
One possible assignment for a VP nominee has been to expose the failings of the other ticket .
Mike Pence should fear Elizabeth Warren if he saw her defenestrate Bloomberg in the ex-mayor ’ s first presidential debate , and also because Pence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Will he even agree to debate on the same stage unless there ’ s a male moderator in between them ? )
Put Elizabeth Warren in Charge of Writing the Democratic Platform She ’ s a team player who works well with her peers , whether they are other professors , senators , or rivals .
Warren easily shares credit with colleagues , and she listens to those with different opinions .
She is an unusual combination of open-minded , bighearted , and strong-willed .
She has a gift for explaining the role @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assault on the public sector—from Reagan to Gingrich to Trump—it ’ s urgent that the Democratic ticket show that the federal government exists to do what individuals , companies and states often can not do , i.e.
, advance public health , security , and prosperity .
“ I believe in markets , but markets without rules is theft , ” she often said in the campaign , adding that smart government should include “ a consumer cop on the regulatory beat.
” This view has animated Warren ’ s career as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Based on her own pioneering research , she can clearly explain in plain language what ’ s happened to the average worker and middle-class family , and how intergenerational racial theft has cheated consumers of color .
Her approach of “ economic patriotism ” can help people prosper at a time of widening inequality .
She proved to be a dynamic candidate in the presidential race , capable of exciting younger voters and progressive voters because of her story , views , and enthusiasm ( notwithstanding her birth date ) .
As for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just the “ Joe from Scranton ” appeal to reach non-college-educated white workers and , with Obama on the stump , a proven appeal to voters of color .
Not surprisingly , national match-up polls show Biden doing better teamed with Warren than with any other proposed running mate .
The choice of Senator Warren would be lauded by nearly all Democrats , help “ unify ” the party by appealing to its two wings ( especially disappointed Sanders supporters ) , reach out to the many Republicans and independents now frightened by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the fall ticket , and reflect well on the judgment of a nominee who chose a strong , talented woman to help him run the government , if not become a historic 47 .
She ’ s the best .
America deserves the best .

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Every election is called “the most important in our lifetime,” but this one really is. Because Trump’s unique pathology is seriously endangering our post-coronavirus health and our democracy, not since 1860 and 1932 has there been such a fateful choice for president. Depending on the outcome, our country may go headlong down the road to authoritarianism or return to majority rule.
Presumptive nominee Joe Biden has broken with tradition by announcing that he will choose a black woman for the first open Supreme Court seat as well as a woman as his running mate. “The most important thing,” he said about the selection of a running mate, “is that it has to be someone who, the day after they’re picked, is prepared to be president of the United States of America if something happened.”
While the six or so women who may be vetted each have their own strengths, Biden’s test of being “prepared” to be president on day one—not regional, racial or generational balance—suggests a clear favorite: Senator Elizabeth Warren. Based on her performance on the national stage as a presidential candidate, Warren is singularly ready to be a historic president if the situation arises because she’s a once-in-a-generation public talent with exactly the temperament and relevant economic, health, and anti-corruption policy experience to help Biden win and govern. Here are the reasons why:
She’s a policy “nerd.” During the campaign, her refrain was, “I have a plan for that”—and she did. Her 50-plus “plans” over the past year distinguish her as the only candidate ever whose campaign provided a de facto real-time transition report for the next president. Ever since she returned to her Senate office last month, her economic and health proposals to deal with the coronavirus pandemic have been widely touted. President Obama, for example—who doesn’t do things thoughtlessly—seemed to drop a big hint with a tweet to his 115 million followers that “as she often does [Warren] provides a cogent summary” of how to handle the pandemic. Current Issue View our current issue
She has always been a visionary and a leader. Warren was an early but ignored Paul Revere when she sounded the alarm before the 2007–08 fiscal crisis and then led the successful effort for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Three years ago, she warned the Trump administration that it wasn’t doing enough to anticipate the next pandemic. As a presidential candidate, she had a fully developed federal cornavirus plan in January, and was the first to urge Trump’s impeachment after the Mueller report and to raise the subjects, among many, of reparations and a wealth tax.
She is a self-made success. Unlike Trump, who inherited millions, she was the first in her family to go to college; then it was on to law school and teaching law for 30 years at the University of Texas, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard. She also won an uphill race against a popular Republican incumbent senator in 2012 in Massachusetts. Warren comes from a working-class family and can be trusted by voters far from the Eastern or Washington establishments. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
She’s a personable mensch. From her instinctive hugs for everyone to her kindness to staff to her “pinkie promises” with thousands of young girls, she embodies someone who is confident yet also grounded, compassionate, honest, and humble. And she’s funny.
She would be an effective “attack dog” if needed in the fall. One possible assignment for a VP nominee has been to expose the failings of the other ticket. Mike Pence should fear Elizabeth Warren if he saw her defenestrate Bloomberg in the ex-mayor’s first presidential debate, and also because Pence is obviously uncomfortable around women. (Will he even agree to debate on the same stage unless there’s a male moderator in between them?) Warren Put Elizabeth Warren in Charge of Writing the Democratic Platform John Nichols
She’s a team player who works well with her peers, whether they are other professors, senators, or rivals. Warren easily shares credit with colleagues, and she listens to those with different opinions. She is an unusual combination of open-minded, bighearted, and strong-willed.
She has a gift for explaining the role of affirmative government. After the decades-long assault on the public sector—from Reagan to Gingrich to Trump—it’s urgent that the Democratic ticket show that the federal government exists to do what individuals, companies and states often cannot do, i.e., advance public health, security, and prosperity. “I believe in markets, but markets without rules is theft,” she often said in the campaign, adding that smart government should include “a consumer cop on the regulatory beat.”
This view has animated Warren’s career as a scholar, activist, and legislator. Based on her own pioneering research, she can clearly explain in plain language what’s happened to the average worker and middle-class family, and how intergenerational racial theft has cheated consumers of color. Her approach of “economic patriotism” can help people prosper at a time of widening inequality.
She proved to be a dynamic candidate in the presidential race, capable of exciting younger voters and progressive voters because of her story, views, and enthusiasm (notwithstanding her birth date). As for identity and regional concerns, Biden has just the “Joe from Scranton” appeal to reach non-college-educated white workers and, with Obama on the stump, a proven appeal to voters of color. Not surprisingly, national match-up polls show Biden doing better teamed with Warren than with any other proposed running mate.
The choice of Senator Warren would be lauded by nearly all Democrats, help “unify” the party by appealing to its two wings (especially disappointed Sanders supporters), reach out to the many Republicans and independents now frightened by Trump’s behavior, add flair to the fall ticket, and reflect well on the judgment of a nominee who chose a strong, talented woman to help him run the government, if not become a historic 47.
She’s the best. America deserves the best.


thenation--2020-04-14--Amazing Grace and Courage Amid the Plague

Let ’ s begin today ’ s column with some righteous Noise .
On Easter Sunday , the singer Andrea Bocelli performed a concert , accompanied only by an organist , from the empty interior of the cavernous Duomo cathedral in Milan , Italy .
Streamed live on YouTube , it was one of the most glorious , moving , and emotionally devastating affirmations of the human power to endure that I have ever experienced .
Bocelli sang inside for nearly 20 minutes , with the soaring columns and wondrous stained-glass windows of the cathedral his backdrop ; and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sound of his shoes clacking on the stone floor as he walked toward the exit , he left the cathedral , and , with the impossibly intricate carved exterior as background—surely one of the most stunning buildings ever erected—he performed a magnificent version of “ Amazing Grace.
” As he sang , viewers around the world saw images of empty streets in locked-down Milan , Paris , London , and New York , with views of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe , Trafalgar Square , Times Square .
Those scenes of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the horror of the moment but also the remarkable cooperation that humans are capable of : All of those absent people are doing their part to socially distance , no matter how emotionally draining the isolation is , to keep other people—their neighbors , friends , and family , but also strangers they might pass casually on the streets—safe .
I cried as I haven ’ t managed to cry throughout the past month of lockdown , all the angst and grief and rage pouring out of me as I listened to Bocelli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the brave doctors and nurses and frightened patients in New York whom I had read about over breakfast a few hours earlier in powerful profiles by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times .
I cried for my Covid-positive friends in New York and all the fear they have lived through these past weeks .
Trump , Our Grifter in Chief , Is a Global Menace I cried for the sheer horror of a moment in which the president of the United States purportedly wanted to let the virus “ wash over ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , simply to keep the economic numbers good enough to give him a chance to win reelection .
I cried for this beloved country , where a man such as Rush Limbaugh , who has turned bigotry and know-nothingness into a fine art , is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom , while frontline health care workers are showered with empty praise but left to put garbage bags over their clothing as improvised personal protective equipment because the government frittered away two months ignoring the public health crisis instead of urgently stockpiling necessary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Safety and Health Administration , which under this administration is working pretty much full-time to protect employers rather than employees , can make the Orwellian decision to allow companies to not report Covid-19 cases among their work force .
After the Bocelli concert , I scrolled through the comments from viewers on the YouTube page .
Two , in particular , struck me : From Porto Alegre , Brazil , someone wrote : “ Isolated inside our homes , we had our hearts fluttering for about thirty minutes .
I am grateful !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ all this .
As long as there is love and music in the world , we will be fine.
” From Milan , another declared , “ We are waves of the same sea.
” What wondrous words , what defiance , what poetry amid calamity !
As inspiring as Milwaukee residents—forced to vote in person last week after five members of the US Supreme Court denied requests to extend Wisconsin ’ s vote-by-mail deadline—turning up at the few open polling sites in their beleaguered city to stand in line for hours and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Which brings me on to the Signal .
Republicans have now latched onto the obscene strategy of limiting vote-by-mail options in the middle of the pandemic , on the assumption that suburban and rural conservatives will have enough polling sites open in which to vote safely , whereas many urban voters , who tend to lean Democratic , will end up staying home and not voting to avoid getting sick .
Trump has given up on touting the good economic times , since they have been replaced by something that looks more and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he sows ever more chaos , so as to drive people away from the polls on election day ; to convince his base , in advance , that if he loses it will be because of voter fraud unleashed by the use of insecure vote-by-mail systems ; and to shift the focus of his nativist bigotry from Mexicans , Central Americans , and Muslims to his new bugbear , the Chinese , the purported instigators of this viral tragedy .
Witness the extraordinarily racist , xenophobic , and dishonest ad that his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portray Biden as cozying up to the Chinese .
The malevolent ad even had a cameo by former Washington governor Gary Locke , who apparently looks Asian enough that a picture of him next to Biden will be seen by Trump ’ s team as a way to hurt the presumptive Democratic nominee .
There isn ’ t an ounce of empathy , humility , or humanity in this administration .
It is cruel and ruthless , and it knows only how to pit people against one another .
I am convinced that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consigned to history ’ s trash heap .
For we humans are better than this .
We are all indeed , as is becoming clearer as this crisis intensifies , waves of the same sea .

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.
Let’s begin today’s column with some righteous Noise. On Easter Sunday, the singer Andrea Bocelli performed a concert, accompanied only by an organist, from the empty interior of the cavernous Duomo cathedral in Milan, Italy. Streamed live on YouTube, it was one of the most glorious, moving, and emotionally devastating affirmations of the human power to endure that I have ever experienced.
Bocelli sang inside for nearly 20 minutes, with the soaring columns and wondrous stained-glass windows of the cathedral his backdrop; and then, the silence broken only by the sound of his shoes clacking on the stone floor as he walked toward the exit, he left the cathedral, and, with the impossibly intricate carved exterior as background—surely one of the most stunning buildings ever erected—he performed a magnificent version of “Amazing Grace.” As he sang, viewers around the world saw images of empty streets in locked-down Milan, Paris, London, and New York, with views of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, Trafalgar Square, Times Square.
Those scenes of eerily quiet, empty metropolises conveyed both the horror of the moment but also the remarkable cooperation that humans are capable of: All of those absent people are doing their part to socially distance, no matter how emotionally draining the isolation is, to keep other people—their neighbors, friends, and family, but also strangers they might pass casually on the streets—safe.
I cried as I haven’t managed to cry throughout the past month of lockdown, all the angst and grief and rage pouring out of me as I listened to Bocelli’s voice. I cried for the brave doctors and nurses and frightened patients in New York whom I had read about over breakfast a few hours earlier in powerful profiles by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times. I cried for my Covid-positive friends in New York and all the fear they have lived through these past weeks. More Signal:Noise Trump, Our Grifter in Chief, Is a Global Menace Sasha Abramsky For Refugee Camps, Covid-19 Is a Death Sentence Sasha Abramsky
I cried for the sheer horror of a moment in which the president of the United States purportedly wanted to let the virus “wash over” America, no matter the human cost, simply to keep the economic numbers good enough to give him a chance to win reelection. I cried for this beloved country, where a man such as Rush Limbaugh, who has turned bigotry and know-nothingness into a fine art, is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, while frontline health care workers are showered with empty praise but left to put garbage bags over their clothing as improvised personal protective equipment because the government frittered away two months ignoring the public health crisis instead of urgently stockpiling necessary supplies. A country where the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which under this administration is working pretty much full-time to protect employers rather than employees, can make the Orwellian decision to allow companies to not report Covid-19 cases among their work force. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
After the Bocelli concert, I scrolled through the comments from viewers on the YouTube page. Two, in particular, struck me: From Porto Alegre, Brazil, someone wrote: “Isolated inside our homes, we had our hearts fluttering for about thirty minutes. I am grateful! We will win, we will overcome all this. As long as there is love and music in the world, we will be fine.” From Milan, another declared, “We are waves of the same sea.”
What wondrous words, what defiance, what poetry amid calamity! As inspiring as Milwaukee residents—forced to vote in person last week after five members of the US Supreme Court denied requests to extend Wisconsin’s vote-by-mail deadline—turning up at the few open polling sites in their beleaguered city to stand in line for hours and exercise their fundamental right to vote. Current Issue View our current issue
Which brings me on to the Signal. Republicans have now latched onto the obscene strategy of limiting vote-by-mail options in the middle of the pandemic, on the assumption that suburban and rural conservatives will have enough polling sites open in which to vote safely, whereas many urban voters, who tend to lean Democratic, will end up staying home and not voting to avoid getting sick.
Trump has given up on touting the good economic times, since they have been replaced by something that looks more and more like the Great Depression. Instead, he sows ever more chaos, so as to drive people away from the polls on election day; to convince his base, in advance, that if he loses it will be because of voter fraud unleashed by the use of insecure vote-by-mail systems; and to shift the focus of his nativist bigotry from Mexicans, Central Americans, and Muslims to his new bugbear, the Chinese, the purported instigators of this viral tragedy.
Witness the extraordinarily racist, xenophobic, and dishonest ad that his campaign spewed out last week seeking to portray Biden as cozying up to the Chinese. The malevolent ad even had a cameo by former Washington governor Gary Locke, who apparently looks Asian enough that a picture of him next to Biden will be seen by Trump’s team as a way to hurt the presumptive Democratic nominee.
There isn’t an ounce of empathy, humility, or humanity in this administration. It is cruel and ruthless, and it knows only how to pit people against one another. I am convinced that for those reasons it will ultimately be consigned to history’s trash heap. For we humans are better than this. We are all indeed, as is becoming clearer as this crisis intensifies, waves of the same sea.


thenation--2020-04-14--Covid-19 Is Revealing America’s Fault Lines

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS-CoV-2 ) virus , which causes Covid-19 , seemed to emerge from deepest history , from the Black Death of the 14th century and the “ Spanish Flu ” of 1918 .
In just months , it has infected more than 1.5 million people and claimed more than 88,000 lives .
The virus continues to spread almost everywhere .
In no time at all , it ’ s shattered the global economy , sent it tumbling toward a deep recession ( possibly even a depression ) , and left much of a planet locked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gigantic stress test .
Doctors use stress tests to assess the physical fitness of patients .
Governments use them to see whether banks have enough cash in reserve to honor their obligations to depositors and creditors in economic crises .
The International Monetary Fund conducts stress tests on national financial systems .
Now , like several other countries , notably Italy and Spain , the United States faces a different , far tougher stress test imposed by Covid-19 .
The early results are alarming .
Since the first infection in the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington on January 20 , the disease has spread across the country at a furious pace .
Hospitals , especially in New York City , have been deluged and are already at the breaking point .
And things will get worse—and not just in New York .
Yet the most basic necessities —protective masks , gowns , rubber gloves , and ventilators—are so scarce that they are being reused , further increasing the risk to health care workers , some of whom have already contracted Covid-19 from patients .
The experiences of China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the disease will take the lives of many of these brave people ; indeed , some here have already paid the ultimate price .
And this pandemic will subject our political system , economy , and society to a set of stress tests into the distant future .
By mid-January , the news from China made it obvious that the virus would spread across borders and soon reach the United States .
The sheer volume of travel between the two countries should have made that reality all too obvious .
Nearly 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 and 2.5 million Americans , counting only tourists , traveled to China .
In fact , we now know that , in the weeks after Covid-19 was disclosed in Wuhan , China , more than 430,000 people flew here from that country , thousands of them from Wuhan itself—and this continued even after Donald Trump put his much-vaunted travel measures in place .
( “ I do think we were very early , but I also think that we were very smart , because we stopped China , ” he nonetheless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump and his team remained unruffled , never mind that the country wasn ’ t remotely prepared for what was clearly coming .
Despite secret intelligence reports as early as January warning that Chinese leaders were understating the coronavirus threat ’ s severity , the administration failed to develop any kind of emergency plan to prepare for the pandemic .
That proved to be a monumental blunder .
China confirmed its first coronavirus fatality on January 11th .
An infection was first reported in Washington state barely a week later .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February 26th press conference , President Trump nonetheless dismissed the seriousness of the disease , noting that seasonal flu kills as many as 69,000 in the United States annually .
He failed to mention that the virus may have a fatality rate up to 10 times higher than the flu and that a Covid-19 vaccine was nowhere in sight .
Only 15 infections had been reported here , he claimed breezily , and “ when you have fifteen people , and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a pretty good job we ’ ve done.
” Close to zero ?
By mid-March , infections had risen to 1,200 ( which soon would prove a drop in the pandemic bucket as “ America First ” acquired a new meaning ) .
Yet the president called that number inconsequential .
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh did him one better : “ Yeah , I ’ m dead right on this .
The coronavirus is the common cold , folks.
” He accused the media of exaggerating “ in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form , the president was quick to personalize the pandemic .
He preened about how scientific experts marveled at his grasp of the complex details of virology and the way supposedly awestruck doctors asked , “ How do you know so much ?
” The president ’ s self-effacing answer : natural ability , possibly even a genetically-derived aptitude , thanks to “ a great , super-genius uncle ” who ’ d worked at MIT .
He declared himself a “ wartime president , ” despite the lack of any evident strategy to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when governors of hard-hit states began pleading for urgent help from the federal government : “ Respirators , ventilators , all of the equipment—try getting it yourselves.
” The governors , he groused , were “ complainers , ” who should have stockpiled what they were now begging for .
Thin-skinned as ever , he told Vice President Mike Pence that those like Governor Gretchen Whitmer , “ the woman from Michigan , ” who weren ’ t appreciative enough of his help didn ’ t even deserve to have their phone calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Inevitably , he had a Limbaugh-like conspiracy theory ready : fear-mongering Democrats were exploiting the Covid crisis to bash him .
The virus , he said during a campaign rally—yes , he was still holding them in late February—was their “ new hoax.
” Fox News and the president ’ s base duly ran with this theme .
Despite the warning of epidemiologists that the virus ’ s transmission rate would skyrocket unless Americans were scrupulous about “ social distancing , ” Trump tarried ( and to this day can ’ t keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conferences ) .
He failed to use the presidential bully pulpit to disseminate this advice quickly .
Nor , despite an evident shortage of medical supplies and equipment , did he act decisively .
The 1950 Defense Production Act ( DPA ) gives him the authority to order private companies to produce essential medical supplies and equipment , including ventilators , and then distribute them in ways that would prevent hard-hit states from outbidding each other .
He rejected widespread calls to use the Act .
“ We ’ re not , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on nationalizing our business .
Call a person over in Venezuela .
How did the nationalization of their businesses work out ?
Not too well.
” Of course , no one had called for a government takeover of American companies .
Trump did eventually invoke the DPA reluctantly in late March but has used it sparingly and ineffectively .
Continuing to downplay the Covid-19 threat , he declared during a March 31st Fox News “ virtual town hall ” on the coronavirus that he would love to have the economy up and running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ packed churches all over the country.
” That was , of course , a pipedream : by March 30th , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) had already reported more Covid-19 cases—140,904—here than in any other country and 2,405 deaths .
( And yet , in early April , Trump was still talking about the need to fill sports stadiums “ sooner rather than later ” ; the cure , he said , can not “ be worse than the problem itself.
” ) As of April 11th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risen to 492,416 infections and 18,559 fatalities , while John Hopkins University ’ s tracking site reported 526,296 infections and 20,463 deaths ( the highest numbers in the world in both categories ) .
Physicians and public health specialists have , however , warned that the toll could already be much higher given the shortage of test kits .
President Trump seemed finally to be grasping the gravity of the pandemic , thanks in part to the patient tutelage of specialists like Dr. Anthony Fauci , the long-time head of the National Institute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put this in your no-good-deed-goes-unpunished file : on social media , radio , and television , Fauci has been pilloried by Trump fans for supposedly undercutting the president or , as one acolyte tweeted , for trying to create a “ Police State Like China in Order to Stop the coronavirus.
” Fauci even started receiving death threats .
Unable to stay out of the limelight , Rudolph Giuliani , evidently seeking to displace Dr. Fauci as Trump ’ s top coronavirus expert , took to Twitter , practicing medicine without a license @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sure-fire cure for the disease .
This despite doctors ’ warnings that the drug ’ s efficacy was unproven and that it could have fatal results , as well as the American Medical Association ’ s counsel that a rush to use it could lead to hoarding and reduce its availability for treating people with ailments for which it ’ s actually been approved .
The president has followed Dr. Giuliani ’ s advice on hydroxychloroquine , repeatedly hailing it “ the biggest game-changer in the history of medicine.
” At a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ditched his goal of restarting the economy by Easter and asked non-essential workers to stay home until the end of April , venturing outdoors only when essential .
The Covid-19 death toll could , he now conceded , end up ranging between 100,000 and 240,000 , a number , he asserted , that would only prove “ we all , together , have done a very good job ” given that he ’ d heard estimates of “ up to 2.2 million deaths and maybe even beyond that ” if the pandemic were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he allowed that even 240,000 deaths in the United States could be a low end figure .
Then he again praised himself for taking decisive steps—assumedly by denying for weeks that the virus was a massive problem , predicting that it would perish in the summer heat , and assuring Americans that you could , in any case , cure it with anti-malarial drugs , which he “ may take ” himself .
Compared to 2 million possible deaths , 240,000 was , he boasted , “ a very low number.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least : 240,000 is indeed a far lower figure than 2 million .
Economic Pain—Acute , with More to Come As the stock market plunged—it had lost more than a third of its value by the end of March—and it became undeniable that the fallout from the virus would cause the economy to crater , Congress passed a $ 2 trillion-plus Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( CARES ) bill on March 27 , which the president signed within hours .
The main provisions of that mammoth , nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 1,200 to people with annual incomes below $ 75,000 ; * $ 2,400 to those who file taxes jointly and earn less than $ 150,000 ; * $ 500 per child for households with dependent children ; * 13 weeks of unemployment compensation beyond individual state government limits plus a weekly supplement of $ 600 ; * a 50 percent payroll tax credit up to $ 10,000 for businesses that continued to pay non-working employees and whose revenues have shrunk by at least 50 percent compared to a year ago ; * @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cover the costs of employees ’ salaries and health insurance ; * a $ 30.75 billion “ Education Stabilization Fund , ” providing various forms of economic assistance to hard-pressed students ; * six-month deferments on federal student loans and the suspension of penalties for overdue payments ; * $ 500 billion in loans and guarantees for corporations .
These were certainly much-needed moves and $ 2.2 trillion was hardly chump change .
Still , the number of the unemployed may far exceed current expectations as the economy more or less shuts down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domestic product could eventually shrink by a staggering 30 percent , with unemployment reaching at least 32 percent , or 47 million people , a figure that would surpass the 24.9 percent peak during the Great Depression of the 1930s .
The CARES stimulus package , geared significantly to big banks and big corporations , may not suffice to meet the needs of an increasing number of jobless people .
At least 6.6 million had filled unemployment claims by end of March alone .
By early April , the number edged close to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ follow .
And who knows how much of the $ 500 billion allotted to corporations will be devoted to protecting workers ’ jobs and benefits when less than 10 percent of it has strings attached ?
Furthermore , some of the measures in the CARES Act to help the jobless expire on July 30th and others at the end of the year , although it could take far longer to truly contain the virus .
The government could pony up more money , but the bill itself has no renewal clause , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another grim legislative battle .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already stated that he ’ ll oppose rapid follow-on legislation until the effects of the current bill are known , lest Democrats “ try to achieve unrelated policy items they would not be able to pass.
” The intricately linked global economic system has broken down in just a couple of months , so time isn ’ t on the side of the unemployed .
In addition , the maximum duration of unemployment benefits varies strikingly by state .
In North Carolina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; in Massachusetts , 30 .
Likewise , the maximum weekly amount paid ranges from $ 823 in Massachusetts to $ 235 in Mississippi .
Unemployment insurance certainly helps , but the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates that it averages just over $ 300 a week nationally , covering only 46.6 percent percent of a worker ’ s former earnings .
Yet if Covid-19 leaves many millions without jobs well beyond July 30 , or perhaps even the end of the year , they will have to pay for food , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to mention just a few of the basics .
Households with incomes in the bottom 20 percent will face a particularly hard struggle , to say nothing of the 38 million people already living in poverty .
Monthly rent in 2018 averaged $ 1,450 and monthly food costs ( not counting spending in restaurants ) $ 363 .
The average savings of Americans—excluding investments , retirement accounts , and homes—totaled only $ 4,830 that year .
Unsurprisingly , approximately 27 percent percent of them report that may not be able to cover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basic expenses ; another 25 percent say that they could hang on for three months .
Then what ?
Already , laid-off low-wage workers , who could barely meet their basic expenses when they had jobs , have become desperate , while those still employed who work in restaurants and hotels hit hard by social distancing have seen their hours cut back and their tips diminished .
No one knows just how bad things could get , how many people will succumb to Covid-19 , or what heights the jobless rate will reach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be certain : the virus ’ s wave hasn ’ t crested yet and may not for weeks , or even months .
And because the United States lacks the strong social safety nets of European countries , people with meager savings will be especially vulnerable .
Apart from the trauma of suddenly losing jobs , people filing unemployment claims have already been wearied by chronically busy phones and crashing websites as unemployment offices face a tsunami of a sort never previously imagined .
The loss of a job doesn ’ t just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ produce psychological stress and a diminished sense of self-worth .
Covid-19 is likely to leave startling numbers of Americans feeling bereft .
Social isolation may provide welcome solitude for a while ( at least for those who can half-afford it ) .
Before long , though , it will likely disorient people , particularly the elderly and those who are alone and cut off from friends and family , not to speak of exercise , eating out , or even trips to the local library .
Zoom and Skype won ’ t , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the real deal .
Well before Covid-19 made its appearance , the Health Resources and Services Administration ( HRSA ) reported that a fifth of Americans already felt isolated and two out of five claimed to lack “ meaningful ” social networks.
” Loneliness , the HRSA concluded , had become an “ epidemic ” —and that was before an actual epidemic hit .
Medical professionals concurred at the time .
Imagine what they ’ d say now .
Among other things , the coronavirus experience will undoubtedly increase the risk of suicide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weaponry ) , already at epidemic levels .
In 2017 alone , 47,000 Americans killed themselves .
By then , suicide had already become the 10th leading cause of death in the United States , claiming more lives than homicides or motor vehicle accidents .
The suicide rate has increased for the last 13 years straight .
Among youth , it has jumped 56 percent in the past decade alone , among blue-collar workers by 40 percent in less than two decades .
Sixty thousand veterans have died by their own hand since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher than for other adults .
By ratcheting up stress , dejection , and isolation , Covid-19 could also increase domestic violence , the neglect and mistreatment of children , and drug and alcohol abuse , especially among recovering addicts .
Globally , the virus has also turbocharged demagogues , for whom the pandemic provides an opportunity to commit hate crimes and engage in scapegoating , racial tropes , and weird conspiracy theories , while using social media to whip up fear , suspicion , and animosity , and deepen social divisions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ all be chalked up to the pandemic .
Still , they could all get worse as this insidious virus continues to wreak havoc .
Now for the Good Part Crises highlight and exacerbate a society ’ s problems , but they also put some of its best attributes on display .
Covid-19 hasn ’ t been an exception .
Doctors , nurses , hospital staff , and first responders knowingly endanger their lives daily to care for those sickened by the virus .
By April , 25,000 health care workers from other parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York State , the pandemic ’ s epicenter , to help .
Volunteers have mobilized nationwide to sew masks for hospital workers , stepping in where the government has failed .
People have found ways to help elderly neighbors .
Strangers have been engaging in acts of kindness and generosity toward one another—an acknowledgement that we confront a shared problem that will consume much more than our livelihoods if we don ’ t stand together ( social distancing aside ) .
Civic groups , non-profit organizations , and companies are pitching in to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Governors—Andrew Cuomo of New York , Mike DeWine of Ohio , Larry Hogan of Maryland , Gavin Newsom of California— have been working tirelessly to protect their states , showing that not all parts of the political system are as dysfunctional as Washington , DC , today .
At some point , we ’ ll emerge into a different world .
What it will be like no one can yet know .
Covid-19 has certainly created much despair but reasons for gratitude and admiration as well—something to keep in mind as this terrible @ @ @ @ @ @

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.
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The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) virus, which causes Covid-19, seemed to emerge from deepest history, from the Black Death of the 14th century and the “Spanish Flu” of 1918. In just months, it has infected more than 1.5 million people and claimed more than 88,000 lives. The virus continues to spread almost everywhere. In no time at all, it’s shattered the global economy, sent it tumbling toward a deep recession (possibly even a depression), and left much of a planet locked indoors. Think of it as a gigantic stress test.
Doctors use stress tests to assess the physical fitness of patients. Governments use them to see whether banks have enough cash in reserve to honor their obligations to depositors and creditors in economic crises. The International Monetary Fund conducts stress tests on national financial systems. Now, like several other countries, notably Italy and Spain, the United States faces a different, far tougher stress test imposed by Covid-19. The early results are alarming.
Since the first infection in the United States came to light in the state of Washington on January 20, the disease has spread across the country at a furious pace. Hospitals, especially in New York City, have been deluged and are already at the breaking point. And things will get worse—and not just in New York. Yet the most basic necessities —protective masks, gowns, rubber gloves, and ventilators—are so scarce that they are being reused, further increasing the risk to health care workers, some of whom have already contracted Covid-19 from patients. The experiences of China, Italy, and other countries suggest that the disease will take the lives of many of these brave people; indeed, some here have already paid the ultimate price. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
And this pandemic will subject our political system, economy, and society to a set of stress tests into the distant future.
The “Wartime President”
By mid-January, the news from China made it obvious that the virus would spread across borders and soon reach the United States. The sheer volume of travel between the two countries should have made that reality all too obvious. Nearly 3 million Chinese visitors came to this country in 2018 and 2.5 million Americans, counting only tourists, traveled to China. In fact, we now know that, in the weeks after Covid-19 was disclosed in Wuhan, China, more than 430,000 people flew here from that country, thousands of them from Wuhan itself—and this continued even after Donald Trump put his much-vaunted travel measures in place. (“I do think we were very early, but I also think that we were very smart, because we stopped China,” he nonetheless claimed.)
In addition, President Trump and his team remained unruffled, never mind that the country wasn’t remotely prepared for what was clearly coming. Despite secret intelligence reports as early as January warning that Chinese leaders were understating the coronavirus threat’s severity, the administration failed to develop any kind of emergency plan to prepare for the pandemic.
That proved to be a monumental blunder. China confirmed its first coronavirus fatality on January 11th. An infection was first reported in Washington state barely a week later. More than a month after that, at a February 26th press conference, President Trump nonetheless dismissed the seriousness of the disease, noting that seasonal flu kills as many as 69,000 in the United States annually. He failed to mention that the virus may have a fatality rate up to 10 times higher than the flu and that a Covid-19 vaccine was nowhere in sight. Only 15 infections had been reported here, he claimed breezily, and “when you have fifteen people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” Current Issue View our current issue
Close to zero? By mid-March, infections had risen to 1,200 (which soon would prove a drop in the pandemic bucket as “America First” acquired a new meaning). Yet the president called that number inconsequential. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh did him one better: “Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.” He accused the media of exaggerating “in an effort to get Trump.”
True to form, the president was quick to personalize the pandemic. He preened about how scientific experts marveled at his grasp of the complex details of virology and the way supposedly awestruck doctors asked, “How do you know so much?” The president’s self-effacing answer: natural ability, possibly even a genetically-derived aptitude, thanks to “a great, super-genius uncle” who’d worked at MIT.
He declared himself a “wartime president,” despite the lack of any evident strategy to vanquish this particular foe. His response when governors of hard-hit states began pleading for urgent help from the federal government: “Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment—try getting it yourselves.” The governors, he groused, were “complainers,” who should have stockpiled what they were now begging for. Thin-skinned as ever, he told Vice President Mike Pence that those like Governor Gretchen Whitmer, “the woman from Michigan,” who weren’t appreciative enough of his help didn’t even deserve to have their phone calls returned, at least by him. Inevitably, he had a Limbaugh-like conspiracy theory ready: fear-mongering Democrats were exploiting the Covid crisis to bash him. The virus, he said during a campaign rally—yes, he was still holding them in late February—was their “new hoax.” Fox News and the president’s base duly ran with this theme.
Despite the warning of epidemiologists that the virus’s transmission rate would skyrocket unless Americans were scrupulous about “social distancing,” Trump tarried (and to this day can’t keep his distance from anyone at his news conferences). He failed to use the presidential bully pulpit to disseminate this advice quickly.
Nor, despite an evident shortage of medical supplies and equipment, did he act decisively. The 1950 Defense Production Act (DPA) gives him the authority to order private companies to produce essential medical supplies and equipment, including ventilators, and then distribute them in ways that would prevent hard-hit states from outbidding each other. He rejected widespread calls to use the Act. “We’re not,” he quipped, “a country based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela. How did the nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.” Of course, no one had called for a government takeover of American companies. Trump did eventually invoke the DPA reluctantly in late March but has used it sparingly and ineffectively.
Continuing to downplay the Covid-19 threat, he declared during a March 31st Fox News “virtual town hall” on the coronavirus that he would love to have the economy up and running two weeks later on Easter Sunday with “packed churches all over the country.” That was, of course, a pipedream: by March 30th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had already reported more Covid-19 cases—140,904—here than in any other country and 2,405 deaths. (And yet, in early April, Trump was still talking about the need to fill sports stadiums “sooner rather than later”; the cure, he said, cannot “be worse than the problem itself.”)
As of April 11th, the CDC’s tally had risen to 492,416 infections and 18,559 fatalities, while John Hopkins University’s tracking site reported 526,296 infections and 20,463 deaths (the highest numbers in the world in both categories). Physicians and public health specialists have, however, warned that the toll could already be much higher given the shortage of test kits. President Trump seemed finally to be grasping the gravity of the pandemic, thanks in part to the patient tutelage of specialists like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But put this in your no-good-deed-goes-unpunished file: on social media, radio, and television, Fauci has been pilloried by Trump fans for supposedly undercutting the president or, as one acolyte tweeted, for trying to create a “Police State Like China in Order to Stop the coronavirus.” Fauci even started receiving death threats.
Unable to stay out of the limelight, Rudolph Giuliani, evidently seeking to displace Dr. Fauci as Trump’s top coronavirus expert, took to Twitter, practicing medicine without a license and touting the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a sure-fire cure for the disease. This despite doctors’ warnings that the drug’s efficacy was unproven and that it could have fatal results, as well as the American Medical Association’s counsel that a rush to use it could lead to hoarding and reduce its availability for treating people with ailments for which it’s actually been approved. The president has followed Dr. Giuliani’s advice on hydroxychloroquine, repeatedly hailing it “the biggest game-changer in the history of medicine.”
At a March 29th press conference, Trump finally ditched his goal of restarting the economy by Easter and asked non-essential workers to stay home until the end of April, venturing outdoors only when essential. The Covid-19 death toll could, he now conceded, end up ranging between 100,000 and 240,000, a number, he asserted, that would only prove “we all, together, have done a very good job” given that he’d heard estimates of “up to 2.2 million deaths and maybe even beyond that” if the pandemic were not dealt with effectively here. Later, he allowed that even 240,000 deaths in the United States could be a low end figure. Then he again praised himself for taking decisive steps—assumedly by denying for weeks that the virus was a massive problem, predicting that it would perish in the summer heat, and assuring Americans that you could, in any case, cure it with anti-malarial drugs, which he “may take” himself. Compared to 2 million possible deaths, 240,000 was, he boasted, “a very low number.” Give him credit for the math, at least: 240,000 is indeed a far lower figure than 2 million.
Economic Pain—Acute, with More to Come
As the stock market plunged—it had lost more than a third of its value by the end of March—and it became undeniable that the fallout from the virus would cause the economy to crater, Congress passed a $2 trillion-plus Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) bill on March 27, which the president signed within hours. The main provisions of that mammoth, nearly 900-page piece of legislation included:
* $1,200 to people with annual incomes below $75,000;
* $2,400 to those who file taxes jointly and earn less than $150,000;
* $500 per child for households with dependent children;
* 13 weeks of unemployment compensation beyond individual state government limits plus a weekly supplement of $600;
* a 50 percent payroll tax credit up to $10,000 for businesses that continued to pay non-working employees and whose revenues have shrunk by at least 50 percent compared to a year ago;
* loans to small businesses to help them cover the costs of employees’ salaries and health insurance;
* a $30.75 billion “Education Stabilization Fund,” providing various forms of economic assistance to hard-pressed students;
* six-month deferments on federal student loans and the suspension of penalties for overdue payments;
* $500 billion in loans and guarantees for corporations.
These were certainly much-needed moves and $2.2 trillion was hardly chump change. Still, the number of the unemployed may far exceed current expectations as the economy more or less shuts down. Some economists estimate that the gross domestic product could eventually shrink by a staggering 30 percent, with unemployment reaching at least 32 percent, or 47 million people, a figure that would surpass the 24.9 percent peak during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The CARES stimulus package, geared significantly to big banks and big corporations, may not suffice to meet the needs of an increasing number of jobless people. At least 6.6 million had filled unemployment claims by end of March alone. By early April, the number edged close to 17 million, and millions more will follow. And who knows how much of the $500 billion allotted to corporations will be devoted to protecting workers’ jobs and benefits when less than 10 percent of it has strings attached?
Furthermore, some of the measures in the CARES Act to help the jobless expire on July 30th and others at the end of the year, although it could take far longer to truly contain the virus. The government could pony up more money, but the bill itself has no renewal clause, which means that we could be in for another grim legislative battle. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already stated that he’ll oppose rapid follow-on legislation until the effects of the current bill are known, lest Democrats “try to achieve unrelated policy items they would not be able to pass.”
The intricately linked global economic system has broken down in just a couple of months, so time isn’t on the side of the unemployed. In addition, the maximum duration of unemployment benefits varies strikingly by state. In North Carolina, it’s only 12 weeks; in Massachusetts, 30. Likewise, the maximum weekly amount paid ranges from $823 in Massachusetts to $235 in Mississippi. Unemployment insurance certainly helps, but the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates that it averages just over $300 a week nationally, covering only 46.6 percent percent of a worker’s former earnings. Yet if Covid-19 leaves many millions without jobs well beyond July 30, or perhaps even the end of the year, they will have to pay for food, rents or mortgages, and utility bills, to mention just a few of the basics.
Households with incomes in the bottom 20 percent will face a particularly hard struggle, to say nothing of the 38 million people already living in poverty. Monthly rent in 2018 averaged $1,450 and monthly food costs (not counting spending in restaurants) $363. The average savings of Americans—excluding investments, retirement accounts, and homes—totaled only $4,830 that year. Unsurprisingly, approximately 27 percent percent of them report that may not be able to cover even a month’s worth of basic expenses; another 25 percent say that they could hang on for three months. Then what? Already, laid-off low-wage workers, who could barely meet their basic expenses when they had jobs, have become desperate, while those still employed who work in restaurants and hotels hit hard by social distancing have seen their hours cut back and their tips diminished.
No one knows just how bad things could get, how many people will succumb to Covid-19, or what heights the jobless rate will reach, but of this much we can be certain: the virus’s wave hasn’t crested yet and may not for weeks, or even months. And because the United States lacks the strong social safety nets of European countries, people with meager savings will be especially vulnerable. Apart from the trauma of suddenly losing jobs, people filing unemployment claims have already been wearied by chronically busy phones and crashing websites as unemployment offices face a tsunami of a sort never previously imagined.
The Social Fabric Under Stress
The loss of a job doesn’t just create economic insecurity, it can also produce psychological stress and a diminished sense of self-worth. Covid-19 is likely to leave startling numbers of Americans feeling bereft. Social isolation may provide welcome solitude for a while (at least for those who can half-afford it). Before long, though, it will likely disorient people, particularly the elderly and those who are alone and cut off from friends and family, not to speak of exercise, eating out, or even trips to the local library. Zoom and Skype won’t, in the long run, qualify as the real deal. Well before Covid-19 made its appearance, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reported that a fifth of Americans already felt isolated and two out of five claimed to lack “meaningful” social networks.” Loneliness, the HRSA concluded, had become an “epidemic”—and that was before an actual epidemic hit. Medical professionals concurred at the time. Imagine what they’d say now.
Among other things, the coronavirus experience will undoubtedly increase the risk of suicide (especially given the rush to purchase weaponry), already at epidemic levels. In 2017 alone, 47,000 Americans killed themselves. By then, suicide had already become the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming more lives than homicides or motor vehicle accidents. The suicide rate has increased for the last 13 years straight. Among youth, it has jumped 56 percent in the past decade alone, among blue-collar workers by 40 percent in less than two decades. Sixty thousand veterans have died by their own hand since 2008, a suicide rate 1.5 times higher than for other adults.
By ratcheting up stress, dejection, and isolation, Covid-19 could also increase domestic violence, the neglect and mistreatment of children, and drug and alcohol abuse, especially among recovering addicts. Globally, the virus has also turbocharged demagogues, for whom the pandemic provides an opportunity to commit hate crimes and engage in scapegoating, racial tropes, and weird conspiracy theories, while using social media to whip up fear, suspicion, and animosity, and deepen social divisions. Admittedly, such problems can’t all be chalked up to the pandemic. Still, they could all get worse as this insidious virus continues to wreak havoc.
Now for the Good Part
Crises highlight and exacerbate a society’s problems, but they also put some of its best attributes on display. Covid-19 hasn’t been an exception. Doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and first responders knowingly endanger their lives daily to care for those sickened by the virus. By April, 25,000 health care workers from other parts of the country had converged on New York State, the pandemic’s epicenter, to help. Volunteers have mobilized nationwide to sew masks for hospital workers, stepping in where the government has failed. People have found ways to help elderly neighbors. Strangers have been engaging in acts of kindness and generosity toward one another—an acknowledgement that we confront a shared problem that will consume much more than our livelihoods if we don’t stand together (social distancing aside). Civic groups, non-profit organizations, and companies are pitching in to help in a variety of ways. Governors—Andrew Cuomo of New York, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Gavin Newsom of California— have been working tirelessly to protect their states, showing that not all parts of the political system are as dysfunctional as Washington, DC, today.
At some point, we’ll emerge into a different world. What it will be like no one can yet know. Covid-19 has certainly created much despair but reasons for gratitude and admiration as well—something to keep in mind as this terrible stress test continues without letup.