thenation--2020-04-01--What the Pandemic Looks Like in Rural New York

It was only when I walked into our nearest supermarket after returning from a 10-day trip to California that I first saw what coronavirus panic looks like : empty shelves everywhere , and not an egg , a box of spaghetti , or a roll of toilet paper to be had .
What was available revealed what foods people in my part of the Northern Catskills apparently don ’ t like : beef broth and rutabagas .
I asked a guy examining shelves with a clipboard in his hand what were the things that were most difficult to keep in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” A neighbor of mine said she was told by a manager that the lines outside the entrance form every morning an hour before the store opens .
The scene at the supermarket , which is 12 miles away , led me to think about whether it ’ s better in a crisis like this one to live in a city or in rural America .
Certainly , in cities there are more places to buy food and it ’ s a lot easier to get to them .
But supermarkets don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rural America do .
Despite the dramatic drop in the number of farms in Greene County during the 20th century—from more than 2,600 to 222—there are still cornfields , fruit trees , and an occasional herd of cows along many back roads .
We may be reduced to eating out-of-season venison and apples , but it ’ s unlikely that we ’ ll starve—which suggests that what I witnessed at the grocery store is a manifestation of fear rather than a response to objective reality .
How I Learned to Stop Worrying About @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might even come into its own .
My husband told me yesterday that he ’ d just had a conversation with a neighbor who keeps bees , chickens , and goats and always grows a large garden of vegetables .
The two of them agreed that the neighbor would be happy to supply us with items like eggs in return for services my husband can provide with his tractor .
Apart from the availability of homegrown food , though , there ’ s a lot to be said for living in a city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apartment dwellers can at least look out the window and see other human beings , even if “ social distancing ” keeps them from having a conversation .
Here , with senior centers , restaurants , and other gathering places shut down , someone can easily go days without encountering another living soul—even if it ’ s just someone behind a steering wheel .
When I went for a walk of over an hour this morning on several small roads near my house , only one car passed me .
What that translates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of older people who live alone .
Another of my neighbors told me ( from more than six feet away ) on the day after we got back from California that she especially misses the weekly music group rehearsals that have become a big part of her life since her husband died .
Even her music lessons , she said , have been moved to Skype .
In the absence of any chance to catch up on gossip or local news in the usual ways such as town board meetings , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of local Facebook pages to see what ’ s on people ’ s minds .
Mostly , it appears , it ’ s pizza : lots of ads for takeout or delivery .
Also lots of notices of canceled meetings and church services , and requests for help with child care now that the schools are closed .
One post that caught my eye , and made me wonder how nasty things may get , appeared on a new page set up to share coronavirus-related information affecting our area .
Someone had posted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More than half of coronavirus patients globally have recovered.
” To which someone else had responded , “ Oh , but we must still panic to keep the Left happy.
” Another posting , which spoke to fears of outsiders ’ bringing the virus into the area , declared that “ NYC residents should not be allowed to shelter anywhere but their PRIMARY RESIDENCE !
!
” and urged local governments to tell second-home owners that they would be fined if they were found in violation of the proposed regulation .
The Greene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far , but just a day later , it put out a sternly worded press release addressed to second-home owners and prospective visitors .
It noted the county ’ s limited health resources and grocery stores and stated : “ Travel into Greene County from any area at this time is inadvisable and is highly discouraged.
” So much for the welcoming words to outsiders on the county website , and the boast of how close we are to New York and other major cities !
The tone of an e-mailed letter from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much more friendly , but its message was in its way more alarming .
Rather than offering platitudes , it began by saying , “ We are in uncharted territory , ” and went on to list what actions were being taken and what more might be needed .
These were mostly things I ’ d already learned about elsewhere , but toward the end came the news that if the pandemic overwhelms local health centers , “ the Red Cross has an agreement with the Cairo Durham School District to use any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Wow , I thought , so this is just how bad they are expecting it might get .
For now , however , life goes on pretty much as normal .
The first tiny crocuses have appeared in my garden , and the lilac bush is beginning to bud .
I saw the first wood ducks of the season on the same pond they always return to , and the red-wing blackbirds are back and calling out their familiar tunes .
I find it oddly cheering to think that even if we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be here .

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It was only when I walked into our nearest supermarket after returning from a 10-day trip to California that I first saw what coronavirus panic looks like: empty shelves everywhere, and not an egg, a box of spaghetti, or a roll of toilet paper to be had. What was available revealed what foods people in my part of the Northern Catskills apparently don’t like: beef broth and rutabagas.
I asked a guy examining shelves with a clipboard in his hand what were the things that were most difficult to keep in stock. His response: “Everything.” A neighbor of mine said she was told by a manager that the lines outside the entrance form every morning an hour before the store opens.
The scene at the supermarket, which is 12 miles away, led me to think about whether it’s better in a crisis like this one to live in a city or in rural America. Certainly, in cities there are more places to buy food and it’s a lot easier to get to them.
But supermarkets don’t actually create food; farms in rural America do. Despite the dramatic drop in the number of farms in Greene County during the 20th century—from more than 2,600 to 222—there are still cornfields, fruit trees, and an occasional herd of cows along many back roads. We may be reduced to eating out-of-season venison and apples, but it’s unlikely that we’ll starve—which suggests that what I witnessed at the grocery store is a manifestation of fear rather than a response to objective reality. All Politics Is Local My Neighbors Certainly Didn’t Celebrate Biden’s Win, but They Also Didn’t Publicly Mourn Trump’s Loss Karen Rothmyer Trump’s Response to Losing the Vote Calvin Trillin One Black Lives Matter Protest in Rural New York Opens the Door to Change Karen Rothmyer
Barter might even come into its own. My husband told me yesterday that he’d just had a conversation with a neighbor who keeps bees, chickens, and goats and always grows a large garden of vegetables. The two of them agreed that the neighbor would be happy to supply us with items like eggs in return for services my husband can provide with his tractor.
Apart from the availability of homegrown food, though, there’s a lot to be said for living in a city in a time like this one. Apartment dwellers can at least look out the window and see other human beings, even if “social distancing” keeps them from having a conversation. Here, with senior centers, restaurants, and other gathering places shut down, someone can easily go days without encountering another living soul—even if it’s just someone behind a steering wheel. When I went for a walk of over an hour this morning on several small roads near my house, only one car passed me.
What that translates into is social isolation for the large number of older people who live alone. Another of my neighbors told me (from more than six feet away) on the day after we got back from California that she especially misses the weekly music group rehearsals that have become a big part of her life since her husband died. Even her music lessons, she said, have been moved to Skype. 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Current Issue View our current issue
In the absence of any chance to catch up on gossip or local news in the usual ways such as town board meetings, I’ve started going to a couple of local Facebook pages to see what’s on people’s minds. Mostly, it appears, it’s pizza: lots of ads for takeout or delivery. Also lots of notices of canceled meetings and church services, and requests for help with child care now that the schools are closed.
One post that caught my eye, and made me wonder how nasty things may get, appeared on a new page set up to share coronavirus-related information affecting our area. Someone had posted a newspaper headline that said: “More than half of coronavirus patients globally have recovered.” To which someone else had responded, “Oh, but we must still panic to keep the Left happy.”
Another posting, which spoke to fears of outsiders’ bringing the virus into the area, declared that “NYC residents should not be allowed to shelter anywhere but their PRIMARY RESIDENCE!!” and urged local governments to tell second-home owners that they would be fined if they were found in violation of the proposed regulation.
The Greene County Legislature didn’t go that far, but just a day later, it put out a sternly worded press release addressed to second-home owners and prospective visitors. It noted the county’s limited health resources and grocery stores and stated: “Travel into Greene County from any area at this time is inadvisable and is highly discouraged.”
So much for the welcoming words to outsiders on the county website, and the boast of how close we are to New York and other major cities!
The tone of an e-mailed letter from our Town Supervisor to local residents was much more friendly, but its message was in its way more alarming. Rather than offering platitudes, it began by saying, “We are in uncharted territory,” and went on to list what actions were being taken and what more might be needed. These were mostly things I’d already learned about elsewhere, but toward the end came the news that if the pandemic overwhelms local health centers, “the Red Cross has an agreement with the Cairo Durham School District to use any and all of their facilities as needed.” Wow, I thought, so this is just how bad they are expecting it might get.
For now, however, life goes on pretty much as normal. The first tiny crocuses have appeared in my garden, and the lilac bush is beginning to bud. I saw the first wood ducks of the season on the same pond they always return to, and the red-wing blackbirds are back and calling out their familiar tunes. I find it oddly cheering to think that even if we all disappeared tomorrow, they would still be here.


thenation--2020-04-01--Trump’s Cuts to Food Stamps Almost Made the Pandemic Worse

Nydia Dominguez is a 64-year-old grandmother of four in Newburgh , New York .
Through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , Dominguez receives $ 500 a month to feed herself and her young grandchildren .
With SNAP—colloquially known as food stamps—and a little thrift at the grocery store , she manages to provide meals for her family and even neighbors in need .
“ I budget everything , ” says Dominguez .
“ I go through all the specials , and that ’ s how I work it out.
” But come April 1 , Dominguez and nearly a million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been able to rely on SNAP .
That ’ s when policy changes forcing recipients to find jobs or lose their benefits—amid an unprecedented downturn in the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic—would have taken effect .
Thankfully , advocates from 21 states , New York City , and Washington , DC , were able to halt the changes just weeks earlier .
The Trump administration first proposed these policy changes to SNAP last April .
At the heart of the so-called rule changes is a redefinition of how states , counties , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government exempting residents receiving SNAP from work requirements because of the lack of employment opportunities in their areas .
Local governments were previously allowed to define their own geographic areas for waivers , which could be as small as individual municipalities ; the changes would set the geographic areas according to the Department of Labor ’ s labor market areas , which can span multiple states .
By expanding the geographic area , the federal government could deny that there was a lack of employment opportunity and thereby deny waivers .
“ To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up only one small portion of the labor market area in which it sits , ” explains Kathleen Konopka , Washington , DC ’ s deputy attorney general of public advocacy .
“ Included in that labor market area is 16 counties in Virginia , I think five or six in Maryland , and one in West Virginia .
It ’ s a very large area.
” As Konopka explains , expanding Washington , DC ’ s waiver to include the surrounding areas assumes district residents can compete with commuters for the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Reliant on public transportation , DC ’ s SNAP recipients are limited to local employment opportunities .
Because the district largely lacks industry , manufacturing , and agricultural work , local opportunities tend to skew more highly skilled , with up to 75 percent requiring a college degree .
Not only do the majority of DC ’ s SNAP recipients have a high school diploma or less , but educational attainment in the surrounding areas is higher per capita , meaning commuters are more likely than residents to get local jobs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely fail to push recipients into work ; they would only deprive them of access to food .
The Washington , DC Attorney General ’ s Office led the opposition to Trump ’ s proposal .
With a coalition of 21 states , the district first objected via comments on the rule changes .
When that failed to prevent the changes from being scheduled to take effect , the coalition , along with New York City , sued the US Department of Agriculture , which oversees SNAP , in federal court in January @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depriving between 688,000 and 850,000 vulnerable Americans of much-needed nutritional assistance , ” the policy changes were flat-out unlawful as they contradicted previous statutes empowering states to determine the local criteria for waivers .
On March 13 , a federal judge issued an injunction halting the changes .
The timing could not have been better , as the Covid-19 pandemic was bringing the US economy to a standstill .
“ We elected to litigate against this rule before the pandemic was even in play because this rule is unlawful and would have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the residents of the nation if it were to go into effect , even without the pandemic , ” says Konopka .
“ The pandemic only amplifies those effects.
” Should the proposed changes to SNAP have gone through , the consequences would have been devastating .
Maggie Dickinson , a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Guttman Community College in New York City , spent three years researching the program for her recently published book Feeding the Crisis : Care and Abandonment in America ’ s Food Safety Net , which describes the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work requirements .
Dickinson observes that , while nearly 40 million people already rely on SNAP , that number is bound to explode as the COVID-19 pandemic forces businesses to close and pushes their workers into unemployment .
Expecting SNAP recipients to find jobs at a moment like this would have been tantamount to “ starving them , ” in Dickinson ’ s words .
“ If Trump ’ s new rule went into effect on April 1 , ” she posits , “ these people would be limited to three months of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off from benefits for three years , unless they could prove they were working twenty hours a week.
” The injunction means that the Trump administration ’ s changes to SNAP will not go into effect until the lawsuit led by the Washington DC Attorney General ’ s Office has concluded .
Konopka says that her office is currently in talks with the federal government to set a schedule to continue the litigation .
In the meantime , Congress ’ s first bill addressing the pandemic , passed on March 18 , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three-month time limit cited by Dickinson .
Contacted for comment by The Nation , the USDA declined to answer any questions , with press officer Jalil Isa describing the proposed policy changes as simply helping SNAP recipients “ experience the transformative power of work.
” Closer to reality , in Newburgh , Nydia Dominguez fumes over the proposal .
The city was preparing to lose its waiver when it received news of the injunction , preserving residents ’ access to SNAP through 2020 or whenever the lawsuit concludes .
“ I did hear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that he was going to cut a lot of people off SNAP , ” she says of Trump .
“ And I really went ballistic.
” Despite being formally unemployed , Dominguez commits much of her time to volunteering—a common trend among SNAP recipients , according to Dickinson ’ s research .
Dominguez volunteers with churches in Newburgh , many of which distribute free meals , groceries , and other necessities to the community .
If she had been pushed off of SNAP by the Trump administration ’ s policy changes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to turn to church charities to feed herself and her grandchildren .
Unfortunately , those same churches are now shuttered because of the ongoing pandemic—illustrating how close Dominguez and people like her came to having their access to food completely cut off .
“ Right now all the churches are closed , ” says Dominguez .
“ No church is supplying anything at the moment.… Even if you call them , there ’ s nobody answering the phones .
”

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.
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Nydia Dominguez is a 64-year-old grandmother of four in Newburgh, New York. Through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Dominguez receives $500 a month to feed herself and her young grandchildren. With SNAP—colloquially known as food stamps—and a little thrift at the grocery store, she manages to provide meals for her family and even neighbors in need.
“I budget everything,” says Dominguez. “I go through all the specials, and that’s how I work it out.”
But come April 1, Dominguez and nearly a million other SNAP recipients would have no longer been able to rely on SNAP. That’s when policy changes forcing recipients to find jobs or lose their benefits—amid an unprecedented downturn in the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic—would have taken effect. Thankfully, advocates from 21 states, New York City, and Washington, DC, were able to halt the changes just weeks earlier.
The Trump administration first proposed these policy changes to SNAP last April. At the heart of the so-called rule changes is a redefinition of how states, counties, and municipalities receive waivers from the federal government exempting residents receiving SNAP from work requirements because of the lack of employment opportunities in their areas. Local governments were previously allowed to define their own geographic areas for waivers, which could be as small as individual municipalities; the changes would set the geographic areas according to the Department of Labor’s labor market areas, which can span multiple states. By expanding the geographic area, the federal government could deny that there was a lack of employment opportunity and thereby deny waivers.
“To give you an example, DC makes up only one small portion of the labor market area in which it sits,” explains Kathleen Konopka, Washington, DC’s deputy attorney general of public advocacy. “Included in that labor market area is 16 counties in Virginia, I think five or six in Maryland, and one in West Virginia. It’s a very large area.”
As Konopka explains, expanding Washington, DC’s waiver to include the surrounding areas assumes district residents can compete with commuters for the same jobs—but that isn’t the case. Reliant on public transportation, DC’s SNAP recipients are limited to local employment opportunities. Because the district largely lacks industry, manufacturing, and agricultural work, local opportunities tend to skew more highly skilled, with up to 75 percent requiring a college degree. Not only do the majority of DC’s SNAP recipients have a high school diploma or less, but educational attainment in the surrounding areas is higher per capita, meaning commuters are more likely than residents to get local jobs. Thus the proposed changes to SNAP would likely fail to push recipients into work; they would only deprive them of access to food. 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
The Washington, DC Attorney General’s Office led the opposition to Trump’s proposal. With a coalition of 21 states, the district first objected via comments on the rule changes. When that failed to prevent the changes from being scheduled to take effect, the coalition, along with New York City, sued the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, in federal court in January. The suit argued that besides “depriving between 688,000 and 850,000 vulnerable Americans of much-needed nutritional assistance,” the policy changes were flat-out unlawful as they contradicted previous statutes empowering states to determine the local criteria for waivers. On March 13, a federal judge issued an injunction halting the changes. The timing could not have been better, as the Covid-19 pandemic was bringing the US economy to a standstill. Current Issue View our current issue
“We elected to litigate against this rule before the pandemic was even in play because this rule is unlawful and would have a huge impact on our residents and on the residents of the nation if it were to go into effect, even without the pandemic,” says Konopka. “The pandemic only amplifies those effects.”
Should the proposed changes to SNAP have gone through, the consequences would have been devastating. Maggie Dickinson, a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Guttman Community College in New York City, spent three years researching the program for her recently published book Feeding the Crisis: Care and Abandonment in America’s Food Safety Net, which describes the decades-long effort to shackle SNAP benefits to work requirements. Dickinson observes that, while nearly 40 million people already rely on SNAP, that number is bound to explode as the COVID-19 pandemic forces businesses to close and pushes their workers into unemployment. Expecting SNAP recipients to find jobs at a moment like this would have been tantamount to “starving them,” in Dickinson’s words.
“If Trump’s new rule went into effect on April 1,” she posits, “these people would be limited to three months of SNAP and then they would be cut off from benefits for three years, unless they could prove they were working twenty hours a week.”
The injunction means that the Trump administration’s changes to SNAP will not go into effect until the lawsuit led by the Washington DC Attorney General’s Office has concluded. Konopka says that her office is currently in talks with the federal government to set a schedule to continue the litigation. In the meantime, Congress’s first bill addressing the pandemic, passed on March 18, has also extended SNAP eligibility by removing the three-month time limit cited by Dickinson.
Contacted for comment by The Nation, a USDA press officer described the proposed policy changes as simply helping SNAP recipients “experience the transformative power of work.”
Closer to reality, in Newburgh, Nydia Dominguez fumes over the proposal. The city was preparing to lose its waiver when it received news of the injunction, preserving residents’ access to SNAP through 2020 or whenever the lawsuit concludes.
“I did hear, at the beginning of the year, that he was going to cut a lot of people off SNAP,” she says of Trump. “And I really went ballistic.”
Despite being formally unemployed, Dominguez commits much of her time to volunteering—a common trend among SNAP recipients, according to Dickinson’s research. Dominguez volunteers with churches in Newburgh, many of which distribute free meals, groceries, and other necessities to the community. If she had been pushed off of SNAP by the Trump administration’s policy changes, Dominguez imagines that she would have had to turn to church charities to feed herself and her grandchildren. Unfortunately, those same churches are now shuttered because of the ongoing pandemic—illustrating how close Dominguez and people like her came to having their access to food completely cut off.
“Right now all the churches are closed,” says Dominguez. “No church is supplying anything at the moment.… Even if you call them, there’s nobody answering the phones.”


thenation--2020-04-01--The Risks of Being A Woman During the Pandemic

Before I found myself “ sheltering in place , ” this article was to be about women ’ s actions around the world to mark March 8 , International Women ’ s Day .
From Pakistan to Chile , women in their millions filled the streets , demanding that we be able to control our bodies and our lives .
Women came out in Iraq and Kyrgyzstan , Turkey and Peru , the Philippines and Malaysia .
In some places , they risked beatings by masked men .
In others , they demanded an end to femicide—the millennia-old reality that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply because they are women .
In 1975 the Future Was Female This year ’ s celebrations were especially militant .
It ’ s been 45 years since the United Nations declared 1975 the International Women ’ s Year and sponsored its first international conference on women in Mexico City .
Similar conferences followed at five-year intervals , culminating in a 1995 Beijing conference , producing a platform that has in many ways guided international feminism ever since .
Beijing was a quarter of a century ago , but this year , women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough .
On March 9 , Mexican women staged a 24-hour strike , un día sin nosotras ( a day without us women ) , to demonstrate just how much the world depends on the labor—paid and unpaid—of… yes , women .
That womanless day was , by all accounts , a success .
The Wall Street Journal observed—perhaps with a touch of astonishment—that “ Mexico grinds to a halt .
Hundreds of thousands of women paralyzed Mexico in an unprecedented nationwide strike to protest a rising wave of violence against women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In addition to crowding the streets and emptying factories and offices , some women also broke store windows and fought with the police .
Violence ?
From women ?
What could have driven them to such a point ?
Perhaps it was the murder of Ingrid Escamilla , 25 , a Mexico City resident , who , according to The New York Times , “ was stabbed , skinned and disemboweled ” this February .
Maybe it was that the shooting of the artist and activist Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre in Ciudad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an uninterested world that women have been disappearing for decades along the US-Mexico border .
Or maybe it was just the fact that official figures for 2019 revealed more than 1,000 femicides in Mexico , a 10 percent increase from the previous year , while many more such murders go unrecorded .
If it weren ’ t for the pandemic , maybe The Wall Street Journal would have been right .
Maybe the Day Without Women would have been only the first of many major victories .
Maybe the international feminist anthem , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You [ the patriarchy , the police , the president ] are the rapist ) , would have gone on inspiring flash-mobs of dancing , chanting women everywhere .
Perhaps the world ’ s attention might not have been so quickly diverted from the spectacle of women ’ s uprisings globally .
Now , however , in the United States and around the world , it ’ s all-pandemic-all-the-time , and with reason .
The coronavirus has done what A Day Without Women could not : It ’ s brought the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s infected hundreds of thousands of people and killed tens of thousands .
And it continues to spread like a global wildfire .
Like every major event and institution , the pandemic affects women and men differently .
Although men who fall sick seem more likely than women to die , in other respects , the pandemic and its predictable aftermath are going to be harder on women .
How can that be ?
The writer Helen Lewis provides some answers in The Atlantic .
First of all , the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensures that more people will need to be cared for .
This includes older people who are especially at risk of dying and children who are no longer in school or childcare .
In developed countries like the United States , people fortunate enough to be able to keep their jobs by working from home are discovering that the presence of bored children does not make this any easier .
Indeed , last night , my little household was treated to a song-and-dance performance by two little girls who live a couple of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had spent the day helping them plan it and then invited us to watch from our backyard .
What they ’ ll do tomorrow , a workday , I have no idea .
A friend without children has offered to provide daily 15-minute Zoom lessons on anything she can Google , as a form of respite for her friends who are mothers .
As recently as a week ago , it looked as if shuttered schools might open again before the academic year ends , allowing one New York Times commentator to write @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Run a Coronavirus Home School.
” An associate professor of educational leadership , the author says she ’ s letting her two children watch TV and eat cookies , knowing that no amount of quick-study is going to turn her into an elementary school teacher .
I applaud her stance , but also suspect that the children of professionals will probably be better placed than those of low-wage workers to resume the life-and-death struggle for survival in the competitive jungle that is kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade education in this country .
In locked-down heterosexual households , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for childcare will fall on women .
She ’ s exasperated with pundits who point out that people like Isaac Newton and Shakespeare did their best work during a 17th century plague in England .
“ Neither of them , ” she points out , “ had child-care responsibilities.
” Try writing King Lear while your own little Cordelias , Regans , and Gonerils are pulling at your shirt and complaining loudly that they ’ re booored .
In places like the United Kingdom and the United States , where the majority of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new pressures to give up their paid employment .
In most two-earner heterosexual households with children , historic pay inequalities mean that a woman ’ s job usually pays less .
So if someone has to devote the day to full-time childcare , it will make economic sense that it ’ s her .
In the United States , 11 percent of women are already involuntarily working only part-time , many in jobs with irregular schedules .
Even women who have chosen to balance their household work with part-time employment may find themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Lewis says , this all makes “ perfect economic sense ” : “ At an individual level , the choices of many couples over the next few months will make perfect economic sense .
What do pandemic patients need ?
Looking after .
What do self-isolating older people need ?
Looking after .
What do children kept home from school need ?
Looking after .
All this looking after—this unpaid caring labor—will fall more heavily on women , because of the existing structure of the workforce.
” Furthermore , as women who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few years to care for very young children know , it ’ s almost impossible to return to paid work at a position of similar pay and status as the one you gave up .
And enforced withdrawal won ’ t make that any easier .
Social Reproduction ?
What ’ s That ?
And Why Does It Matter ?
This semester I ’ m teaching a capstone course for urban studies majors at my college , the University of San Francisco .
We ’ ve been focusing our attention on something that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is , who has it and doesn ’ t , who ’ s paid for it and isn ’ t , and myriad other questions about the activity that occupies so much of our time on this planet .
We ’ ve borrowed a useful concept from Marxist feminists : “ social reproduction.
” It refers to all the work , paid and unpaid , that someone has to do just so that workers can even show up at their jobs and perform the tasks that earn them a paycheck , while making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s called reproduction , because it reproduces workers , both in the biological sense and in terms of the daily effort to make them whole enough to do it all over again tomorrow .
It ’ s social reproduction , because no one can do it alone and different societies find different ways of doing it .
What ’ s included in social reproduction ?
There are the obvious things any worker needs : food , clothing , sleep ( and a safe place to doze off ) , not to speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But there ’ s more .
Recreation is part of it , because it “ recreates ” a person capable of working effectively .
Education , health care , child care , cooking , cleaning , procuring or making food and clothing—all of these are crucial to sustaining workers and their work .
If you ’ d like to know more about it , Tithi Bhattacharya ’ s Social Reproduction Theory : Remapping Class , Recentering Oppression is a good place to start .
What does any of this have to do with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is organized in the United States leaves some people more vulnerable than others in a time of economic crisis .
To take one example , over many decades , restaurants have assumed and collectivized ( for profit ) significant parts of the work of food preparation , service , and clean up , acts once largely performed in indvidual homes .
For working women , the availability of cheap takeout has , in some cases , replaced the need to plan , shop for , and prepare meals seven days a week .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ranging from high-end to fast-food establishments , but it includes many low-wage workers who have now lost their jobs , while those still working at places providing takeout or drive-through meals are risking their health so that others can eat .
One way professional class two-earner couples in the United States have dealt with the tasks of social reproduction is to outsource significant parts of their work to poorer women .
Fighting over who does the vacuuming and laundry at home ?
Don ’ t make the woman do it all .
Hire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you .
Want to have children and a career ?
Hire a nanny .
Of course , odds are that your house cleaner and nanny will still have to do their own social reproduction work when they get home .
And now that their children aren ’ t going to school , somehow they ’ ll have to take care of them as well .
In many cases , this will be possible , however , because their work is not considered an “ essential service ” under the shelter-in-place orders of some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incomes .
At least here in California , many of the women who do these jobs are undocumented immigrants .
When the Trump administration and Congress manage to pass a relief bill , they , like many undocumented restaurant workers , won ’ t be receiving any desperately needed funds to help them pay rent or buy food .
Immigrant-rights organizations are stepping in to try to make up some of the shortfall , but what they ’ re capable of is likely to prove just a few drops in a very large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among the most resourceful people in this country or they wouldn ’ t have made it this far .
There ’ s one more kind of social reproduction work performed mostly by women , and , by its nature , the very opposite of “ social distancing ” : sex work .
You can be sure that no bailout bill will include some of the nation ’ s poorest women , those who work as prostitutes .
Women at Home and at Risk It ’ s a painful coincidence that women are being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international movement against femicide is taking off .
One effect of shelter-in-place is to make it much harder for women to find shelter from domestic violence .
Are you safer outside risking coronavirus or inside with a bored , angry male partner ?
I write this in full knowledge that one economic sector that has not suffered from the pandemic is the gun business .
Ammo.com , for example , which sells ammunition online in all but four states , has experienced more than a three-fold increase in revenue over the last month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bought to fight off zombies ( or the immigrant invasion the president keeps reminding us about ) , but research shows that gun ownership has a lot to do with whether or not domestic violence turns into murder .
Each week , Washington Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax hosts a chat line offering suggestions for help of various sorts .
For the last two weeks , her readers ( myself included ) have been horrified by messages from one participant stuck in quarantine in a small apartment with a dangerous partner who has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to women in her position is not just to run , but to make an exit plan , quietly gather the supplies and money you ’ ll need and secure a place to go .
Mandatory shelter-in-place orders , however necessary to flattening the curve of this pandemic , may well indirectly cause an increase in domestic femicides .
As if women weren ’ t already disproportionately affected by the coronavirus epidemic , Senate Republicans have been trying to sneak a little extra misogyny into their version of a relief bill .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their lives in demonstrations under the slogan “ Mera jism , meri marzi ” ( “ My body , my choice ” ) , Republicans want to use the pandemic in another attempt to—that ’ s right—shut down Planned Parenthood clinics .
The Washington Post ’ s Greg Sargent recently revealed that the $ 350 billion being proposed to shore up small businesses that don ’ t lay off workers would exclude nonprofits that receive funds from Medicaid .
Planned Parenthood , which provides health care for millions of uninsured and underinsured women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Democratic congressional aides who alerted Sargent to this suggest that Planned Parenthood wouldn ’ t be the only organization affected .
They also believe that Meanwhile , Mississippi , Ohio , and Texas are trying to use the coronavirus as an excuse to prevent women ’ s access to abortion .
On the grounds that such procedures are not medically necessary , Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ordered abortion providers to stop terminating pregnancies .
Earlier , Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent letters to abortion providers in that state forbidding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When Warren Harding ( who oversaw a notoriously corrupt administration ) ran for president in 1920 , his campaign slogan was “ a return to normalcy ” —the way things were , that is , before World War I .
What he meant was a return to economic dynamism .
As we know , the “ Roaring Twenties ” provided it in spades—until that little crash known as the Great Depression .
Today , like Harding , another corrupt president is promising a prompt return to normalcy .
He ’ s already chafing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he announced in mid-March .
At his March 23 press conference , he hinted that the United States would be “ open for business ” sooner rather than later .
The next day , he suggested that the country reopen for business on Easter ( a “ very special day for me ” ) , saying he wants to see “ packed churches all over our country.
” He can ’ t wait until everything , including our deeply unequal health care and economic systems , gets back to normal—the way they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until , that is , we can go back to being unprepared for the next , inevitable crisis .
Unlike the president , I hope we don ’ t go back to normal .
I hope the people of Venice come to appreciate their sparkling canals and their returning dolphins .
I hope that the rest of us become attached to less polluted air and lower carbon emissions .
I hope that we learn to value the lives of women .
I hope , instead of returning to normalcy , we recognize that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changing almost everything , including how we produce what we need and how we reproduce ourselves as fully human beings .
I hope that , when we have survived this pandemic , the world ’ s peoples take what we have learned about collective global action during this crisis and apply it to that other predictable crisis , the one that threatens all human life on a distinctly warming planet .

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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Before I found myself “sheltering in place,” this article was to be about women’s actions around the world to mark March 8, International Women’s Day. From Pakistan to Chile, women in their millions filled the streets, demanding that we be able to control our bodies and our lives. Women came out in Iraq and Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Peru, the Philippines and Malaysia. In some places, they risked beatings by masked men. In others, they demanded an end to femicide—the millennia-old reality that women in this world are murdered daily simply because they are women.
In 1975 the Future Was Female
This year’s celebrations were especially militant. It’s been 45 years since the United Nations declared 1975 the International Women’s Year and sponsored its first international conference on women in Mexico City. Similar conferences followed at five-year intervals, culminating in a 1995 Beijing conference, producing a platform that has in many ways guided international feminism ever since.
Beijing was a quarter of a century ago, but this year, women around the world seemed to have had enough. On March 9, Mexican women staged a 24-hour strike, un día sin nosotras (a day without us women), to demonstrate just how much the world depends on the labor—paid and unpaid—of… yes, women. That womanless day was, by all accounts, a success. The Wall Street Journal observed—perhaps with a touch of astonishment—that “Mexico grinds to a halt. Hundreds of thousands of women paralyzed Mexico in an unprecedented nationwide strike to protest a rising wave of violence against women, a major victory for their cause.”
In addition to crowding the streets and emptying factories and offices, some women also broke store windows and fought with the police. Violence? From women? What could have driven them to such a point?
Perhaps it was the murder of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, a Mexico City resident, who, according to The New York Times, “was stabbed, skinned and disemboweled” this February. Maybe it was that the shooting of the artist and activist Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre in Ciudad Juarez, a barely noted reminder to an uninterested world that women have been disappearing for decades along the US-Mexico border. Or maybe it was just the fact that official figures for 2019 revealed more than 1,000 femicides in Mexico, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, while many more such murders go unrecorded.
Is the Pandemic Patriarchal?
If it weren’t for the pandemic, maybe The Wall Street Journal would have been right. Maybe the Day Without Women would have been only the first of many major victories. Maybe the international feminist anthem, “El violador eres tú” (You [the patriarchy, the police, the president] are the rapist), would have gone on inspiring flash-mobs of dancing, chanting women everywhere. Perhaps the world’s attention might not have been so quickly diverted from the spectacle of women’s uprisings globally. Now, however, in the United States and around the world, it’s all-pandemic-all-the-time, and with reason. The coronavirus has done what A Day Without Women could not: It’s brought the world’s economy to a shuddering halt. It’s infected hundreds of thousands of people and killed tens of thousands. And it continues to spread like a global wildfire. 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
Like every major event and institution, the pandemic affects women and men differently. Although men who fall sick seem more likely than women to die, in other respects, the pandemic and its predictable aftermath are going to be harder on women. How can that be? The writer Helen Lewis provides some answers in The Atlantic. Current Issue View our current issue
First of all, the virus, combined with mass quarantine measures, ensures that more people will need to be cared for. This includes older people who are especially at risk of dying and children who are no longer in school or childcare. In developed countries like the United States, people fortunate enough to be able to keep their jobs by working from home are discovering that the presence of bored children does not make this any easier.
Indeed, last night, my little household was treated to a song-and-dance performance by two little girls who live a couple of houses down the street. Their parents had spent the day helping them plan it and then invited us to watch from our backyard. What they’ll do tomorrow, a workday, I have no idea. A friend without children has offered to provide daily 15-minute Zoom lessons on anything she can Google, as a form of respite for her friends who are mothers.
As recently as a week ago, it looked as if shuttered schools might open again before the academic year ends, allowing one New York Times commentator to write an article headlined “I Refuse to Run a Coronavirus Home School.” An associate professor of educational leadership, the author says she’s letting her two children watch TV and eat cookies, knowing that no amount of quick-study is going to turn her into an elementary school teacher. I applaud her stance, but also suspect that the children of professionals will probably be better placed than those of low-wage workers to resume the life-and-death struggle for survival in the competitive jungle that is kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade education in this country.
In locked-down heterosexual households, Helen Lewis writes, the major responsibility for childcare will fall on women. She’s exasperated with pundits who point out that people like Isaac Newton and Shakespeare did their best work during a 17th century plague in England. “Neither of them,” she points out, “had child-care responsibilities.” Try writing King Lear while your own little Cordelias, Regans, and Gonerils are pulling at your shirt and complaining loudly that they’re booored.
In places like the United Kingdom and the United States, where the majority of mothers have jobs, women will experience new pressures to give up their paid employment. In most two-earner heterosexual households with children, historic pay inequalities mean that a woman’s job usually pays less. So if someone has to devote the day to full-time childcare, it will make economic sense that it’s her. In the United States, 11 percent of women are already involuntarily working only part-time, many in jobs with irregular schedules. Even women who have chosen to balance their household work with part-time employment may find themselves under pressure to relinquish those jobs.
As Lewis says, this all makes “perfect economic sense”:
“At an individual level, the choices of many couples over the next few months will make perfect economic sense. What do pandemic patients need? Looking after. What do self-isolating older people need? Looking after. What do children kept home from school need? Looking after. All this looking after—this unpaid caring labor—will fall more heavily on women, because of the existing structure of the workforce.”
Furthermore, as women who choose to leave the workforce for a few years to care for very young children know, it’s almost impossible to return to paid work at a position of similar pay and status as the one you gave up. And enforced withdrawal won’t make that any easier.
Social Reproduction? What’s That? And Why Does It Matter?
This semester I’m teaching a capstone course for urban studies majors at my college, the University of San Francisco. We’ve been focusing our attention on something that shapes all our lives: work—what it is, who has it and doesn’t, who’s paid for it and isn’t, and myriad other questions about the activity that occupies so much of our time on this planet. We’ve borrowed a useful concept from Marxist feminists: “social reproduction.” It refers to all the work, paid and unpaid, that someone has to do just so that workers can even show up at their jobs and perform the tasks that earn them a paycheck, while making a profit for their employers.
It’s called reproduction, because it reproduces workers, both in the biological sense and in terms of the daily effort to make them whole enough to do it all over again tomorrow. It’s social reproduction, because no one can do it alone and different societies find different ways of doing it.
What’s included in social reproduction? There are the obvious things any worker needs: food, clothing, sleep (and a safe place to doze off), not to speak of a certain level of hygiene. But there’s more. Recreation is part of it, because it “recreates” a person capable of working effectively. Education, health care, child care, cooking, cleaning, procuring or making food and clothing—all of these are crucial to sustaining workers and their work. If you’d like to know more about it, Tithi Bhattacharya’s Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression is a good place to start.
What does any of this have to do with our pandemic moment? How social reproduction is organized in the United States leaves some people more vulnerable than others in a time of economic crisis. To take one example, over many decades, restaurants have assumed and collectivized (for profit) significant parts of the work of food preparation, service, and clean up, acts once largely performed in indvidual homes. For working women, the availability of cheap takeout has, in some cases, replaced the need to plan, shop for, and prepare meals seven days a week. Food service is a stratified sector, ranging from high-end to fast-food establishments, but it includes many low-wage workers who have now lost their jobs, while those still working at places providing takeout or drive-through meals are risking their health so that others can eat.
One way professional class two-earner couples in the United States have dealt with the tasks of social reproduction is to outsource significant parts of their work to poorer women. Fighting over who does the vacuuming and laundry at home? Don’t make the woman do it all. Hire a different woman to do it for you. Want to have children and a career? Hire a nanny.
Of course, odds are that your house cleaner and nanny will still have to do their own social reproduction work when they get home. And now that their children aren’t going to school, somehow they’ll have to take care of them as well. In many cases, this will be possible, however, because their work is not considered an “essential service” under the shelter-in-place orders of some states. So they will lose their incomes.
At least here in California, many of the women who do these jobs are undocumented immigrants. When the Trump administration and Congress manage to pass a relief bill, they, like many undocumented restaurant workers, won’t be receiving any desperately needed funds to help them pay rent or buy food. Immigrant-rights organizations are stepping in to try to make up some of the shortfall, but what they’re capable of is likely to prove just a few drops in a very large bucket. Fortunately, immigrant workers are among the most resourceful people in this country or they wouldn’t have made it this far.
There’s one more kind of social reproduction work performed mostly by women, and, by its nature, the very opposite of “social distancing”: sex work. You can be sure that no bailout bill will include some of the nation’s poorest women, those who work as prostitutes.
Women at Home and at Risk
It’s a painful coincidence that women are being confined to their homes just as an international movement against femicide is taking off. One effect of shelter-in-place is to make it much harder for women to find shelter from domestic violence. Are you safer outside risking coronavirus or inside with a bored, angry male partner? I write this in full knowledge that one economic sector that has not suffered from the pandemic is the gun business. Ammo.com, for example, which sells ammunition online in all but four states, has experienced more than a three-fold increase in revenue over the last month. Maybe all that ammo is being bought to fight off zombies (or the immigrant invasion the president keeps reminding us about), but research shows that gun ownership has a lot to do with whether or not domestic violence turns into murder.
Each week, Washington Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax hosts a chat line offering suggestions for help of various sorts. For the last two weeks, her readers (myself included) have been horrified by messages from one participant stuck in quarantine in a small apartment with a dangerous partner who has just bought a gun. Standard advice to women in her position is not just to run, but to make an exit plan, quietly gather the supplies and money you’ll need and secure a place to go. Mandatory shelter-in-place orders, however necessary to flattening the curve of this pandemic, may well indirectly cause an increase in domestic femicides.
As if women weren’t already disproportionately affected by the coronavirus epidemic, Senate Republicans have been trying to sneak a little extra misogyny into their version of a relief bill. In the same month that Pakistani women risked their lives in demonstrations under the slogan “Mera jism, meri marzi” (“My body, my choice”), Republicans want to use the pandemic in another attempt to—that’s right—shut down Planned Parenthood clinics.
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent recently revealed that the $350 billion being proposed to shore up small businesses that don’t lay off workers would exclude nonprofits that receive funds from Medicaid. Planned Parenthood, which provides health care for millions of uninsured and underinsured women, is exactly that kind of nonprofit. Democratic congressional aides who alerted Sargent to this suggest that Planned Parenthood wouldn’t be the only organization affected. They also believe that
this language would exclude from eligibility for this financial assistance a big range of other nonprofits that get Medicaid funding, such as home and community-based disability providers; community-based nursing homes, mental health providers, and health centers; group homes for the disabled; and even rape crisis centers.
Meanwhile, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas are trying to use the coronavirus as an excuse to prevent women’s access to abortion. On the grounds that such procedures are not medically necessary, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ordered abortion providers to stop terminating pregnancies. Earlier, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent letters to abortion providers in that state forbidding all “nonessential” surgical abortions.
A Return to Normalcy?
When Warren Harding (who oversaw a notoriously corrupt administration) ran for president in 1920, his campaign slogan was “a return to normalcy”—the way things were, that is, before World War I. What he meant was a return to economic dynamism. As we know, the “Roaring Twenties” provided it in spades—until that little crash known as the Great Depression. Today, like Harding, another corrupt president is promising a prompt return to normalcy. He’s already chafing at the 15-day period of social distancing he announced in mid-March. At his March 23 press conference, he hinted that the United States would be “open for business” sooner rather than later. The next day, he suggested that the country reopen for business on Easter (a “very special day for me”), saying he wants to see “packed churches all over our country.” He can’t wait until everything, including our deeply unequal health care and economic systems, gets back to normal—the way they were before the spread of the coronavirus; until, that is, we can go back to being unprepared for the next, inevitable crisis.
Unlike the president, I hope we don’t go back to normal. I hope the people of Venice come to appreciate their sparkling canals and their returning dolphins. I hope that the rest of us become attached to less polluted air and lower carbon emissions. I hope that we learn to value the lives of women.
I hope, instead of returning to normalcy, we recognize that our survival as a species depends on changing almost everything, including how we produce what we need and how we reproduce ourselves as fully human beings. I hope that, when we have survived this pandemic, the world’s peoples take what we have learned about collective global action during this crisis and apply it to that other predictable crisis, the one that threatens all human life on a distinctly warming planet.


thenation--2020-03-31--Covid-19: Cuba Deserves Relief From US Sanctions

On March 25 , as a team of Cuban doctors and medical technicians set up field hospitals in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy to treat thousands of Italians infected with Covid-19 , the State Department issued an absurd warning , via Twitter , against accepting Cuban humanitarian support .
“ Host countries seeking Cuba ’ s help for # COVID-19 should scrutinize agreements and end labor abuses , ” the message stated .
“ # Cuba offers its international medical missions to those afflicted with # COVID-19 only to make up the money it lost when countries stopped participating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reference to right-wing governments , such as those in Brazil and Bolivia , which under US pressure last year kicked out thousands of Cuban doctors providing medical services—a decision that has come back to haunt the populations of those countries as the coronavirus spreads .
Never mind that the 52 members of the Cuban medical team in Italy are risking their own lives to save those of citizens of a major European nation that is part of the NATO alliance .
Or that Cuba , with its highly successful track record of developing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims of epidemics and natural disasters , is a much-needed ally in the international struggle against the worst threat the world has confronted in recent history .
For the Trump administration , scoring political points in Florida with crass , unwarranted attacks on Cuba ’ s humanitarian commitment remains a top priority .
But in this “ dire moment of dread and pestilence , ” as the writer Ariel Dorfman has described our current crisis , it is obvious that US political and foreign policy priorities must fundamentally change .
With the survival @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s punitive efforts to roll back the Cuban revolution have never seemed so petty , and so abjectly counterproductive to real US national security interests , as they do now .
Rather than condemn Cuba ’ s humanitarian contributions to fighting the virus around the world , Washington should be actively supporting them .
The most immediate way to do that is to suspend US sanctions that severely compromise Cuba ’ s efforts to safeguard its citizens at home as well as bring medical services to so many others abroad .
Like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contain the spread of the virus .
The number of confirmed cases has expanded from a handful—all brought to the island by foreign tourists—identified on March 11 to 170 as of March 30 .
Over 1,500 people have been hospitalized as symptomatic , and close to 38,000 are being monitored by Cuban doctors in their homes .
The Cuban government has closed schools and hotels as well as the country ’ s borders to all nonresidents , effectively bringing the tourism-driven economy to a standstill .
Cuba ’ s Welcome to a Covid-19-Stricken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Global Humanitarian Commitment The Coronavirus Exposes the Foolishness of the US Sanctions Policy The US Sanctions on Iran Are Causing a Major Humanitarian Crisis But unlike most nations , Cuba ’ s ability to confront the pandemic is hobbled by severe US sanctions that have escalated under the Trump administration .
The trade embargo , almost six decades old , continues to hamper Cuba ’ s financial transactions and its ability to export and import needed materials .
Among other punitive measures , the Trump administration has effectively penalized foreign shipping companies ferrying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impeding the flow of oil , foodstuffs , and other commerce critical to the daily needs of Cuba ’ s citizenry .
Even before the coronavirus crisis hit , the Cuban economy was experiencing chronic shortages .
There is such a lack of textiles on the island , for example , that the Cuban government has called upon its citizens to manufacture cloth face masks at home to mitigate the spread of the virus .
Given the globalized threat of the deadly pathogen , the security of the United States , and all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With millions of lives at stake , a humanitarian-based US foreign policy is the only approach that will advance the war against this existential enemy .
For those reasons , a sanctions relief movement is now underway .
Last week , UN Secretary General António Guterres issued a call for the waiving of sanctions against countries such as Cuba , Iran , and Venezuela to ensure that those nations can obtain critically needed medical equipment , food , and other supplies .
“ In a context of global pandemic , impeding medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for all of us , ” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights , Michelle Bachelet , added in a statement .
“ At this crucial time , both for global public health reasons , and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries , sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended.
” Fearful that US sanctions could cost the lives of their relatives on the island , Cuban-Americans are urging the Trump administration to “ lift the commercial and financial restrictions imposed by the U.S. on Cuba.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ decorated Iraq War veteran , Carlos Lazo , and posted last week on Change.org , implores President Trump to end sanctions that impede Cuba ’ s ability to obtain food , medicine , and medical equipment and , instead , to “ extend the hand of friendship and solidarity to the Cuban people ” —at least for the duration of this calamity .
As of March 30 , close to 10,000 people had signed the petition .
And in Washington , a coalition of policy advocates , trade lobby associations , and human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democracy in the Americas has called for the suspension of sanctions , restrictions , and licensing requirements that limit remittances , impede Cuba ’ s ability to import commercial goods , and block or delay donations of medical equipment such as ventilators , test kits , masks , and gloves .
“ These unprecedented times require us to recognize our common humanity and take immediate action to limit human suffering , ” says the declaration , which is signed by the Washington Office on Latin America , Engage Cuba , and the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Doing so will demonstrate U.S. compassion to the Cuban people.
” But sanctions relief will also demonstrate US recognition of Cuba as an invaluable ally in a worldwide struggle that supersedes ideology and is redefining the traditional meaning of national and international security .
Cuba has received requests for rapid-response medical teams to fight the virus from not only Italy but also Venezuela , Nicaragua , Suriname , Jamaica , and Grenada ; it has a role to play in this global battle that far exceeds its size as a Caribbean island @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus , Cuba , unlike the United States , is heeding the admonition of UN Secretary General Guterres : “ This is the time for solidarity , not exclusion .
”

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.
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On March 25, as a team of Cuban doctors and medical technicians set up field hospitals in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy to treat thousands of Italians infected with Covid-19, the State Department issued an absurd warning, via Twitter, against accepting Cuban humanitarian support. “Host countries seeking Cuba’s help for #COVID-19 should scrutinize agreements and end labor abuses,” the message stated. “#Cuba offers its international medical missions to those afflicted with #COVID-19 only to make up the money it lost when countries stopped participating in the abusive program,” a reference to right-wing governments, such as those in Brazil and Bolivia, which under US pressure last year kicked out thousands of Cuban doctors providing medical services—a decision that has come back to haunt the populations of those countries as the coronavirus spreads.
Never mind that the 52 members of the Cuban medical team in Italy are risking their own lives to save those of citizens of a major European nation that is part of the NATO alliance. Or that Cuba, with its highly successful track record of developing antiviral drugs and providing rapid-response support for victims of epidemics and natural disasters, is a much-needed ally in the international struggle against the worst threat the world has confronted in recent history. For the Trump administration, scoring political points in Florida with crass, unwarranted attacks on Cuba’s humanitarian commitment remains a top priority.
But in this “dire moment of dread and pestilence,” as the writer Ariel Dorfman has described our current crisis, it is obvious that US political and foreign policy priorities must fundamentally change. With the survival of the world at stake, Washington’s punitive efforts to roll back the Cuban revolution have never seemed so petty, and so abjectly counterproductive to real US national security interests, as they do now. Rather than condemn Cuba’s humanitarian contributions to fighting the virus around the world, Washington should be actively supporting them. The most immediate way to do that is to suspend US sanctions that severely compromise Cuba’s efforts to safeguard its citizens at home as well as bring medical services to so many others abroad.
Like all nations, Cuba is struggling to contain the spread of the virus. The number of confirmed cases has expanded from a handful—all brought to the island by foreign tourists—identified on March 11 to 170 as of March 30. Over 1,500 people have been hospitalized as symptomatic, and close to 38,000 are being monitored by Cuban doctors in their homes. The Cuban government has closed schools and hotels as well as the country’s borders to all nonresidents, effectively bringing the tourism-driven economy to a standstill. Related Articles Cuba’s Welcome to a Covid-19-Stricken Cruise Ship Reflects a Long Pattern of Global Humanitarian Commitment Peter Kornbluh The Coronavirus Exposes the Foolishness of the US Sanctions Policy Annelle Sheline The US Sanctions on Iran Are Causing a Major Humanitarian Crisis Ahmad Jalalpour
But unlike most nations, Cuba’s ability to confront the pandemic is hobbled by severe US sanctions that have escalated under the Trump administration. The trade embargo, almost six decades old, continues to hamper Cuba’s financial transactions and its ability to export and import needed materials. Among other punitive measures, the Trump administration has effectively penalized foreign shipping companies ferrying cargo from other countries to Cuba, impeding the flow of oil, foodstuffs, and other commerce critical to the daily needs of Cuba’s citizenry. Even before the coronavirus crisis hit, the Cuban economy was experiencing chronic shortages. There is such a lack of textiles on the island, for example, that the Cuban government has called upon its citizens to manufacture cloth face masks at home to mitigate the spread of the virus. 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
Given the globalized threat of the deadly pathogen, the security of the United States, and all nations, depends on international humanitarian deterrence. With millions of lives at stake, a humanitarian-based US foreign policy is the only approach that will advance the war against this existential enemy.
For those reasons, a sanctions relief movement is now underway. Last week, UN Secretary General António Guterres issued a call for the waiving of sanctions against countries such as Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela to ensure that those nations can obtain critically needed medical equipment, food, and other supplies. “In a context of global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, added in a statement. “At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended.” Current Issue View our current issue
Fearful that US sanctions could cost the lives of their relatives on the island, Cuban-Americans are urging the Trump administration to “lift the commercial and financial restrictions imposed by the U.S. on Cuba.” A Spanish-language petition spearheaded by a decorated Iraq War veteran, Carlos Lazo, and posted last week on Change.org, implores President Trump to end sanctions that impede Cuba’s ability to obtain food, medicine, and medical equipment and, instead, to “extend the hand of friendship and solidarity to the Cuban people”—at least for the duration of this calamity. As of March 30, close to 10,000 people had signed the petition.
And in Washington, a coalition of policy advocates, trade lobby associations, and human rights groups led by the Center for Democracy in the Americas has called for the suspension of sanctions, restrictions, and licensing requirements that limit remittances, impede Cuba’s ability to import commercial goods, and block or delay donations of medical equipment such as ventilators, test kits, masks, and gloves. “These unprecedented times require us to recognize our common humanity and take immediate action to limit human suffering,” says the declaration, which is signed by the Washington Office on Latin America, Engage Cuba, and the National Foreign Trade Council, among others. “Doing so will demonstrate U.S. compassion to the Cuban people.”
But sanctions relief will also demonstrate US recognition of Cuba as an invaluable ally in a worldwide struggle that supersedes ideology and is redefining the traditional meaning of national and international security. Cuba has received requests for rapid-response medical teams to fight the virus from not only Italy but also Venezuela, Nicaragua, Suriname, Jamaica, and Grenada; it has a role to play in this global battle that far exceeds its size as a Caribbean island nation. In the confrontation with the coronavirus, Cuba, unlike the United States, is heeding the admonition of UN Secretary General Guterres: “This is the time for solidarity, not exclusion.”


Free Comrade Britney!

Last week on her Instagram account , Britney Spears appeared to call for the redistribution of wealth and a general strike .
Accompanying an image of text by the Brooklyn-based artist and socialist Mimi Zhu , Spears wrote , “ Communion goes beyond walls , ” and punctuated the message with three rose emojis—a symbol often used to represent socialist movements .
The post spawned a flurry of “ Comrade Britney ” memes , as well as earnest praise for Spears ’ s seeming hard left turn .
In Jacobin , Dawn Foster declared , “ Spears has shown she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence her fans to look into the ideas espoused.
” Others on social media were more critical , pointing out that Britney Spears has a net worth of $ 59 million and continues to make millions through her music , performances , and celebrity endorsement deals .
If Spears wants to redistribute the wealth , why doesn ’ t she start with herself ?
But Spears couldn ’ t give away her money even if she wanted to .
The 38-year-old singer has very little control over her own life in almost every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her own financial decisions .
She can not choose where to live , whom to marry , or whom she can spend time with .
Depending on a judge ’ s decision , she may not be able to vote .
Spears can still refuse medications or hospitalizations—but the control over every other aspect of her life makes that small freedom a technicality .
Every purchase she makes must be tracked and logged in annual court reports .
She hasn ’ t been allowed to make the most basic decisions about her own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put her under conservatorship after her very public struggle with mental illness .
Conservatorship , which is also called guardianship in most states , is a legal proceeding in which someone—usually a family member—is chosen by the court to make legal decisions for that person .
The criteria varies by state , but guardianship is generally imposed on people with a documented disability who are determined , by a judge , to be unable to care for themselves .
In the United States , guardianship is largely about the capacity to make responsible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is paralyzed and may need help bathing or eating is not at risk of guardianship , but a person who simply does not bathe or eat may be .
Spears ’ s conservator is her father , Jaime .
The purpose of conservatorship is to make decisions for people considered too vulnerable to care for or make decisions for themselves .
Guardianship is most commonly used on young adults with intellectual disabilities and older adults with dementia .
It isn ’ t clear how many people are under guardianship in the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the AARP ’ s “ best guess ” was 1.5 million Americans .
These Kids Are in the Crosshairs of Covid-19 While most guardians are genuinely concerned for the welfare of their wards , others can be incredibly abusive , and there are few , if any , checks on their power .
Sam Crane , the legal and public policy director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and a nationally recognized expert on alternatives to guardianship , explained , “ In theory , family courts are supposed to oversee guardians ’ performance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take advantage of people or abuse their power .
But in practice , for most people under guardianship , there is little oversight.
” She noted , however , that Spears ’ s guardianship may involve more oversight than usual , because of the large amount of money involved .
In one particularly egregious example , the state of Maine was acting as guardian and sold a man ’ s home for less than half of its assessed value , auctioned off his beloved musical instruments , and euthanized his cat , Caterpillar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state could not be sued for its actions . )
In Florida , a professional guardian named Rebecca Fierle placed “ do not resuscitate orders ” on clients who did not want them , resulting in at least one man ’ s premature death .
Family members can be equally sinister , but those cases are often difficult to prove .
Since there is no national tracking , it ’ s impossible to know how much abuse occurs under guardianship across the country .
Crane explained to me that once someone is under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out : “ You need to go to court and establish that the conservatorship isn ’ t necessary anymore .
But because you haven ’ t recently had the opportunity to make decisions for yourself , it ’ s extremely difficult to persuade a judge that you can make those decisions.
” In addition to the lack of opportunity to demonstrate competent decision-making , there are other barriers to access to challenge conservatorship .
“ Because people under conservatorship don ’ t have access to their own money , it can be difficult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help with this , ” Crane said .
Judges may also have unrealistic expectations of what “ capacity to make decisions ” is .
“ Often , judges will insist on proof that someone is no longer disabled , which is often impossible , ” Sam Crane told me .
Some do people have more difficulty making safe decisions on their own because of disability , but a disability in and of itself isn ’ t necessarily proof of that .
Some people do manage to leave guardianship , but even with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it can be difficult .
Ryan King , a man with developmental disabilities from Washington , DC , had his parents ’ support , but it still took nine years for the court to allow him to run his own affairs .
There are less-restrictive ways to help people with cognitive disabilities make good decisions about their own lives .
One common less-restrictive option is power of attorney .
When you give someone else power of attorney , that person can manage your medical decisions and finances .
You can also change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you like .
Another newer option is something called “ supported decision-making.
” Supported decision-making is a more informal arrangement than guardianship , in which a disabled person who may have difficulty making decisions can consult family and friends , while the person retains their legal rights .
As of 2019 , eight states and the District of Columbia have laws that define supported decision-making .
It is also in use on a less formal basis in states that do not yet have such laws .
In California , where Spears lives , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people and their families , even though there is no specific legal recognition of it yet .
The details of Spears ’ s guardianship and circumstances are private , as is the exact nature of her disability .
It ’ s unclear what level of support she needs , or if she needs any support at all .
But Crane says everyone deserves to have input regarding their own life choices .
“ Most people can make their own decisions , given the right tools and supports , ” she told me .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a supported decision-making arrangement may ask for help understanding decisions .
A chosen supporter may accompany a disabled person to the doctor or the bank to help explain the options , but the ultimate decision is up to the disabled person .
In cases where someone tends to make large , impulsive purchases , money may be placed in an advisory account , to be managed by a professional financial adviser , who can give feedback on whether making a purchase or investment is a good idea .
While we all joke about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebrity over the barricades when we storm Mar-a-Lago and make edits of Chinese Communist propaganda , please keep in mind that she is experiencing an extreme abrogation of her civil rights that remains unquestioned , difficult to break , and hidden from public view for many Americans .

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Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
Last week on her Instagram account, Britney Spears appeared to call for the redistribution of wealth and a general strike. Accompanying an image of text by the Brooklyn-based artist and socialist Mimi Zhu, Spears wrote, “Communion goes beyond walls,” and punctuated the message with three rose emojis—a symbol often used to represent socialist movements.
The post spawned a flurry of “Comrade Britney” memes, as well as earnest praise for Spears’s seeming hard left turn. In Jacobin, Dawn Foster declared, “Spears has shown she’s a comrade, and will influence her fans to look into the ideas espoused.” Others on social media were more critical, pointing out that Britney Spears has a net worth of $59 million and continues to make millions through her music, performances, and celebrity endorsement deals. If Spears wants to redistribute the wealth, why doesn’t she start with herself?
But Spears couldn’t give away her money even if she wanted to. The 38-year-old singer has very little control over her own life in almost every respect. She cannot legally make her own financial decisions. She cannot choose where to live, whom to marry, or whom she can spend time with. Depending on a judge’s decision, she may not be able to vote. Spears can still refuse medications or hospitalizations—but the control over every other aspect of her life makes that small freedom a technicality. Every purchase she makes must be tracked and logged in annual court reports. She hasn’t been allowed to make the most basic decisions about her own life since 2008, when a court put her under conservatorship after her very public struggle with mental illness.
Conservatorship, which is also called guardianship in most states, is a legal proceeding in which someone—usually a family member—is chosen by the court to make legal decisions for that person. The criteria varies by state, but guardianship is generally imposed on people with a documented disability who are determined, by a judge, to be unable to care for themselves. In the United States, guardianship is largely about the capacity to make responsible choices. So, a person who is paralyzed and may need help bathing or eating is not at risk of guardianship, but a person who simply does not bathe or eat may be. Spears’s conservator is her father, Jaime.
The purpose of conservatorship is to make decisions for people considered too vulnerable to care for or make decisions for themselves. Guardianship is most commonly used on young adults with intellectual disabilities and older adults with dementia. It isn’t clear how many people are under guardianship in the United States, but in a 2013 report, the AARP’s “best guess” was 1.5 million Americans. 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung 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 My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Related Article These Kids Are in the Crosshairs of Covid-19 Sara Luterman
While most guardians are genuinely concerned for the welfare of their wards, others can be incredibly abusive, and there are few, if any, checks on their power. Sam Crane, the legal and public policy director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and a nationally recognized expert on alternatives to guardianship, explained, “In theory, family courts are supposed to oversee guardians’ performance and make sure they don’t take advantage of people or abuse their power. But in practice, for most people under guardianship, there is little oversight.” She noted, however, that Spears’s guardianship may involve more oversight than usual, because of the large amount of money involved.
In one particularly egregious example, the state of Maine was acting as guardian and sold a man’s home for less than half of its assessed value, auctioned off his beloved musical instruments, and euthanized his cat, Caterpillar. (A court ruled that the state could not be sued for its actions.) In Florida, a professional guardian named Rebecca Fierle placed “do not resuscitate orders” on clients who did not want them, resulting in at least one man’s premature death. Family members can be equally sinister, but those cases are often difficult to prove. Since there is no national tracking, it’s impossible to know how much abuse occurs under guardianship across the country. Current Issue View our current issue
Crane explained to me that once someone is under guardianship, they only rarely get back out: “You need to go to court and establish that the conservatorship isn’t necessary anymore. But because you haven’t recently had the opportunity to make decisions for yourself, it’s extremely difficult to persuade a judge that you can make those decisions.”
In addition to the lack of opportunity to demonstrate competent decision-making, there are other barriers to access to challenge conservatorship. “Because people under conservatorship don’t have access to their own money, it can be difficult or impossible to pay a lawyer to help with this,” Crane said.
Judges may also have unrealistic expectations of what “capacity to make decisions” is. “Often, judges will insist on proof that someone is no longer disabled, which is often impossible,” Sam Crane told me. Some do people have more difficulty making safe decisions on their own because of disability, but a disability in and of itself isn’t necessarily proof of that.
Some people do manage to leave guardianship, but even with the full backing of the conservator or guardian, it can be difficult. Ryan King, a man with developmental disabilities from Washington, DC, had his parents’ support, but it still took nine years for the court to allow him to run his own affairs.
There are less-restrictive ways to help people with cognitive disabilities make good decisions about their own lives. One common less-restrictive option is power of attorney. When you give someone else power of attorney, that person can manage your medical decisions and finances. You can also change who has that power of attorney whenever you like.
Another newer option is something called “supported decision-making.” Supported decision-making is a more informal arrangement than guardianship, in which a disabled person who may have difficulty making decisions can consult family and friends, while the person retains their legal rights. As of 2019, eight states and the District of Columbia have laws that define supported decision-making. It is also in use on a less formal basis in states that do not yet have such laws. In California, where Spears lives, supported decision-making is an option for disabled people and their families, even though there is no specific legal recognition of it yet.
The details of Spears’s guardianship and circumstances are private, as is the exact nature of her disability. It’s unclear what level of support she needs, or if she needs any support at all. But Crane says everyone deserves to have input regarding their own life choices. “Most people can make their own decisions, given the right tools and supports,” she told me. For example, a disabled person in a supported decision-making arrangement may ask for help understanding decisions. A chosen supporter may accompany a disabled person to the doctor or the bank to help explain the options, but the ultimate decision is up to the disabled person. In cases where someone tends to make large, impulsive purchases, money may be placed in an advisory account, to be managed by a professional financial adviser, who can give feedback on whether making a purchase or investment is a good idea.
While we all joke about how Comrade Britney will be the first celebrity over the barricades when we storm Mar-a-Lago and make edits of Chinese Communist propaganda, please keep in mind that she is experiencing an extreme abrogation of her civil rights that remains unquestioned, difficult to break, and hidden from public view for many Americans.