vox--2020-04-22--Hulu’s Normal People plays like a highbrow prestige teen soap

Normal People , a 12-episode adaptation of “ great millennial author ” Sally Rooney ’ s 2019 book , which premieres April 29 on Hulu , isn ’ t quite as good as the book .
But it might be more fun .
And under the circumstances , that ’ s probably for the best .
Like its source material , Hulu ’ s Normal People deals with the romantic tribulations of two Irish teenagers , Marianne and Connell , as they get together and break up repeatedly over the course of their last year of high school and through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Connell sincerely care for each other ; they also hurt each other immensely .
Both show and book are primarily concerned with how the power dynamic between them shifts and evolves with their relationship .
What ’ s miraculous about Rooney ’ s novel , though , is that it balances a clear-eyed analysis of power in Marianne and Connell ’ s love story with a genuine romantic tenderness that ’ s almost old-fashioned in its sincerity .
Rooney is the credited writer on all 12 episodes of the show ( sharing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them , with Lenny Abrahamson directing the first six and Hettie Macdonald directing the back half ) .
But somehow , when the TV show attempts the same balancing act , it stumbles ever so slightly .
Rooney ’ s novel takes place firmly inside of its characters ’ heads , to the point that the interiority feels overwhelming as you read .
You ’ re trapped between the pages with these two neurotic , self-loathing people , and the only escape you ’ re offered is the possibility that their love @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transcendent redemption .
But in the TV show , we don ’ t become the protagonists : we watch them .
And somehow , that shift in point of view has left Marianne and Connell ’ s love story looking just a little more conventional than it does in the book , where we first met them .
So by the time the pair has tragically broken up because of a misunderstanding , the camera lingering on their beautiful , young , tear-stained faces while sad acoustic music plays in the background , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bizarrely like a very well-crafted version of a earnest teen soap opera .
There ’ s even a makeover scene .
Which is not to say I rolled my eyes at all the tears and angst .
I had the opposite reaction .
I sat on the edge of my seat and wished with avid intensity for quarantine popcorn .
Turns out it ’ s fantastic to watch beautiful adults pretending to be teenagers with romantic drama .
Tale as old as time , song as old as rhyme , the popular kid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Connell and Marianne ’ s relationship is this : Connell ( Paul Mescal ) is popular with the other students at their tiny , small-town high school , while Marianne ( Daisy Edgar-Jones ) is not .
Moreover , Connell craves the approval of their peers , while Marianne does not particularly care what other people think of her .
When the pair begins hooking up , Marianne suggests they could keep their relationship a secret , and Connell jumps on the offer with humiliating alacrity .
And when the big spring dance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blonde who ’ s been chasing him rather than Marianne .
She responds by dropping him , and they don ’ t see each other again until college .
By then , four episodes into the 12-episode season , their social positions have flipped .
Both of them have always been smart , but Marianne is smart in a brash , extroverted way that her high school classmates found snobby but her fellow Trinity College classmates admire and respect .
Marianne is also rich , and happy to invite her friends to party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ townhouse or rambling Italian villa .
“ Classic me , ” she remarks to Connell , upon meeting him again .
“ I went off to college and got pretty.
” She looks exactly the same as she always has , but her context has changed .
What coded as condescending and sloppy in their small town looks elegant and literary at Trinity .
Marianne is flourishing .
Connell , however , is taciturn and poor , and he only feels comfortable talking about books and ideas with Marianne .
In high school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ability and good nature , but in college , he feels lost .
He can ’ t find a way to talk to these wealthy Trinity students who casually discuss their holidays in Barcelona , and he mostly doesn ’ t want to .
“ Is he , like , smart ?
” one of Marianne ’ s glamorous new friends asks her , in a tone that suggests he suspects the answer is no .
But despite the reversal in their social positions , Connell and Marianne ’ s relationship is irrevocably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when they first came together .
Marianne always feels herself to be completely under Connell ’ s power , as though she would do anything for him .
And Connell is wracked with guilt , both at the uncomfortable power he knows he holds over Marianne and the knowledge that in high school , he abused that power by keeping their relationship a secret .
Normal People tracks Marianne and Connell ’ s shifting dynamic primarily through increasingly graphic sex scenes , and mostly , the choice works .
This show has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use sex to develop character of any TV series since Outlander ; it becomes clear very early on that sex is what Marianne thinks she has to offer in a relationship , because she doesn ’ t like herself very much and thinks Connell is a better person than she is .
And it ’ s where Connell thinks he can meet Marianne in equal partnership , because he doesn ’ t like himself very much and thinks Marianne is smarter than he is .
As they attempt to navigate their way through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both Marianne and Connell struggle with depression , and here is where the TV show finds the best and the worst of itself .
Connell ’ s depression rings painfully , transparently honest , and there ’ s a scene in episode 10 where the camera holds Mescal in an unbroken close-up as he slowly unravels Connell ’ s quiet jock persona , teasing out the anguish lying below it , that is just excruciatingly good .
But when the camera turns to Marianne ’ s depression , everything turns erotic and romantic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flashbacks to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ’ s “ Sexy French Depression ” parody .
Her depression is signified mostly by shots of Edgar-Jones looking sad and gamine and vaguely like a young Audrey Hepburn , while she gazes downward and the camera focuses in on her eyelashes , and then shots of Marianne disassociating her way through some bondage interludes with a handsome Swedish man .
It feels exploitative , in a gross way .
The show starts to click again when Marianne finds her way out of the worst of her depression and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Edgar-Jones and Mescal have a giddy , euphoric chemistry that seems to surprise them every time they share a scene together .
It goes a long way toward selling the audience on the idea that Connell and Marianne have no choice but to keep finding their way back to each other for four years , through repeated breakup and reconciliation scenes .
In the end , Normal People is not the second coming of Dawson ’ s Creek , the forever pinnacle of cheesy-slash-earnest teen dramas .
It ’ s crafted with much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forebears , and it ’ s sadder and darker than they were too .
But there ’ s a sweet , silly soapiness to this show that makes it all the more appealing to get lost in .
I love Rooney ’ s Normal People novel .
I think it ’ s one of the greatest books of the new century .
But I don ’ t particularly want to read it right now .
I don ’ t think that a global emergency is the moment in time in which I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind of someone smarter and more self-loathing than me .
Hulu ’ s Normal People never threatens to do anything nearly so unsettling to its viewers .
What it offers me instead is the chance to watch beautiful people who are slightly less smart than I am gazing at each other with angst and longing across a series of lovely European vistas , and then also sometimes kissing .
And that ’ s a world I ’ m more than willing to lock myself into right now .
Every day at Vox , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Normal People, a 12-episode adaptation of “great millennial author” Sally Rooney’s 2019 book, which premieres April 29 on Hulu, isn’t quite as good as the book. But it might be more fun. And under the circumstances, that’s probably for the best.
Like its source material, Hulu’s Normal People deals with the romantic tribulations of two Irish teenagers, Marianne and Connell, as they get together and break up repeatedly over the course of their last year of high school and through four years of college. Marianne and Connell sincerely care for each other; they also hurt each other immensely. Both show and book are primarily concerned with how the power dynamic between them shifts and evolves with their relationship.
What’s miraculous about Rooney’s novel, though, is that it balances a clear-eyed analysis of power in Marianne and Connell’s love story with a genuine romantic tenderness that’s almost old-fashioned in its sincerity. Rooney is the credited writer on all 12 episodes of the show (sharing a co-writing credit with Alice Birch on 10 of them, with Lenny Abrahamson directing the first six and Hettie Macdonald directing the back half). But somehow, when the TV show attempts the same balancing act, it stumbles ever so slightly.
Rooney’s novel takes place firmly inside of its characters’ heads, to the point that the interiority feels overwhelming as you read. You’re trapped between the pages with these two neurotic, self-loathing people, and the only escape you’re offered is the possibility that their love might bring them to some sort of transcendent redemption. But in the TV show, we don’t become the protagonists: we watch them. And somehow, that shift in point of view has left Marianne and Connell’s love story looking just a little more conventional than it does in the book, where we first met them.
So by the time the pair has tragically broken up because of a misunderstanding, the camera lingering on their beautiful, young, tear-stained faces while sad acoustic music plays in the background, the whole show has begun to feel bizarrely like a very well-crafted version of a earnest teen soap opera. There’s even a makeover scene.
Which is not to say I rolled my eyes at all the tears and angst. I had the opposite reaction. I sat on the edge of my seat and wished with avid intensity for quarantine popcorn. Turns out it’s fantastic to watch beautiful adults pretending to be teenagers with romantic drama.
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, the popular kid and the geek
The original sin of Connell and Marianne’s relationship is this: Connell (Paul Mescal) is popular with the other students at their tiny, small-town high school, while Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is not. Moreover, Connell craves the approval of their peers, while Marianne does not particularly care what other people think of her.
When the pair begins hooking up, Marianne suggests they could keep their relationship a secret, and Connell jumps on the offer with humiliating alacrity. And when the big spring dance rolls around, he invites the popular blonde who’s been chasing him rather than Marianne. She responds by dropping him, and they don’t see each other again until college.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 vox-mark vox-mark vox-mark vox-mark vox-mark
By then, four episodes into the 12-episode season, their social positions have flipped. Both of them have always been smart, but Marianne is smart in a brash, extroverted way that her high school classmates found snobby but her fellow Trinity College classmates admire and respect. Marianne is also rich, and happy to invite her friends to party at her family’s chic Dublin townhouse or rambling Italian villa.
“Classic me,” she remarks to Connell, upon meeting him again. “I went off to college and got pretty.” She looks exactly the same as she always has, but her context has changed. What coded as condescending and sloppy in their small town looks elegant and literary at Trinity. Marianne is flourishing.
Connell, however, is taciturn and poor, and he only feels comfortable talking about books and ideas with Marianne. In high school, he skated by on his athletic ability and good nature, but in college, he feels lost. He can’t find a way to talk to these wealthy Trinity students who casually discuss their holidays in Barcelona, and he mostly doesn’t want to. “Is he, like, smart?” one of Marianne’s glamorous new friends asks her, in a tone that suggests he suspects the answer is no.
But despite the reversal in their social positions, Connell and Marianne’s relationship is irrevocably marked by their standing in high school, when they first came together. Marianne always feels herself to be completely under Connell’s power, as though she would do anything for him. And Connell is wracked with guilt, both at the uncomfortable power he knows he holds over Marianne and the knowledge that in high school, he abused that power by keeping their relationship a secret.
Related The cult of Sally Rooney
Normal People tracks Marianne and Connell’s shifting dynamic primarily through increasingly graphic sex scenes, and mostly, the choice works. This show has probably the best grasp on how to use sex to develop character of any TV series since Outlander; it becomes clear very early on that sex is what Marianne thinks she has to offer in a relationship, because she doesn’t like herself very much and thinks Connell is a better person than she is. And it’s where Connell thinks he can meet Marianne in equal partnership, because he doesn’t like himself very much and thinks Marianne is smarter than he is.
As they attempt to navigate their way through a series of misunderstandings and betrayals, both Marianne and Connell struggle with depression, and here is where the TV show finds the best and the worst of itself. Connell’s depression rings painfully, transparently honest, and there’s a scene in episode 10 where the camera holds Mescal in an unbroken close-up as he slowly unravels Connell’s quiet jock persona, teasing out the anguish lying below it, that is just excruciatingly good.
But when the camera turns to Marianne’s depression, everything turns erotic and romantic in a way that gave me lingering flashbacks to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s “Sexy French Depression” parody. Her depression is signified mostly by shots of Edgar-Jones looking sad and gamine and vaguely like a young Audrey Hepburn, while she gazes downward and the camera focuses in on her eyelashes, and then shots of Marianne disassociating her way through some bondage interludes with a handsome Swedish man. It feels exploitative, in a gross way.
The show starts to click again when Marianne finds her way out of the worst of her depression and back onto the screen with Connell. Edgar-Jones and Mescal have a giddy, euphoric chemistry that seems to surprise them every time they share a scene together. It goes a long way toward selling the audience on the idea that Connell and Marianne have no choice but to keep finding their way back to each other for four years, through repeated breakup and reconciliation scenes.
In the end, Normal People is not the second coming of Dawson’s Creek, the forever pinnacle of cheesy-slash-earnest teen dramas. It’s crafted with much more care and artistry than its WB forebears, and it’s sadder and darker than they were too. But there’s a sweet, silly soapiness to this show that makes it all the more appealing to get lost in.
I love Rooney’s Normal People novel. I think it’s one of the greatest books of the new century. But I don’t particularly want to read it right now. I don’t think that a global emergency is the moment in time in which I’d like to lock myself into the mind of someone smarter and more self-loathing than me.
Hulu’s Normal People never threatens to do anything nearly so unsettling to its viewers. What it offers me instead is the chance to watch beautiful people who are slightly less smart than I am gazing at each other with angst and longing across a series of lovely European vistas, and then also sometimes kissing. And that’s a world I’m more than willing to lock myself into right now.


vox--2020-04-22--Poll: 53 percent of lower-income US households won’t be able to pay all of April’s bills

Just over half of lower-income adults in the US reported that someone in their household had either lost a job or lost hours due to the coronavirus pandemic , according to a new Pew Research Center survey .
The survey , of 4,917 US adults in April , revealed that , overall , 43 percent of Americans had someone in their household lose a job or have their hours reduced because of the pandemic .
That ’ s a marked increase from late March , when only 33 percent said so .
But the job loss data is even starker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Pew classified households making less than $ 37,500 as lower income , and found 52 percent of those in this income bracket said they or someone in their household had lost a job or had hours reduced .
To make matters worse , just 23 percent of lower-income people had enough money saved to cover three months of expenses in case of a financial emergency , compared to 48 percent of middle-income and 75 percent of higher-income adults .
Economic data from the Federal Reserve has shown the economic collapse resulting from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impactful .
More than 22 million people have filed initial claims for unemployment insurance over the past several weeks .
But this study suggests that those who were already in difficult financial circumstances ahead of the pandemic are bearing the brunt of its economic damage .
And many Americans were not in as strong a financial position as they may have appeared .
For instance , the study found the economic downturn has put a serious crimp in the average person ’ s ability to pay their monthly bills .
Just over half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they ’ d have trouble paying some of their bills this month , while about a quarter of middle-income , and 11 percent of higher-income adults said the same .
This result shows that recent federal stimulus may not be enough to keep American families afloat through the pandemic-related recession .
While Congress and the White House agreed to send checks directly to families in the second round of stimulus negotiations , the one-time , $ 1,200 sent to individual taxpayers is likely not be enough to cover even a month of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month of rent in the US is about $ 1,231 .
And in fact , just 46 percent of those surveyed said the stimulus checks will do a great deal or a fair amount to help them and their households .
Conversely , a large majority ( 77 percent ) viewed the stimulus as mainly benefitting large businesses .
Beyond income strata , the study also found the coronavirus is having unequal economic effects on people of different ethnicities .
As Fabiola Cineas reported for Vox , Americans of color are dying of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Pew ’ s research finds black and Latinx Americans have shouldered a disproportionate amount of the economic injury as well .
About six in 10 Latinx adults ( 61 percent ) said they or someone in their household had lost their job or had their hours reduced ; 44 percent of black adults reported the same , compared to 38 percent of white adults .
All of this puts additional pressure on family members who do still have jobs to continue going to work and possibly get ill themselves .
Grocery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to die from Covid-19 , the disease caused by coronavirus , and public transit workers responsible for getting those employees to work have also seen deaths from the virus .
Since the survey was taken April 7-12 , it doesn ’ t give a full picture of what effect — if any — developments like the Paycheck Protection Program and states starting to reopen have had .
But the data clearly shows that Americans , especially those with low incomes , are in distress .
The survey results show that more federal aid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is over .
Federal lawmakers have begun discussing a number of ideas to help , from guaranteed paychecks for furloughed or fired workers to sweeping debt protection — and Congress seems poised to deliver renewed funding for the Paycheck Protection Program .
But those in need of more immediate cash will likely be forced to wait .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not been enthusiastic about more direct cash stimulus for workers and said he won ’ t negotiate another big stimulus bill until Congress is officially back in session on May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and rent due now , that may be too late for a lot of American families .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Just over half of lower-income adults in the US reported that someone in their household had either lost a job or lost hours due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The survey, of 4,917 US adults in April, revealed that, overall, 43 percent of Americans had someone in their household lose a job or have their hours reduced because of the pandemic. That’s a marked increase from late March, when only 33 percent said so.
But the job loss data is even starker for lower-income Americans. In this survey, Pew classified households making less than $37,500 as lower income, and found 52 percent of those in this income bracket said they or someone in their household had lost a job or had hours reduced. To make matters worse, just 23 percent of lower-income people had enough money saved to cover three months of expenses in case of a financial emergency, compared to 48 percent of middle-income and 75 percent of higher-income adults.
Economic data from the Federal Reserve has shown the economic collapse resulting from the coronavirus pandemic has been deep and impactful. More than 22 million people have filed initial claims for unemployment insurance over the past several weeks. But this study suggests that those who were already in difficult financial circumstances ahead of the pandemic are bearing the brunt of its economic damage. And many Americans were not in as strong a financial position as they may have appeared.
For instance, the study found the economic downturn has put a serious crimp in the average person’s ability to pay their monthly bills. Just over half of lower-income adults — 53 percent — said they’d have trouble paying some of their bills this month, while about a quarter of middle-income, and 11 percent of higher-income adults said the same.
This result shows that recent federal stimulus may not be enough to keep American families afloat through the pandemic-related recession. While Congress and the White House agreed to send checks directly to families in the second round of stimulus negotiations, the one-time, $1,200 sent to individual taxpayers is likely not be enough to cover even a month of rent given the median price for a month of rent in the US is about $1,231.
And in fact, just 46 percent of those surveyed said the stimulus checks will do a great deal or a fair amount to help them and their households. Conversely, a large majority (77 percent) viewed the stimulus as mainly benefitting large businesses.
Beyond income strata, the study also found the coronavirus is having unequal economic effects on people of different ethnicities. As Fabiola Cineas reported for Vox, Americans of color are dying of Covid-19 at higher rates than white Americans, and Pew’s research finds black and Latinx Americans have shouldered a disproportionate amount of the economic injury as well.
About six in 10 Latinx adults (61 percent) said they or someone in their household had lost their job or had their hours reduced; 44 percent of black adults reported the same, compared to 38 percent of white adults.
All of this puts additional pressure on family members who do still have jobs to continue going to work and possibly get ill themselves. Grocery stores have reported that employees have started to die from Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, and public transit workers responsible for getting those employees to work have also seen deaths from the virus.
Since the survey was taken April 7-12, it doesn’t give a full picture of what effect — if any — developments like the Paycheck Protection Program and states starting to reopen have had. But the data clearly shows that Americans, especially those with low incomes, are in distress.
The survey results show that more federal aid will be needed before all of this is over. Federal lawmakers have begun discussing a number of ideas to help, from guaranteed paychecks for furloughed or fired workers to sweeping debt protection — and Congress seems poised to deliver renewed funding for the Paycheck Protection Program. But those in need of more immediate cash will likely be forced to wait.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not been enthusiastic about more direct cash stimulus for workers and said he won’t negotiate another big stimulus bill until Congress is officially back in session on May 4 at the earliest.
With bills and rent due now, that may be too late for a lot of American families.


vox--2020-04-22--A no-brainer stimulus idea: Electrify USPS mail trucks

With the US trapped in a historic lockdown , everyone agrees that enormous federal spending is necessary to keep the economy going over the next year and beyond — and everyone has their own ideas about how , exactly , that federal spending should be targeted .
A whole genre of essays and white papers devoted to clever stimulus plans has developed almost overnight .
I ’ ve contributed to that genre : Go here for my ideal recovery/stimulus plan , here for what I think Democrats ’ bottom-line demands should be in stimulus negotiations , here for my take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ energy , and here for why devoting stimulus money to fossil fuels is short-sighted .
Now I want to offer a much more modest idea — a fun idea , even .
It ’ s a win-win-win proposal that would be worth doing even if the economy were at full employment , but a total no-brainer in an economy that needs a kickstart .
The cost would be a tiny rounding error amid the trillions of dollars of stimulus being contemplated , and it would produce outsized social benefits in the form of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services , and lower climate pollution .
Postal trucks are old and janky The boxy , whiny postal truck that is so familiar to Americans , with the driver on the right next to a loud sliding door , is called a Grumman Long Life Vehicle ( LLV ) .
As of 2018 , the US Postal Service owns and operates 229,000 total vehicles , more than 141,000 of which are LLVs .
Grumman Aerospace Corporation ( later Northrop-Grumman ) built the LLVs on spec between 1987 and 1994 .
They were sophisticated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sturdy , but as any calendar will confirm , 1994 was 26 years ago .
The vehicles lack such modern automotive technologies as anti-lock brakes , air conditioning , and airbags .
They get about 10 miles per gallon , are too small for many modern e-commerce packages , and , somewhat disturbingly , are prone to bursting into flames .
The LLVs ’ lifespan was meant to be about 24 years ; they average 28 years old , with many over 30 .
They are so old that the USPS often has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
According to a December 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) , it now costs the USPS $ 2 billion a year to maintain those aging vehicles , one reason the operational costs of the “ last mile ” system of mail delivery have steadily risen , even as costs have been cut elsewhere in the USPS .
In 2019 , the USPS fleet consumed 195 million gallons of gasoline equivalent ( GGE ) .
Of that , 194.5 million gallons were gasoline and diesel , consumption of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The rest was a little ethanol-infused gasoline ( E-85 ) , a little biodiesel , a little natural gas , and very , very little electricity ( just over 1,300 GGEs ) .
The USPS has not made much progress modernizing its fleet .
USPS fuel costs are about $ 500 million a year .
Vehicle fuel represents roughly half of the USPS ’ s energy consumption , which , at 44 trillion BTU , is the highest of any agency in the federal government .
In short , the USPS has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , carbon-intensive , expensive-to-maintain vehicles that are long overdue for an upgrade .
People have been talking about new postal trucks forever The need for new mail trucks has been the subject of discussion for years .
A GAO report from way back in 2011 describes the need to upgrade the USPS fleet , noting the rising costs of fuel and maintenance .
In 2014 , California Rep. Jared Huffman introduced a bill to modernize the postal fleet .
The Federal Leadership in Energy Efficient Transportation ( FLEET ) Act was reintroduced in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote .
The USPS launched the process of procuring 186,000 new next-generation delivery vehicles ( NGDVs ) with a design request for proposals ( RFP ) back in 2015 .
Originally , it planned to conclude testing and prototyping and award a final production contract by 2018 , with vehicles deployed by summer 2019 .
Obviously , that didn ’ t happen .
Prototype testing was finally completed in March 2019 .
In December 2019 , the USPS issued a production RFP .
It will evaluate bids and expects to award contracts for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 .
It ’ s not clear how the coronavirus and subsequent plunge in consumer demand will affect these plans .
The USPS does not receive any taxpayer money for operational expenses .
It pays for them through sales of postage and services , which are crashing just like everything else .
The USPS is on course to run out of money by September or so .
The status of ongoing operations , much less fleet replacement , is up in the air .
Electric postal trucks would help solve several problems at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the agency “ can not comment on which companies are vying for the NGDV contract , their potential subcontractors , team members , or any other details.
” So we don ’ t know much about the trucks or companies being considered , through Trucks.com ( a trucking and automotive news site ) published a piece back in September 2019 that identified four companies that competed in the prototype phase .
Only two of them had all-electric trucks .
In selecting a manufacturer , Frum said , “ The Postal Service will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of best value , ” which could include everything from durability to features to total cost of ownership .
Here ’ s the thing : On a full life-cycle basis , electric vehicles are absolutely a better value .
An electric motor converts electricity into motion more efficiently ( around 90-95 percent ) than an internal combustion engine ( ICE ) converts gasoline or diesel ( 40-45 percent at the high end , much lower in average use ) .
That ’ s mainly because combustion engines produce an enormous amount of waste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ none .
Consequently , electricity is a cheaper vehicle fuel than gasoline or diesel .
“ On a national average , ” says the Department of Energy , “ it costs less than half as much to travel the same distance in an EV than a conventional vehicle.
” A wholesale shift to electricity would save the USPS hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel costs a year .
Just as importantly , the price of electricity tends to be much more stable than the price of combustion fuels .
That would help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ costs .
Electric vehicles have far more torque than ICE vehicles ( they are faster off the line ) and can harvest energy through regenerative braking .
That makes them perfect for the stop-and-start driving of postal trucks .
Because they contain fewer mechanical parts in less direct contact , EVs also break down less often and are much cheaper to maintain .
A 2018 study found that EVs are about half as expensive to operate than ICE vehicles .
That could save the USPS hundreds of millions more and improve the reliability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EVs generate no air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions .
Shifting to electric trucks would improve air quality in every district in the nation , reducing respiratory and heart problems among the most vulnerable populations , urban and rural .
And it would help the USPS meet and exceed its ( admittedly modest ) sustainability mandates .
For the record , EVs today emit less life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than ICE vehicles everywhere in the nation , no matter what the electricity mix .
And that gap that will only grow as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One of the overriding principles guiding the selection of the NGDVs is durability , of not only the trucks themselves but also the platform they are built on .
Does the USPS really want to tie itself to gasoline and diesel for the next 30 years ?
Does it want to gamble that ICE vehicles will still be viable in 2050 ?
There ’ s a reason Amazon — USPS ’ s greatest competitor and biggest client — is investing in 100,000 bespoke electric delivery vehicles .
It foresees increasing public pressure to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clean electricity .
It is , in the immortal words of Wayne Gretzky , skating to where the puck is going to be .
USPS should do the same .
EVs are a better value and a better long-term bet .
The USPS could be a sustainability leader The only reason the USPS might not select electric mail trucks is the upfront cost : EVs have higher sticker prices .
This is especially true if the USPS insists on developing and manufacturing a bespoke fleet of tens of thousands of identical , all-purpose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ varied fleet drawing on a range of existing EV platforms ( but that ’ s a story for another post ) .
Upfront costs are intimidating to any agency that is , like the USPS , paying them out of its own revenues .
Especially in the face of the Covid-19 crunch , the USPS could be forced to make a short-sighted decision to save in upfront costs at the expense of much greater maintenance and fuel costs down the road .
Gasoline prices are low right now , but history shows they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amazon — USPS ’ s greatest competitor and biggest client — is investing in 100,000 bespoke electric delivery vehicles Congress could help prevent that unfortunate choice by covering those upfront costs ( for the NGDV program , the USPS pegs it at around $ 6 billion ) with stimulus money .
In the process , it would be helping the USPS save money and improve operations for decades to come .
But Congress could do much more .
Among people who love and want to save the USPS , there is discussion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowing post offices to offer basic banking services or equipping postal trucks with pollution sensors to gather granular air-quality data .
( The GAO did a report on these “ non-postal services ” last year . )
All those electric mail trucks will need juice , so put EV chargers next to post offices to charge their vehicles ( the public could use them too ) at low , fixed rates , much like they pay fixed rates for postage .
Retrofit post offices to net-zero energy standards and install solar panels on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost savings and pollution reductions of electric mail trucks in every mailbox .
Make post offices , one of the most beloved and trusted institutions in America , a source of objective , reliable information on clean energy .
Embedding the benefits of clean electricity and EVs in every community in the US , where virtually every American would encounter them , could do an enormous amount to depoliticize climate-friendly technologies and accelerate their spread .
It would produce social benefits wildly out of scale with the upfront investment .
But even if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , Congress should still do the truck thing .
Conservatives want to privatize USPS , so this is a long shot Among the public , there is little controversy about USPS : They love it .
In fact , it is the single-most popular agency in the US government , because it is universal , effective , and reliable .
But precisely because it is such a ubiquitous example of the potential of good government , conservative elites , funders , politicians , and ideologues hate it .
They have been pushing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by passing an absurd law in 2006 that forced the USPS to pre-fund 75 years ’ worth of retiree health benefits , which cost billions of dollars .
My colleagues Jen Kirby and Matt Yglesias have written in more detail about the USPS ’ s financial woes ( and President Donald Trump ’ s weird obsession with the idea that Amazon is cheating it ) .
Suffice it to say , the agency is in rough shape , and the coronavirus lockdown has pushed it to the brink .
Yet Trump has specifically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any stimulus money .
As crazy as it seems , Republicans might let the USPS go broke because Trump doesn ’ t like voting by mail .
It ’ s not clear how this escalating battle over the very nature and existence of the postal service will play out .
But in the meantime , at some point , over on the side , in this stimulus package or the next one , maybe we could just go ahead and electrify the trucks .
It ’ s not that much money .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 75 billion in grants and loans the USPS says it needs . )
It doesn ’ t need to be a part of the bigger ideological battle over the post office .
It doesn ’ t need to be partisan .
Everyone likes less noise and air pollution in their community .
Everyone likes more reliable mail service and happier , healthier mail carriers .
Everyone likes the government saving money .
Everything is a vicious , ugly fight these days .
This doesn ’ t need to be .
Electric postal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

With the US trapped in a historic lockdown, everyone agrees that enormous federal spending is necessary to keep the economy going over the next year and beyond — and everyone has their own ideas about how, exactly, that federal spending should be targeted. A whole genre of essays and white papers devoted to clever stimulus plans has developed almost overnight.
I’ve contributed to that genre: Go here for my ideal recovery/stimulus plan, here for what I think Democrats’ bottom-line demands should be in stimulus negotiations, here for my take on the wisdom of investing in clean energy, and here for why devoting stimulus money to fossil fuels is short-sighted.
Now I want to offer a much more modest idea — a fun idea, even. It’s a win-win-win proposal that would be worth doing even if the economy were at full employment, but a total no-brainer in an economy that needs a kickstart. The cost would be a tiny rounding error amid the trillions of dollars of stimulus being contemplated, and it would produce outsized social benefits in the form of improved public health, more efficient public services, and lower climate pollution.
I’m talking about electrifying mail trucks.
Postal trucks are old and janky
The boxy, whiny postal truck that is so familiar to Americans, with the driver on the right next to a loud sliding door, is called a Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV). As of 2018, the US Postal Service owns and operates 229,000 total vehicles, more than 141,000 of which are LLVs.
Grumman Aerospace Corporation (later Northrop-Grumman) built the LLVs on spec between 1987 and 1994. They were sophisticated at the time and have proven quite sturdy, but as any calendar will confirm, 1994 was 26 years ago. The vehicles lack such modern automotive technologies as anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, and airbags. They get about 10 miles per gallon, are too small for many modern e-commerce packages, and, somewhat disturbingly, are prone to bursting into flames.
The LLVs’ lifespan was meant to be about 24 years; they average 28 years old, with many over 30. They are so old that the USPS often has difficulty finding mechanics who can work on them. According to a December 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), it now costs the USPS $2 billion a year to maintain those aging vehicles, one reason the operational costs of the “last mile” system of mail delivery have steadily risen, even as costs have been cut elsewhere in the USPS.
In 2019, the USPS fleet consumed 195 million gallons of gasoline equivalent (GGE). Of that, 194.5 million gallons were gasoline and diesel, consumption of which has risen 28 percent since 2005. The rest was a little ethanol-infused gasoline (E-85), a little biodiesel, a little natural gas, and very, very little electricity (just over 1,300 GGEs). The USPS has not made much progress modernizing its fleet.
USPS fuel costs are about $500 million a year. Vehicle fuel represents roughly half of the USPS’s energy consumption, which, at 44 trillion BTU, is the highest of any agency in the federal government.
In short, the USPS has a giant fleet of aging, energy-intensive, carbon-intensive, expensive-to-maintain vehicles that are long overdue for an upgrade.
People have been talking about new postal trucks forever
The need for new mail trucks has been the subject of discussion for years. A GAO report from way back in 2011 describes the need to upgrade the USPS fleet, noting the rising costs of fuel and maintenance. In 2014, California Rep. Jared Huffman introduced a bill to modernize the postal fleet. The Federal Leadership in Energy Efficient Transportation (FLEET) Act was reintroduced in 2018 and is still waiting for a vote.
The USPS launched the process of procuring 186,000 new next-generation delivery vehicles (NGDVs) with a design request for proposals (RFP) back in 2015. Originally, it planned to conclude testing and prototyping and award a final production contract by 2018, with vehicles deployed by summer 2019. Obviously, that didn’t happen.
Prototype testing was finally completed in March 2019. In December 2019, the USPS issued a production RFP. It will evaluate bids and expects to award contracts for production by the end of fiscal year 2020.
It’s not clear how the coronavirus and subsequent plunge in consumer demand will affect these plans. The USPS does not receive any taxpayer money for operational expenses. It pays for them through sales of postage and services, which are crashing just like everything else. The USPS is on course to run out of money by September or so. The status of ongoing operations, much less fleet replacement, is up in the air.
Electric postal trucks would help solve several problems at once
USPS spokesperson Kimberly Frum told me that the agency “cannot comment on which companies are vying for the NGDV contract, their potential subcontractors, team members, or any other details.”
So we don’t know much about the trucks or companies being considered, through Trucks.com (a trucking and automotive news site) published a piece back in September 2019 that identified four companies that competed in the prototype phase. Only two of them had all-electric trucks.
In selecting a manufacturer, Frum said, “The Postal Service will make a choice based on an evaluation of best value,” which could include everything from durability to features to total cost of ownership.
Here’s the thing: On a full life-cycle basis, electric vehicles are absolutely a better value.
An electric motor converts electricity into motion more efficiently (around 90-95 percent) than an internal combustion engine (ICE) converts gasoline or diesel (40-45 percent at the high end, much lower in average use). That’s mainly because combustion engines produce an enormous amount of waste heat, whereas electric motors produce virtually none.
Consequently, electricity is a cheaper vehicle fuel than gasoline or diesel. “On a national average,” says the Department of Energy, “it costs less than half as much to travel the same distance in an EV than a conventional vehicle.” A wholesale shift to electricity would save the USPS hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel costs a year.
Just as importantly, the price of electricity tends to be much more stable than the price of combustion fuels. That would help the USPS more accurately project its operational costs.
Electric vehicles have far more torque than ICE vehicles (they are faster off the line) and can harvest energy through regenerative braking. That makes them perfect for the stop-and-start driving of postal trucks.
Because they contain fewer mechanical parts in less direct contact, EVs also break down less often and are much cheaper to maintain. A 2018 study found that EVs are about half as expensive to operate as ICE vehicles. That could save the USPS hundreds of millions more and improve the reliability of its last-mile service.
Finally, EVs generate no air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Shifting to electric trucks would improve air quality in every district in the nation, reducing respiratory and heart problems among the most vulnerable populations, urban and rural. And it would help the USPS meet and exceed its (admittedly modest) sustainability mandates.
For the record, EVs today emit less life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than ICE vehicles everywhere in the nation, no matter what the electricity mix. And that gap that will only grow as the country’s grid gets cleaner.
One of the overriding principles guiding the selection of the NGDVs is durability, of not only the trucks themselves but also the platform they are built on. Does the USPS really want to tie itself to gasoline and diesel for the next 30 years? Does it want to gamble that ICE vehicles will still be viable in 2050?
There’s a reason Amazon — USPS’s greatest competitor and biggest client — is investing in 100,000 bespoke electric delivery vehicles. It foresees increasing public pressure to decarbonize in favor of increasingly cheap, clean electricity. It is, in the immortal words of Wayne Gretzky, skating to where the puck is going to be.
USPS should do the same. EVs are a better value and a better long-term bet.
The USPS could be a sustainability leader
The only reason the USPS might not select electric mail trucks is the upfront cost: EVs have higher sticker prices. This is especially true if the USPS insists on developing and manufacturing a bespoke fleet of tens of thousands of identical, all-purpose trucks, instead of building a more varied fleet drawing on a range of existing EV platforms (but that’s a story for another post).
Upfront costs are intimidating to any agency that is, like the USPS, paying them out of its own revenues. Especially in the face of the Covid-19 crunch, the USPS could be forced to make a short-sighted decision to save in upfront costs at the expense of much greater maintenance and fuel costs down the road. Gasoline prices are low right now, but history shows they won’t stay that way.
Amazon — USPS’s greatest competitor and biggest client — is investing in 100,000 bespoke electric delivery vehicles
Congress could help prevent that unfortunate choice by covering those upfront costs (for the NGDV program, the USPS pegs it at around $6 billion) with stimulus money. In the process, it would be helping the USPS save money and improve operations for decades to come.
But Congress could do much more.
Among people who love and want to save the USPS, there is discussion of bigger, more ambitious reforms, like allowing post offices to offer basic banking services or equipping postal trucks with pollution sensors to gather granular air-quality data. (The GAO did a report on these “non-postal services” last year.)
Here’s another big idea: make post offices into community sustainability centers.
All those electric mail trucks will need juice, so put EV chargers next to post offices to charge their vehicles; the public could use them too, at low, fixed rates, much like they pay fixed rates for postage. Retrofit post offices to net-zero energy standards and install solar panels on their roofs. Put literature about the cost savings and pollution reductions of electric mail trucks in every mailbox. Make post offices, one of the most beloved and trusted institutions in America, a source of objective, reliable information on clean energy.
Embedding the benefits of clean electricity and EVs in every community in the US, where virtually every American would encounter them, could do an enormous amount to depoliticize climate-friendly technologies and accelerate their spread. It would produce social benefits wildly out of scale with the upfront investment.
But even if it doesn’t do all of that, Congress should still do the truck thing.
Conservatives want to privatize USPS, so this is a long shot
Among the public, there is little controversy about USPS: They love it. In fact, it is the single-most popular agency in the US government, because it is universal, effective, and reliable.
But precisely because it is such a ubiquitous example of the potential of good government, conservative elites, funders, politicians, and ideologues hate it. They have been pushing to privatize it for years, including by passing an absurd law in 2006 that forced the USPS to pre-fund 75 years’ worth of retiree health benefits, which cost billions of dollars.
Here’s another big idea: Make post offices into community sustainability centers
My colleagues Jen Kirby and Matt Yglesias have written in more detail about the USPS’s financial woes (and President Donald Trump’s weird obsession with the idea that Amazon is cheating it). Suffice it to say, the agency is in rough shape, and the coronavirus lockdown has pushed it to the brink.
Yet Trump has specifically intervened to block the USPS from receiving any stimulus money. As crazy as it seems, Republicans might let the USPS go broke because Trump doesn’t like voting by mail.
It’s not clear how this escalating battle over the very nature and existence of the postal service will play out. But in the meantime, at some point, over on the side, in this stimulus package or the next one, maybe we could just go ahead and electrify the trucks.
It’s not that much money. (Just $6 billion out of the $75 billion in grants and loans the USPS says it needs.) It doesn’t need to be a part of the bigger ideological battle over the post office. It doesn’t need to be partisan. Everyone likes less noise and air pollution in their community. Everyone likes more reliable mail service and happier, healthier mail carriers. Everyone likes the government saving money.
Everything is a vicious, ugly fight these days. This doesn’t need to be. Electric postal trucks are a no-brainer.


vox--2020-04-23--“I’m being forced to choose between my health and my job”: Georgia’s controversial reopening plan, e

“I’m being forced to choose between my health and my job”: Georgia’s controversial reopening plan, explained

Kristen Courville , a self-employed hairstylist in Alpharetta , Georgia , is in a terrifying conundrum : Her governor , Brian Kemp , says she can go back to work on Friday .
On the one hand , her bills are racking up , and she needs to pay her rent .
On the other hand , she ’ s scared of getting sick , and whenever she does open up , she ’ s worried clients won ’ t want to come in anyway .
She ’ s laid out a plan to reopen , but it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m being forced to choose between my health and my job , ” Courville , 32 , said .
The coronavirus crisis is hardly over in Georgia , but the state ’ s leadership has decided it ’ s time to start reopening parts of the economy there anyway .
Republican Gov .
Kemp announced in a tweet on Monday that businesses such as gyms , hair salons , barbershops , tattoo parlors , bowling alleys , and nail salons will be allowed to resume some operations on Friday , April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 27 , theaters , social clubs , and restaurant dine-in services will be able to start back up as well .
It won ’ t be back to business as usual entirely — bars , nightclubs , amusement parks , and live performance venues will stay shuttered .
And businesses that are open have to comply with what the state is calling “ minimum basic operations ” standards , including screening workers for a fever , enhanced workplace sanitation , and staggering shifts .
Businesses are also supposed to separate workspaces by 6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and consumers across the state were caught by surprise .
To many , the maneuver seems preemptive and not all that well thought out .
How do you cut someone ’ s hair from 6 feet away ?
How do you keep people at bowling alleys from touching , you know , the ball ?
And what even makes the bowling alley a priority in the first place ?
Nobody has all of the answers on next steps when it comes to relaxing social distancing and letting economic activities start back up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like most of the country and the world , is still struggling to wrap its arms around the health crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic .
But it appears to be determined to forge ahead on reopening the economy , and it ’ s going to be a case study in what that looks like — one conducted before health concerns are figured out .
Georgia ’ s governor seems determined to reopen the state ’ s economy , ready or not Kemp , Georgia ’ s Republican governor who was elected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state , made the announcement on Monday about his state starting to reopen some business operations .
Its shelter-in-place directive remains in place until April 30 , but as mentioned , some smaller establishments will be able to get up and running before then .
“ In the same way that we carefully closed businesses and urged operations to end to mitigate the virus ’ s spread , today , we are announcing plans to incrementally — and safely — reopen sectors of our economy , ” Kemp said on Monday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ disbelief .
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance said she was surprised by Kemp ’ s announcement .
“ I have a great working relationship with our governor , but I did not speak with him before he made this announcement , ” she said on Monday .
She said she ’ d spoken to other mayors who were equally “ perplexed ” by the situation .
“ As I look at the data and as I talk with our local public health officials , I don ’ t see that it ’ s based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kelly Girtz , the mayor of Athens-Clarke County , Georgia , warned that some of the high-contact environments Kemp was allowing to open “ are exactly the kind of places that we need to have maintain closure for the moment.
” Girtz is encouraging constituents to continue to stay home and not reopen .
Despite criticism , Kemp appears determined to move forward .
“ We took measured steps to get the shelter in place , and now we ’ re taking measured steps to come out of that , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a giant leap forward.
” At a press conference on Tuesday , President Donald Trump offered his support to Kemp .
“ He ’ s a very capable man .
He knows what he ’ s doing , ” he said , adding he ’ d be speaking to the governor “ in a little while.
” Then on Wednesday , the president said he “ strongly ” disagrees with Kemp ’ s decision .
Kemp ’ s coronavirus response hasn ’ t exactly been exemplary .
He was slow to issue a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and he only did so after claiming to have just learned asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 was possible , even though it ’ s a possibility scientists flagged months before .
It is also unclear what data and expertise is behind Kemp ’ s decision-making .
Georgia has had more than 20,000 reported cases of the coronavirus , and more than 800 people have died of the disease there .
Dennis Miller , a hairdresser at Hello Gorgeous in Savannah , says he ’ s listening to his mayor over the governor on when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are doing the same .
“ Kemp just figured things out when everybody else in the general public knew it for two-and-a-half weeks , so his lightbulb isn ’ t too bright , if there is a lightbulb , ” he told me .
Miller , 60 , has been licensed in cosmetology since 1978 and also dealt with Kemp when he was secretary of state overseeing the state board of cosmetology and barbers .
“ He did some real stupid things there , too.
” Just because Kemp says Georgia is open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really is Kemp allowing businesses to reopen does not mean all of them will , nor does it mean people will go out to frequent them .
Jennifer Franco , a massage therapist in Woodstock , Atlanta , told me she won ’ t be going back to work this month , adding that the minimum basic operations guidelines are laughable .
“ The basic requirement of our job is to touch people , ” she said .
The shop where she practices isn ’ t planning to open until mid-May , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she won ’ t take clients , many of whom are over the age of 50 .
“ I know them well and I wouldn ’ t want to risk infecting any of them , ” she said .
Franco , 39 , told me that it appeared many businesses in her area were going to remain closed until at least May .
Even her local Planet Fitness told her they didn ’ t have an opening date .
Kenya Nelson , a personal trainer in Atlanta , told me she plans to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or July and won ’ t be returning to the space she rents at a local gym in her area .
One fitness coach in a more rural , conservative part of Georgia said his gym took a poll and decided not to open up , though most other gyms in the area are .
“ We ’ re taking a LOT of heat for the decision in our community , ” he said in an email .
Businesses deciding not to open back up , workers deciding not to go back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home anyway expose a wrinkle in Kemp ’ s reopening plan : It ’ s tough to get back to business as usual when people are terrified of getting sick and dying in a global pandemic .
Of course , plenty of people will venture out , but a lot of people will , at the very least , think twice about it .
As Vox ’ s Matt Yglesias recently explained , Trump , Republican governors , and whoever else declaring the economy open can ’ t force people back into restaurants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imposed extra stress on people by forcing this decision on them .
Imagine you ’ re a Georgia worker now expected to go back on the job .
Do you stay home , forgo your livelihood , and hope an unemployment check comes in ?
Or do you go in and hope not to get sick ?
It ’ s hard to make a plan when there is no plan To be sure , Gov .
Kemp and Georgia are hardly alone in nudging toward reopening the economy , even though the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are beginning to move in that direction , and people are getting antsy .
States such as Georgia , Tennessee , South Carolina , and others testing the waters may start to show what the path ahead looks like .
But they may also reveal that the country really is a long way away from having this figured out .
The country is still a long way away from the levels of mass testing experts believe are needed to start to move forward — they believe at least 500,000 tests a day are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that , tops , is being done .
And even then , there ’ s contact tracing , enforcing quarantines , and multiple other questions that may not have even been thought of yet .
As Vox ’ s Ezra Klein recently wrote , there is no plan to return to normal , at least not yet .
And a vaccine is probably a long way away .
It ’ s more than understandable to want to get the economy reopened and get back to life as it used to be .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ filing new jobless claims over the last five weeks and the economy headed into a deep recession , the situation can feel especially urgent .
Folks need to get back to work to survive .
The problem is , if states don ’ t get this right , people seem destined for waves of lockdowns and reopenings for many months , if not years .
Is Georgia getting this right ?
No one knows .
But we ’ re about to find out .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Kristen Courville, a self-employed hairstylist in Alpharetta, Georgia, is in a terrifying conundrum: Her governor, Brian Kemp, says she can go back to work on Friday. On the one hand, her bills are racking up, and she needs to pay her rent. On the other hand, she’s scared of getting sick, and whenever she does open up, she’s worried clients won’t want to come in anyway. She’s laid out a plan to reopen, but it’s not been an easy decision.
“I’m being forced to choose between my health and my job,” Courville, 32, said.
The coronavirus crisis is hardly over in Georgia, but the state’s leadership has decided it’s time to start reopening parts of the economy there anyway. Republican Gov. Kemp announced in a tweet on Monday that businesses such as gyms, hair salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors, bowling alleys, and nail salons will be allowed to resume some operations on Friday, April 24. And on Monday, April 27, theaters, social clubs, and restaurant dine-in services will be able to start back up as well.
Due to favorable data & more testing, gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, estheticians, their respective schools & massage therapists can reopen Friday, April 24 with Minimum Basic Operations. #gapol — Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) April 20, 2020
It won’t be back to business as usual entirely — bars, nightclubs, amusement parks, and live performance venues will stay shuttered. And businesses that are open have to comply with what the state is calling “minimum basic operations” standards, including screening workers for a fever, enhanced workplace sanitation, and staggering shifts. Businesses are also supposed to separate workspaces by 6 feet.
Many businesses, lawmakers, and consumers across the state were caught by surprise. To many, the maneuver seems preemptive and not all that well thought out. How do you cut someone’s hair from 6 feet away? How do you keep people at bowling alleys from touching, you know, the ball? And what even makes the bowling alley a priority in the first place?
Nobody has all of the answers on next steps when it comes to relaxing social distancing and letting economic activities start back up, including the federal government. Georgia, like most of the country and the world, is still struggling to wrap its arms around the health crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. But it appears to be determined to forge ahead on reopening the economy, and it’s going to be a case study in what that looks like — one conducted before health concerns are figured out.
Georgia’s governor seems determined to reopen the state’s economy, ready or not
Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor who was elected in 2018 and its previous former secretary of state, made the announcement on Monday about his state starting to reopen some business operations. Its shelter-in-place directive remains in place until April 30, but as mentioned, some smaller establishments will be able to get up and running before then.
“In the same way that we carefully closed businesses and urged operations to end to mitigate the virus’s spread, today, we are announcing plans to incrementally — and safely — reopen sectors of our economy,” Kemp said on Monday.
Many people in the state reacted with disbelief.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she was surprised by Kemp’s announcement. “I have a great working relationship with our governor, but I did not speak with him before he made this announcement,” she said on Monday. She said she’d spoken to other mayors who were equally “perplexed” by the situation. “As I look at the data and as I talk with our local public health officials, I don’t see that it’s based on anything that’s logical.”
Kelly Girtz, the mayor of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, warned that some of the high-contact environments Kemp was allowing to open “are exactly the kind of places that we need to have maintain closure for the moment.” Girtz is encouraging constituents to continue to stay home and not reopen.
Despite criticism, Kemp appears determined to move forward. “We took measured steps to get the shelter in place, and now we’re taking measured steps to come out of that,” he said on Tuesday. “This is not a giant leap forward.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, President Donald Trump offered his support to Kemp. “He’s a very capable man. He knows what he’s doing,” he said, adding he’d be speaking to the governor “in a little while.” Then on Wednesday, the president said he “strongly” disagrees with Kemp’s decision.
Kemp’s coronavirus response hasn’t exactly been exemplary. He was slow to issue a stay-at-home order in the first place, and he only did so after claiming to have just learned asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 was possible, even though it’s a possibility scientists flagged months before.
It is also unclear what data and expertise is behind Kemp’s decision-making. Georgia has had more than 20,000 reported cases of the coronavirus, and more than 800 people have died of the disease there.
Dennis Miller, a hairdresser at Hello Gorgeous in Savannah, says he’s listening to his mayor over the governor on when to go back, and his friends are doing the same. “Kemp just figured things out when everybody else in the general public knew it for two-and-a-half weeks, so his lightbulb isn’t too bright, if there is a lightbulb,” he told me.
Miller, 60, has been licensed in cosmetology since 1978 and also dealt with Kemp when he was secretary of state overseeing the state board of cosmetology and barbers. “He did some real stupid things there, too.”
Just because Kemp says Georgia is open for business doesn’t mean it really is
Kemp allowing businesses to reopen does not mean all of them will, nor does it mean people will go out to frequent them.
Jennifer Franco, a massage therapist in Woodstock, Atlanta, told me she won’t be going back to work this month, adding that the minimum basic operations guidelines are laughable. “The basic requirement of our job is to touch people,” she said. The shop where she practices isn’t planning to open until mid-May, but even if the timeline speeds up, she won’t take clients, many of whom are over the age of 50. “I know them well and I wouldn’t want to risk infecting any of them,” she said.
Franco, 39, told me that it appeared many businesses in her area were going to remain closed until at least May. Even her local Planet Fitness told her they didn’t have an opening date.
Kenya Nelson, a personal trainer in Atlanta, told me she plans to continue to shelter in place until June or July and won’t be returning to the space she rents at a local gym in her area. One fitness coach in a more rural, conservative part of Georgia said his gym took a poll and decided not to open up, though most other gyms in the area are. “We’re taking a LOT of heat for the decision in our community,” he said in an email.
Businesses deciding not to open back up, workers deciding not to go back to work, and people deciding to stay home anyway expose a wrinkle in Kemp’s reopening plan: It’s tough to get back to business as usual when people are terrified of getting sick and dying in a global pandemic. Of course, plenty of people will venture out, but a lot of people will, at the very least, think twice about it.
As Vox’s Matt Yglesias recently explained, Trump, Republican governors, and whoever else declaring the economy open can’t force people back into restaurants:
The problem is a question of fear. Americans fear spreading or contracting infection, so much so that they’ve overwhelmingly participated in social distancing measures. They tell pollsters by wide margins that they fear lifting those restrictions too soon much more so than too late. They’re willing to stay put even if it harms the economy. They also fear economic hardship. That’s led prudent people, even those left relatively unharmed by the downturn so far, to delay nonessential purchases, like new cars, appliances, clothes, and other goods.
In the meantime, Kemp has imposed extra stress on people by forcing this decision on them. Imagine you’re a Georgia worker now expected to go back on the job. Do you stay home, forgo your livelihood, and hope an unemployment check comes in? Or do you go in and hope not to get sick?
It’s hard to make a plan when there is no plan
To be sure, Gov. Kemp and Georgia are hardly alone in nudging toward reopening the economy, even though the coronavirus crisis is hardly settled. Multiple states are beginning to move in that direction, and people are getting antsy.
States such as Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and others testing the waters may start to show what the path ahead looks like. But they may also reveal that the country really is a long way away from having this figured out.
The country is still a long way away from the levels of mass testing experts believe are needed to start to move forward — they believe at least 500,000 tests a day are needed, and less than a third of that, tops, is being done. And even then, there’s contact tracing, enforcing quarantines, and multiple other questions that may not have even been thought of yet. As Vox’s Ezra Klein recently wrote, there is no plan to return to normal, at least not yet. And a vaccine is probably a long way away.
It’s more than understandable to want to get the economy reopened and get back to life as it used to be. And with at least 26 million Americans filing new jobless claims over the last five weeks and the economy headed into a deep recession, the situation can feel especially urgent. Folks need to get back to work to survive. The problem is, if states don’t get this right, people seem destined for waves of lockdowns and reopenings for many months, if not years.
Is Georgia getting this right? No one knows. But we’re about to find out.