There are car lines and people lines all over the nation. Why are they in line? Food insecurity. Inability to put food on the table. Food banks are getting National Guard assistance to hand out food. I could add to that sentence, "For people in need." This is unsustainable. There also appears to be some fraud. When you wait in a car line in a newer model and expensive vehicle, do you really need help? Why, do you say that? Because those people like many Americans live above their means. The decision to purchase a new or newer model car takes away from income that could be used for other needs and responsibilities like rent or a mortgage. One of those needs is saving for a rainy day. It is pouring today. This is not cut and dry as the sentence or verdict implies. People in real estate need a newer, bigger vehicle for their job. It all comes down to conscience. In America today, people are losing their belief system due to the leadership in our nation. These so-called leaders have no conscience - just ego and greed.
The CORVID-19 will have one positive benefit. It revealed the weakness of our nation. We are no longer self-sufficient. The dangers to our future is terrifying. Need proof? Here is a capsulation.
Medical Supplies
When the virus hit hot spots like cruise boats, tourist locations and cities with high density like New York, the number of infected people overwhelmed the health system. Hospitals realized that they did not have enough of the right equipment to address this disease. They quickly realized that medical supplies like most of our medicine comes from...Can you guess? China.
Doctors, nurses and medical assistants have to hand over their protective gowns to the next shift because they have none in supply. This is one reason why so many become infected. Sadly, many have died. The head of hospitals did not plan for a rainy day. When they ordered new supplies, they have to wait until a Chinese firm can fill their request.
When patients need a ventilator, they will die because the next shipment from China has not arrived at port. Even if it did, there are no workers to unload the shipment. There are less truck drivers to deliver this life saving medical equipment. The contagion of all items that were mostly invented in the US, but outsourced elsewhere, reveals how phony our economy and our boasts are founded upon.
It gets worse! There are no swabs, no testing equipment, no masks, no PPE (personal protective equipment), no nothing. Why? It all comes from China!
People, we are testing 150,000 every day, it will take more than three years to test the nation. It is better to just test a worker to allow that person to work. The other tests should be allocated for people in need or questions about their health. The flu does not effect everyone. There is too much misappropriation of resources. In addition, when a local leader tries to initiate a response by seeking to purchase when that person sees as a local medical need, it ends up being a rip-off case. You see, real leadership seeks an answer. In the coronavirus situation, this means bidding on limited supplies. A .70-cents mask jumps to $7-bucks, as real leaders get caught by the system of the highest offer wins the bid. Because orders for medical supplies overwhelmed the few suppliers, the purchase becomes an auction. Only in America!
Last thought. If one of our great research labs in the US or Europe discovered a vaccine today, it will still end up in China. They produce much of the world's supply of medicine due to outsourcing of labor. Neither political party protects the American worker. This is a mortal sin that is revealed by the virus.
Core of the danger...
Critics pushed the president to enact the Defense Production Act. This measure forces manufacturers to produce whatever the government feels is necessary for the nation. It is mainly used in a time of war to which was declared by Congress.
Dear Reader, we have no manufacturers! We outsourced all our needs elsewhere. We are producers in name only. Apple phones are made in China. Nike sneakers are made somewhere outside of the US. Our cars come from Mexico. Our economy produces nothing! You can pass all the measures you want, but there are no factories to fill the request. Real economies like China, Germany and S. Korea are doing well because they can supply all their medical requests, especially testing. They have manufacturing!
Here is another sad point: too much of our food is imported. We don't need to do this. On the other hand, small farmers have to see their hard work in growing items like tomatoes, lettuce, fruits and vegetables lie rotting in fields because there are no workers to harvest this good produce. Even if the farmer gathers some of the crop with his family and friends, there are no truckers to deliver to the market. Food is going to escalate in price later this year and next. Globalization increases wealth elsewhere as our standard of living decreases. Our national debt which is the worst in the world, reveals this aspect.
A Lesson from History...
When time moved into the twentieth century, I'm talking 1901, Great Britain was recognized as the superpower in the world. They had the best navy, best army and the best standard of living. They contributed to more than their share of new inventions and ideas to better society. Then, the world went to war. The English army was not so great. The navy was suspect to a German idea, the submarine. The US saved the day because we had strong manufacturing to turn the tide of the war. England was found to be a "Paper Tiger." They still are.
If one looks back at the US history in war-time, this common thread is revealed.
The one big plus that gave the North over the South was the manufacturing in the North. The times change, but the story remains the same. The US won WWII because our manufacturing which produced our middle class, provided the edge to win the campaign. Manufacturing has a history of exploiting workers, but given the spirit of equality in our nation, unions evened out the playing field. Our standard of living rose to be the highest level ever in the world.
Until...
The rich and powerful bought off the political parties in our government. In one victory after another beginning with the Taft-Hartley Act, big money has destroyed unions and the middle class in our nation. The evidence is not just the food lines, but homeless people sleeping on streets in public. The poverty rate. Children without supervision, direction or a future. Our education results are one of the poorest in our history. Even "factory" models of education provided better results. Our economy rests on service jobs that do not provide enough to live. One works 40-plus hours and barely can pay rent. We are the
Paper Tiger of today.
Only hope
is to attack both political parties. We must force them to place high tariffs on all imported products. President Trump did a good thing in reducing corporate tax rates. He hoped to see a shift in production back into the US. Didn't happen. Companies found ways to circumvent the tariffs he imposed. Now, hard measures must be used. No exceptions! Tax every nation that exports into the US. Tax every American company who outsourced their product and then, import it back to the US. Place the tax so high that it forces companies to relocate back into the US. In addition, tax the wealthy. The income tax bracket should be raised to 50% with no loopholes for the wealthy. When Amazon pays no tax, it is time to end this corruption in politics. We need to attack politicians. We need to force their hand to address these ills of the nation. The best hope is to form a new political party that protects workers and ends all foreign wars by the military unless war is declared by Congress. We need this
yesterday!
