119 "help me armageddon"

"It's the economy, stupid," was the famous internal rallying cry of the first Clinton presidential campaign, and today's Wake And Blake.

Someone took the time to tear down every "Muni temporary shutdown" poster on our street, but that's not why I took this picture. I took it because it reminded me that most Muni drivers have been sitting at home for the past few months, along with a whole hell of a lot of other people who, given the chance, might prefer to be productive members of society.

Meanwhile, our leadership is fixated on "reopening" while the virus is simply hanging out, doing it's thing. (Which is, seemingly, waiting to kill us for doing anything "normal.")

So on the one hand, we have everyone wanting to go back to "normal" and on the other hand, we have a virus saying "no."

This could go on a while.

During that time, we may come to recognize this thing, this social distancing and mask wearing and not commuting and virtual working and hand washing...this is the new normal.

For the foreseeable future, we're not going back.

So, knowing there is no going back, and as a result, reviving the old economy is not an option, so...where do we go from here?

The other night, Deb said to me, "They're saying the economy isn't doing this," and she showed me the "V" shaped 'pothole' recession, "it's doing this," and she showed me the "L."

In other words, this isn't going to be over so quickly as we all hoped. (He says on Day 119 of the shelter in place order, the day after all indoor restaurants statewide were told to close again.)

What is the writing on the wall?

What will "help" look like? What will the "new economy" look like? What will be our part in it?

Will we be barcoded Amazon slaves, or will we seize the reins of our own productivity?

Since the early 70s, workers have been getting the shit end of productivity gains in the US.

(I made an annotated version to help visualize the difference between different leaders, and the similarities between some, too.)

What happened? Somehow, "we the people" started to believe the lie that "the other people" were out to get us, when in fact it was "the rich people."

Because it has nothing to do with competition among the poor, and everything to do with keeping labor costs down.

And honestly, making sure we never have a chance to get up. Desperation makes for easy management.

Of course, rich people believe they have all the answers, because they have all the money, and think they have all the power.

But here's the very weird, very underreported truth about this pandemic. Our collective response, whether it has been chosen by us, or by our local elected officials, our collective response has, by objective measures of "who is showing up for work," our collective response has been one big-ass labor strike.

Maybe not willingly, but let's set that aside for the moment. Because the fact is, whether we individuals chose this route or not, somehow our collective sense of community and safety has said, "ok, sure, I'm not going to work."

We are, effectively, on strike.

Our leadership, who have become accustomed to getting richer and richer while setting us up in crumb-fighting matches, is seriously failing to recognize this moment. (Or rather, they can see what's happening, they just lack the imagination to move forward in any other direction besides backward.)

But the virus doesn't care. Crack the whip and your workforce will still die, and your profits will end.

So here we are.

Looking for solutions.

Mmmhmmm. The one thing I'm hoping for out of Joe Biden is high-speed rail. And honestly, if he could pull that off, it would be a big step forward for the US.

This would be nice, too. One has to wonder, just how bad will things get before the yokes of the plutocrats are thrown off? Fifteen percent unemployment? Twenty? Thousands dying every day with huge healthcare bills? Months of no work and no relief?

A generation disrupted?

A little anxiety and anger? (This graph is a chart of the percent of adults moving back in with their parents.)

A lot of anxiety?

A feeling like there's nothing to lose?

So, what's the plan? Or if you believe that plans are dog's way of humiliating man, where at least, is the recognition of the moment? That acknowledgement that we are standing on the precipice, looking into an unknown future?

Where is the clue gathering? The examination of our modern world, trends, and a hard look at reality?

Oh. Wait. It is here.

It is here in the disinformation campaigns. The patriotism. The nationalism. The xenophobia. Climate crisis denying. Pointing fingers.

It is here in the batons, pepper spray and tear gas of the police state. The recognition that violent control of the people is necessary to retain power.

It is here, telling us to "reopen." To get back to "normal." Telling us that working fifty weeks a year for the rest of our lives is normal. Telling us that dying in bankruptcy is normal. Telling us that polluting and consuming and working bullshit jobs is necessary for the world to keep working.

Yeah, their world. The one that is being dismantled by climate catastrophe. The one that got bonked in a few short months by a pandemic with its roots in factory farming and human sprawl. The one that was working great for them, ok for some of us, terribly for many of us, and abysmally for most of "nature."

("Nature," by the way, is that little completely interdependent thing which allows "life" to exist on "Earth.")