This speaks to me. I don't mean to undercut the real hardships other folks are going through, but the extra $600 has definitely left me feeling more free. I've gotten to support local restaurants, indulge some hobbies, and donate to good causes.
A friend and I were chatting yesterday about Bezos' personal wealth having increased by $12bil in a day....and how that astronomical number doesn't even come close to materially changing his life in any meaningful way. What a world.
The continuation of these benefits makes so much sense...we are in the middle of a pandemic. If that gives people some extra income so they can get themselves in a good place for the next 6-12 months, while also sheltering in place as much as possible, is waaaaaaaay better than funneling the cash upwards like we've been doing.
Giving money to people to then go spend out in the community at businesses that could benefit from those expenditures is a plan that works...let's keep trying this "trickle-up" economic theory for awhile. I wish we had done something similar in the last housing crisis...instead of giving money to the banks, give it to homeowners who were struggling to pay mortgages. Banks get their money, stay afloat, and people don't have to go through economic distress. Maybe some economists in the Discourse audience have vetted these ideas further (and I could be way off base), but it can't be any worse than the last 40 years of trickle down.
It's really telling that in every way, both long and short term economically, socially, culturally, that there isn't a single coherent argument against paying people at least until the economy recovers and COVID is suppressed (of course, there's not much of an argument against permanent basic necessities of life payments either, but yay Calvinist Puritanism). Instead, the powers-that-be are going to shred the next ten years of life in the US on the basis of a moral hazard argument that isn't even supported by actual on the ground evidence of how people are behaving.
Strange how the Death Cult GOP wants businesses to be open, but doesn't realize that without the increased benefits, a lot of businesses that are just scrapping by would be royally fucked without customers who suddenly can't afford even the basics.
I haven't felt this "fresh" in years. It's like i finally have the space to process the world around me. Unfortunately, this is occurring right as the world bursts into brighter and brighter flames. Still, I thank bernie everyday for big chunk of change.
I have no actual stake in this other than wanting to see my friends and family helped out, but I emphatically 100% agree with this post. By any definition we are in the middle of an emergency, with economic just being one aspect of it. You don't sit on a lifeboat with people drowning around all sides and debate potential future repairs to the boat. You pull people on and hope that shit holds. If that requires sacrifice later, then oh well, sometimes things are hard and sometimes they are less hard.
I didn't need that $1200. I would have gladly given up that $1200 if it helped others keep their lights on. I tried to do something better than just pay a little more long term debt with it like making donations and buying friends groceries and such, but still we can't gofundme the entire fucking country. Even starting to think about the cascading effects of that kind of loss of income is horrifying to me. I don't want to live in a rigid divided self absorbed society, and of course, we don't have to. Some things are simple, this is one of those things. This is not zero sum. There are people in the world who would drown everyone before admitting they may have been wrong. Take feedback, let your opinions evolve, learn from your mistake, live another day.
naturally, it’s time for people to get angry at the people getting the $600 “for sitting on their asses” and not the people getting billions of dollars a day exploiting people under their employ
Man, you guys' paid subscription messaging sure got pushy in a hurry.
This speaks to me. I don't mean to undercut the real hardships other folks are going through, but the extra $600 has definitely left me feeling more free. I've gotten to support local restaurants, indulge some hobbies, and donate to good causes.
A friend and I were chatting yesterday about Bezos' personal wealth having increased by $12bil in a day....and how that astronomical number doesn't even come close to materially changing his life in any meaningful way. What a world.
The continuation of these benefits makes so much sense...we are in the middle of a pandemic. If that gives people some extra income so they can get themselves in a good place for the next 6-12 months, while also sheltering in place as much as possible, is waaaaaaaay better than funneling the cash upwards like we've been doing.
Giving money to people to then go spend out in the community at businesses that could benefit from those expenditures is a plan that works...let's keep trying this "trickle-up" economic theory for awhile. I wish we had done something similar in the last housing crisis...instead of giving money to the banks, give it to homeowners who were struggling to pay mortgages. Banks get their money, stay afloat, and people don't have to go through economic distress. Maybe some economists in the Discourse audience have vetted these ideas further (and I could be way off base), but it can't be any worse than the last 40 years of trickle down.
It saddens me how many people are so upset over people getting more money than they usually earned. Seriously, pay people more!
It's really telling that in every way, both long and short term economically, socially, culturally, that there isn't a single coherent argument against paying people at least until the economy recovers and COVID is suppressed (of course, there's not much of an argument against permanent basic necessities of life payments either, but yay Calvinist Puritanism). Instead, the powers-that-be are going to shred the next ten years of life in the US on the basis of a moral hazard argument that isn't even supported by actual on the ground evidence of how people are behaving.
Strange how the Death Cult GOP wants businesses to be open, but doesn't realize that without the increased benefits, a lot of businesses that are just scrapping by would be royally fucked without customers who suddenly can't afford even the basics.
Real Big brains, those fucking assholes!
I haven't felt this "fresh" in years. It's like i finally have the space to process the world around me. Unfortunately, this is occurring right as the world bursts into brighter and brighter flames. Still, I thank bernie everyday for big chunk of change.
I have no actual stake in this other than wanting to see my friends and family helped out, but I emphatically 100% agree with this post. By any definition we are in the middle of an emergency, with economic just being one aspect of it. You don't sit on a lifeboat with people drowning around all sides and debate potential future repairs to the boat. You pull people on and hope that shit holds. If that requires sacrifice later, then oh well, sometimes things are hard and sometimes they are less hard.
I didn't need that $1200. I would have gladly given up that $1200 if it helped others keep their lights on. I tried to do something better than just pay a little more long term debt with it like making donations and buying friends groceries and such, but still we can't gofundme the entire fucking country. Even starting to think about the cascading effects of that kind of loss of income is horrifying to me. I don't want to live in a rigid divided self absorbed society, and of course, we don't have to. Some things are simple, this is one of those things. This is not zero sum. There are people in the world who would drown everyone before admitting they may have been wrong. Take feedback, let your opinions evolve, learn from your mistake, live another day.
naturally, it’s time for people to get angry at the people getting the $600 “for sitting on their asses” and not the people getting billions of dollars a day exploiting people under their employ