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LINK Letters From An American 04/09/2021

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed at least 50 million people across the world, including about 675,000 people in the United States. And yet, until recently, it has been elusive in our popular memory. America’s curious amnesia about the 1918 pandemic has come to mind lately as the United States appears to be shifting into a post-pandemic era of job growth and optimism.

A year ago today, I noted that we were approaching 17,000 deaths from Covid-19. Now our official death count is over 560,000. If anyone had told us a year ago that we would lose more than a half million of our family and friends to this pandemic, that number would have seemed unthinkable. And yet now, as more shots go into arms every day, attention to the extraordinary toll of the past year seems to be slipping.

Remembering the nation’s suffering under the pandemic matters because the contrast between the disastrous last year and our hope this spring is a snapshot of what is at stake in the fight over control of the nation’s government.

Ever since President Ronald Reagan declared in his 1981 inaugural address that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,” Republicans have argued that the best way to run the country has been to dismantle the federal government and turn the fundamental operations of the country over to private enterprise. They have argued that the government is inefficient and wasteful, while businesses can pivot rapidly and are far more efficient than their government counterparts.

And then the coronavirus came.

The president put his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in charge of the nation’s response to the pandemic. Kushner sidelined career officials who knew how to source medical supplies, for example, in favor of young volunteers from investment banks and consulting firms. The administration touted what its leaders called an innovative public-private partnership to respond to the country’s needs, but a report from Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) documented that as late as March 2, the administration was urging American businesses to take advantage of the booming market in personal protective equipment (PPE) to export masks, ventilators, and PPE to other countries. Porter’s office examined export records to show that in February 2020, “the value of U.S. mask exports to China was 1094% higher than the 2019 monthly average.” Meanwhile, American health care providers were wearing garbage bags, and people were sewing their own masks.

HippieChick58 9 Apr 10
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4 comments

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7

We never learn.
We're the ones who keep sending assholes to represent us.
We're the ones who are responsible for what they do.

We're also the ones who "forget" what we should be learning from, and we keep repeating the same stupid mistakes.

Sure, some of us know and try to change, but not enough.

Let us not forget the goal of the left is to make as many people depended on the government is possible. in socialism first they take your wealth, then they take your property,then they take your labor. they get away with this by convincing you" that you can't make it on your own".
none of this is new, in the Bolshevik Revolution they useed label of kulak . now we call them the rich. we say that we will "solve our by taxing corporations ". in reality corporations pass on all of their cost of doing business to the end consumer, there for the end consumer will pay all of their taxes. furthermore the rich people are far too smart to pay taxes. therefore any tax increases will be born by the middle class.
making their dream come true people won't be able to make it on their own and if anybody has a problem with that I'll just call him a racist.

@m16566 Let us not forget that corporations are doing exactly what you're accusing the government of doing.
Government is the tool of the rich and business.
Always has been.
Calling out the "left" as socialists is nothing more than scapegoating.
It's a distraction, and you've fallen for it.

@KKGat The difference between the tyranny of government and the tyranny of Corporations; is a matter of choice. one can give one's life's work to a corporation it never stops being a voluntary business arrangement. the problem with socialism is it becomes the law of the land you do not have the option to opt out at best rights and freedoms that we enjoy are an inconvenience,they are most likely eradicated

@m16566 One need not agree to work for any corporation in order to be controlled by them.
We are all involuntarily controlled by corporations, in a multitude of ways.
Socialism has been made into a boogeyman.
It's a false flag.
We're being told what to fear and why.
The fact of the matter is that the ones who stand to lose power by the people asserting their own are the ones who have been beating us over the heads with your particular messages.

I'm not a socialist, or even a democrat.
I'm just observant, and I rarely trust anything anyone tells me.

@KKGator just another Trumpanzee.

@m16566 Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Government may come into play but the theory based more the collective ownership by the people.
In Marxist theory, a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of Communism.
Fascism - a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism) ideology, political orientation, political theory - an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group or nation that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
The common denominator is always human natural and it apparent inability to benefit from it's past mistakes.

@silverotter11 Everything you said, I think it is important to point out the difference between theory and practice. socialism has produced oppressive societies throughout the world and throughout time. certainly the intention was to create a more fair and equitable distribution of land labor capital and management. the practice is that a country's wealth is distributed less fairly then a market economy would have produced.

@m16566 Interesting how capitalism lives in the same boat.
In theory, most -isms work just great.
However, when human nature is added, they all almost always get corrupted to the point where they stop working the way they're supposed to.

@m16566 get an education. Stop believing in your senile racist orange Messiah and realize you talk about things that you have no actual knowledge about. Trust me, you'll be smarter.

@redhog why would that be so bad what happens if you deviate from your CNN talking points do you really have anything to say ?
Rather than argue intelligently about my ideas you simply call me a racist that works on TV it should work here.

@redhog, @CuddyCruiserwhy would that be so bad what happens if you deviate from your CNN talking points do you really have anything to say ?
Rather than argue intelligently about my ideas you simply call me a racist that works on TV it should work here.

@m16566 Neither of them called you a racist. I checked.

@m16566 ah yes the knee jerk reaction. "You called me racist" when nobody even said the word. Guilty conscience? Projecting? Or is it the whole white conservative paranoia?

@m16566 oh and I bet your "talking points" come from Fox, OANN or Newsmax (all of whom are facing defamation suits from Dominion that will probably shut then down for spreading misinformation).

@redhog One man's misinformation is another man's censorship

@m16566 What does that even mean?

@KKGator In a world where we cannot even agree on the facts, certain organizations have chosen to Define truth as they see fit, therefore when the left wants to call something False they call it Misinformation.

@m16566 Wow. You don't think the right doesn't do the exact same thing?
Let's remember, they're the ones who began the concept of "alternative facts".

Neither side are the bastions of truth, but the fact is that right has ceased to allow the truth and facts stop them from committing crimes against humanity.
There is absolutely no denying that.

@KKGator I am utterly amazed you strung together a thought, give me an example of the right ,
using" alternative facts".

@redhog give me an example of a of an ongoing defamation lawsuit.

@m16566 hmm let's see Dominiom vs: Fox News, Newsmax, My Pillow Loser, Giuliani, Trump's vaunted "kraken". The court documents are literally out there if you actually want to believe in reality.

Of course you probably also like that Pedophile Matt Gaetz and applauded the domestic terror attack on 1/6.

Now go back to your crayons Trumper Qpublican. Adults are speaking.

@redhog I believe the facts are not all in these cases are not settled ,thank you for siding them

@m16566 citing. At least use the proper terminology if that's not to difficult for you

@kkgator same

3

Yes the whole thing is enough to piss off the Pope, but if you think about it the end of 2016 was the actual beginning of a perfect storm and then to put icing on the cake, was the end of 2020 and January 6th, now they're trying to cover it with sprinkles. And just trying to say everything was just lovely, nothing to see here. 🤬

4

Jared Kushner should never have been in charge of anything. Not only is putting him in charge illegal in the first place, but he has not experience enough to be in charge. Trump should have known this and so should Kushner, but there was money to be made.

It’s the new normal in today’s fucked up world.

Don’t worry, Soon some idiots may be going to a Chiropractor to change their cars breakpads.

7

If the government can retain the basic notion that it is there to SERVE the people, it is a fine thing!

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