Many people believe that the COVID19 pandemic merely represents a political or economic crisis. Nothing could be further from the truth. The COVID19 pandemic is not a political or an economic crisis, it is a humanitarian one.

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"Our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men." President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1/6/1941).

No Political-Economic Crisis

Many people believe that the COVID19 pandemic merely represents a political or economic crisis. Nothing could be further from the truth. The COVID19 pandemic is not a political or an economic crisis, it is a humanitarian one.

Inhumanity

A friend was in yet another COVID19 driven, "emergency" elected officials meeting. The plan was to remain silent. Then the meeting chair spoke. The chair suggested that one option was to completely shut down operations and then not pay the staff that was laid off because paying them would then create a "political problem." My friend, incensed, responded immediately.

Friend said: "If we are going to talk terminology let's get a few things straight. First of all when we send people home because of a health emergency and then throw them into a deeper financial crisis by not paying them, that is not a political problem; that is a humanitarian one."

As my friend's words sunk into the group, friend felt surprised by the expressions on the faces of these colleagues. They were all grim. No one spoke in response.

Why? Because the county had indicated an intent to close operations and not pay the non-elected staff employees. My friend's colleagues were afraid that if they did not follow this lead that they would be the subject of attack come re-election time.

My friend was horrified and could not believe that these colleagues only saw a "political problem." Friend could not believe that they failed to see the inhumanity of sending people home to be safe and then destroying that safety by not paying them.

Saving the Economy

In an USA Today article entitled, "Texas lieutenant governor suggest grandparents are willing to die for U.S. economy," Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, 69, of Texas said:

"No one reached out to me and said, 'as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?'" Patrick said. "And if that's the exchange, I'm all in."[i]

Let's not mince words: this argument is Un-American, and cruel. Un-American because in the guise of "free choice" it pressures the old to self-sacrifice in favor of the young. Cruel and inhumane because it appeals to grandparental, sacrificial love, then falsely equates grandchildren with the American Economy. To suggest that the "American Economy," will somehow be destroyed if we try to save the old and sick is just not true.

What will destroy the economy is inhumane action in response to this crisis. The economy will do just fine if the people who have been forced out of work continue to get paid. And in our economy's public and private sector, there is more than enough wealth to accomplish this.

The Law

Fortunately, many members of Congress also saw the problem. Democrats and Republicans both expressed support for basic income concepts as a remedy. Many other good ideas were offered during the floor debate.

And on March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES ACT. BRAVO! The CARES ACT recognized the inhumanity of sending people home to achieve safe social distancing, only to then create an economic crisis by putting them out of work.

The bill provides total relief of approximately 2.1 trillion dollars. This includes an unprecedented addition of 250 billion dollars for unemployment benefits and 349 billion for small business loans. This also includes a loan forgiveness provision for those companies who seek loans to pay payroll and retain or rehire employees; and requires reduced aid to employers who terminate employees. It also:

• Allocates $130 billion in relief to the medical and hospital industries,
• Provides $1,200 to Americans making $75,000 or less ($150,000 in the case of joint returns and $112,500 for head of household) and $500 for each child,
• Expands unemployment insurance eligibility and provides individuals an additional $600 per week on top of the unemployment amount determined by each state, and
• Expands Medicare tele-health services.

Future Investment

Of course, this Congressional action requires deficit spending. However, if it is ever justified, a national emergency justifies it. Commenting on the passage of the CARES ACT Senator Mitch McConnell described the relief as "a wartime level of investment for our nation."[ii]

To invest in our people, at this time, is exactly right.

Promoting Essential Values

America is not merely her economy. And citizens are not economic widgets to be cast aside like replaceable parts. Every single life is valuable.

The America I know and love resides in the values of her people, until recently, the envy of the known world.

In his State of the Union Address, January 6, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt defined those values in terms of freedom. He said:

"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship god in his own way everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation."

Today, in our pandemic response, we can only go wrong if we fail to be humane: If we fail to promote freedom from want and fear, here in America, and everywhere in the world.

[i] "Texas' lieutenant governor suggests grandparents are willing to die for US economy" Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY Published March 24, 2020

[ii] Egan, Lauren; Tsirkin, Julie; Shabad, Rebecca. "White House, Senate reach deal on massive $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill". NBC News. March 25, 2020.

Authors Website: http://www.ericzlucas.com

Authors Bio:

Eric Z. Lucas is an alumnus of Stanford University (Creative Writing Major: 1972-1975), the University of Washington (1981: BA English Literature and Elementary Education) and Harvard Law School, J.D. 1986. Since law school he has been a public servant: a prosecuting attorney, a city attorney and a trial judge. Born in Spokane, Washington where his military family lived until the age of twelve, he still resides in Washington State. Married to his wife Beth since 1974, they have four adult children and two grandchildren. Further discussions of Eric's work are available on the website: The Path of Public Service. Eric is the author of the following books: a children's book entitled: "The Island Horse," November 2005; "The Tao of Public Service" published February 2013 by Balboa Press, and "All Lives Matter: Essays, On the Need for a New View of Citizenship" published by KindlePublishing e-book July 2015. Eric's books are currently available from: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Balboa Press and Self Discovery Publications directly or through the website listed below.