@josie – I’m not convinced you really believe what you type sometimes.
@josie: “It is clear that some people are so desperate to get back to work that they are demonstrating in the streets.”
Is it clear? Or is it that there are some people who are really struggling to pay their bills, provide housing, and feed their family? Are they desperate to kill people via C19 just so they can go participate in a shit economic system for shit pay and little benefits?
@josie: “Some people seem to be pretty comfortable with the economic suppression and are willing to conform to State pressure.”
What if we had an actual economic system that wasn’t designed to have people choose between spreading a deadly virus or allow their family to starve and go homeless?
Your assessment of peoples’ motivation is firmly rooted in your deep ideological commitment to the concept that a person’s worth is measured in his/her ability to take sell their labor.
I’m not sure what things are like in your area, but around here (eastern MA), people are anxious and depressed. If they are lucky enough to have a job or work from home, the financial insecurity is crippling. You know it’s a matter of time. People are working twice the hours and twice as hard just to make sure they are not seen as nonessential.
And there are plenty of people who have lost their jobs, have been collecting unemployment at a fraction of what they earned, lost their health insurance (because the US is a shit country), and are on the verge of losing everything. These people don’t want to go to work and risk killing people and bringing it home to their loved ones. But they do want a fucking paycheck.
And for those of us lucky enough to still be able to work, this whole thing is still a nightmare. We can’t see our extended family or friends, our kids are depressed and losing large parts of their life, and we would love for things to go back to “normal” – if it means that we don’t agree to kill large parts of the population.
What if we were able to eliminate the economic, housing, health care, and food insecurity by providing income to everyone so that they could really isolate for a time? Is it possible that we could bring things back to “normal” more quickly and not have to kill our parents or siblings?
If your reflex is to assume that everyone is lazy and doesn’t want to work, look at your ideology and where this all comes from. It’s important to note that this obvious misanthropy is also targeted. You are not talking about those wealthy enough to be able to not work. You are not talking about multi-millionaires and those without financial burdens. You’re targeting the working class and poor. Think about why that is.