What Happens After the Peak May Well Define Us as a People
Sometimes it feels like we are living in a horror movie, other times within a John Lennon song. In our best moments, people and governments around the world share data, masks, COVID-19 tests, and strategies for social distancing. What’s next? When cases peak in the U.S., it won’t in fact mean the worst is behind us, unless we draw on our deepest values to guide our choices.
1. Let science and public health, not politics, guide us. This likely means accepting changes to our ways of living for many many months.
The main argument for “re-opening” the country completely and quickly is that a faltering economy is worse than the spread of the virus. This is simplistic, first because the coming apart of our healthcare system, if strained further, directly impacts our economy. Second, the very people who may be helped the most by returning to work (lower wage workers, for example) are those at greater risk of dying from the virus; we now have clear data on the disparate levels of illness and death among people of color and those who are low-income.
Until there is an effective vaccine for COVID-19 that is accessible to all, and/or drugs to blunt the impact of the virus, we will likely need to combine a staggered, carefully structured re-opening of parts of our society with “pumping the brakes” – shorter periods of social distancing and closings throughout the next year or longer.
2. Invest in people, and not just those who are well-connected. This means being more intentional about the structure and implementation of federal aid packages.
In the rush to get the first round of CARES Act relief funds out to small businesses, the loans were first-come, first-served. Afterwards, we learned that many small businesses which fuel the economy had little ability to apply before funds ran out, and many large companies in states not even directly affected by the virus received funds. Speaking as someone who helped manage our nonprofit’s loan application, the federal instructions were incredibly complicated, and we were lucky to have an existing relationship with a participating bank.
We must ensure all eligible businesses can participate in any further relief efforts by requiring banks serve all applicants, implementing some level of means-testing, providing a multi-lingual hotline to help people complete applications, and requiring full transparency about who received the funds and for what they were used.
For the relief payments to individuals, while $1200 is a start, we must be clear this is not a “hand-out”; this kind of federal legislation uses our own tax dollars to invest in our people. Similar to what is being done in a number of other countries, a bill currently being introduced in the House and Senate would ensure $2000 per month for the next six months to every taxpayer earning less than $120,000 per year. That kind of step could prevent foreclosures and other tragedies that in turn impact the economy, as well as allow us to avoid re-opening businesses so suddenly that more vulnerable citizens die.
3. Safeguard our democracy. This means ensuring free and fair elections this fall with widespread vote-by-mail options.
Nothing will tear apart the country faster than a question about the legitimacy of the 2020 national election. In addition to making voting safer in this pandemic, research has already shown that vote-by-mail laws increase voter turnout for both parties, countering arguments that it is a partisan effort. And the concern that there will be fraud? There is no evidence of such fraud to date, and if we are supposed to believe we can confidently snail-mail and email something as private and essential as our taxes, why would a ballot not be equally secure?
Currently, 26 states offer the option for certain elections to be conducted by mail, and 5 states actually mail ballots to all registered voters for every election. There will be costs and logistical challenges to expanding mail-in voting, all of which can be overcome if a non-partisan commission begins to put this into place nationally.
Without waiting for a federal effort, every governor or state legislature must begin now. Too difficult to do? With a full six months to go before the election, shame on us if we call ourselves an advanced country and can’t even ensure voter participation during a pandemic.
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As we approach the peak in the U.S. and look to the amorphous other side, our values - making sound decisions based on facts, putting our people first, and protecting democracy - must guide our choices. We are not alone in our fears and hopes. Perhaps the fight against this new virus could even be seen as a method to unite our planet. But if I were to say it that way, I might be accused of sounding like John Lennon. Wait, that would be so bad? Imagine.
Laurie Sherman is the author of the forthcoming book Chasing Social Justice: How Do we Advance the Work that Matters Most?