In Case of Pandemic: Open Slowly

Unrepresentative Policy of the Week: Will States Open Too Early?

With only a few days notice, Governor Hogan of Maryland re-opened the state in spite of its failure to meet the criterion for safely relaxing stay-at-home orders. He is hardly alone, with an increasing number of state "leaders" caving to pressure from business interests or their own ideology to get back to "normal." This is of course a fantasy, there is no normal to return to! This cowardly move by governors is simply an aping of Trump's complete abdication of responsibility during this crisis, but on a smaller scale. Now the responsibility supposedly falls on Mayors and other local leaders to make these terrible choices, with few resources and no integrated communication between communities. So far, it seems that many are rising to the challenge better than their federal or state counterparts, but without support, they cannot hope to bridge the chasm of need that has opened across vast swathes of our society. And so the discussion transforms from one about public health and saving people's lives, into one about saving the economy. But are Americans convinced by the arguments they've been presented with and do they believe that it's time to re-open?

Are you more concerned that states will start lifting restrictions too quickly, or that states will not lift restrictions quickly enough?

Too Quickly: 63%

The jig is up, and the American people understand what's happening before their very eyes. They know the push to open is happening too quickly, and without any care for the vulnerable who will undoubtedly die as a result! It's true that an increasing number in this country are clamoring for the country to re-open, and while some are certainly driven by selfish indifference to the suffering of others, many more are simply responding to the impossible choice they are being forced into: with no income, no food, and rent overdue, risking a small chance of dying from COVID-19 suddenly doesn't seem so impossible to imagine. Republicans know this, and want to force this choice on the American people!

This Sophie's choice should not be the future so many of our people face! We must take this incredible tragedy that has befallen all of us, in which everything has changed and transmute it into a rebirth of a more socially conscious society! Just because it's the right thing to do, and it's what the people want, doesn't mean we'll get any of it, given the state of our government and our "leaders," unless we put pressure on all our representatives through a broad and enduring movement of people, demanding change. Don’t miss this chance to change our country for the better. Join us every Tuesday, in growing solidarity and power until we take back our democracy from amoral special interests, and greedy politicians: Don't Shop on Tuesdays!