State of Emergency?

“Out of the ashes of the current catastrophe, America’s white working class seems to have fashioned a new culture of pain and trauma, rooted in white America’s peculiar imperative to seem happy all the time (unless you’re sick) and to personalize and depoliticize financial hardship.” Helen Epstein, Left Behind, New York Review of Books

A few weeks ago I said I was watching how the Trump gang would respond to the coronavirus. As expected, the response has been chaotic and incoherent, with false statements, contradictions, blithe dismissals, empty boasts, and, most recently, Trump’s disavowal of any responsibility. None of this is at all surprising. Trump is a decent politician who has seized control of the GOP, but he is a terrible leader, utterly incompetent, insecure, and out of his depth. Trump’s glaring personal deficiencies -- lack of character, morality, empathy, honesty, intelligence -- are now on full display, and as the coronavirus spreads, which it will, and the human and economic consequences deepen, which they will, Trump will not be able to hide. His attempts to blame everyone else for his, and his lackey-filled administration’s response to a deepening public health crisis, will sound more and more unhinged, ridiculous, and idiotic. 

It’s only March. The presidential election is eight months away. A whole lot can go wrong for Trump in that time, and by his own hand, he’s made it more likely that what happens will be bad, not good. The man is running from his own incompetence, and losing the race. Naturally, Trump claims the exact opposite.  

Locally, Santa Barbara is shutting down. Schools will be closed for the next few weeks, UCSB is holding classes online, hundreds of community events, performances, fundraisers and other public gatherings have been postponed or cancelled. My wife and I were in Whole Foods Friday night and it looked like looters had just left: no almond milk or ground beef, empty vegetable bins, a depleted frozen food aisle. Unlike a lot of people, we haven’t hoarded toilet paper or canned goods. I can’t decide if we are being sensible or not taking the situation seriously enough. I want to avoid panicking but the vibe in this city is heavy, fretful, anxious, and scared. 

Just as Trump’s complete failure of leadership isn’t surprising, it’s also no surprise that the United States government is ill-prepared to combat a pandemic. How can it be otherwise when for nearly four decades, we’ve had it drummed into us that government is the problem, and that unfettered capitalism, where individuals are responsible for themselves, is the path to freedom, security, and happiness? Why do we need government when we have markets? As Helen Epstein notes in the quote above, we have depoliticized financial hardship. In other words, each of us has shouldered the weight, the total responsibility to grab and realize the American Dream, while ignoring the structural reasons we cannot get ahead no matter how hard we work or how many jobs we hold down. We’ve been told that a price can be fixed to every human endeavor, that we have nothing in common with, and no responsibility for, anyone but ourselves and those nearest us. Now comes a pandemic, and America’s disinvestment in the Commons is coming into crystal clear relief. Why do so few American workers enjoy paid sick leave? Because too many American workers are not represented by a union. And why are there so few unions? Because neoliberal ideology, starting with Ronald Reagan, killed almost all of them. 

Working people in America need an advocate.  

Live Update: I just ran down to the Trader Joe’s on Milpas Street, hoping to find ground turkey, almond milk, and coffee creamer. The meat section was bare; no almond milk to be had, though I did find creamer. No cereal. Half a dozen boxes of maple and brown sugar oatmeal. The canned food aisle had been picked clean -- no tuna, salmon, beans, soup. There were plenty of bananas and eggs. No shortage of wine and beer. There wasn’t much bread. Look how quickly our lives have changed; our needs and desires and comforts are suddenly harder to fill. 

In our small pantry we have 1 can of pinto beans, 3 cans of refried beans, 1 jar of mayonnaise and 1 jar of pizza sauce. I’m afraid to count the remaining rolls of toilet paper in the hall closet.