This pandemic has really cut through the illusion of our overall prosperity

[Calculating]

We had 'record low unemployment' and a shiny stock market which was approaching 30k and setting new records daily. Underneath these things we had a country with a fundamentally rotten foundation. Half of our population living paycheck to paycheck without enough money saved up to cover a few weeks without a job. Stocks that were propped up by tax cuts for the wealthy and stock buybacks enabled by cheap debt. Rampant income inequality which was getting worse by the year, and a generation of students crushed by insurmountable debt. My only hope is that this crisis will lead to a fundamental reevaluation of our society and economic system in the end. The cracks in the system were already there, this crisis just split them open all at once.

[underpants]

1. Yep.

Most families can't afford a sudden $400 expense.

I think a chief concern that won't get a lot of attention is the chance for civil unrest. Not political but out of necessity.

[uponit7771]

2. K&R, From TRMS it looks like the UI rate is going to be around 13-ish% Places like Germany aren't

... thinking of falling apart because their economy is going to crap they have proper safety nets.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. UI rate? Uninsurance rate? Not 100% what this is, thanks...

[uponit7771]

6. UE ... rate

[malaise]

3. The day you replace society with market

is the day all are doomed. Neither healthcare nor education can be privatized. There was no debate about providing polio vaccines for everyone who needed one.

[2naSalit]

7. +1

[dugog55]

9. That is because our Government had not been Reaganized yet.

Once old smiling Ronny got into the White House in 1981, this country took a horrendous turn to the right. It had been drifting that way for over a decade, but Ronny gave it a shove. Union busting, anti-labor, encouraged corporations to worry only about the bottom line. Pension, health care and wages all became stagnant or lost. Most of our manufacturing was shipped over seas for the cheap labor, but funny, the prices of products never came down. The American worker was doomed. It did not happen over night, but by the time Bush Jr. got down with us, it was all but over.

[ashling]

11. sad but true

[appalachiablue]

16. +5 Got it, 'Reaganized'

[malaise]

19. Excellent post

Reagan/Thatcher - Friedman/Hayek - the slaughter in Chile - the other slaughters and experiments in developing countries and finally it came home.

[Calculating]

21. Yeah Reagan is where it took a sharp turn for the worse

...

[SCantiGOP]

5. And our illusion of stability

Manhattan is an island, and at any time has three to seven days of food, depending on how you define it.
Cut the link to surface transportation, and you are a day or so from panic and possible anarchy. Shut down the banking system and things go south in a hurry.
We are a patchwork society that depends on everybody pulling together and having a damned functioning government.

[scarletwoman]

8. Our piss-poor health care system is another factor.

[ancianita]

10. Not for long. Bill Gates announced today that vaccine is being tested on today's first patient.

... a few more months for testing...

... a few months after that for mass production ...

... all the pandemic logistics "problems" will be figured out by then, so the leftover immunized herd can fire up the realreal economy so billionaires can get back to doing what they do best: devalue, overwork, tax, and destroy Earthlings and Earth for profit. Back to "life."

Oh, and privatize education in the meantime. Gotta teach the "market values" tradition for the younguns.

[flibbitygiblets]

12. Also shows we're much weaker in general than most like to think

Our election system is mostly an "in-person" affair impacted by things like weather, job issues (being on Tuesdays), political fuckery; voting machines easily hacked, and now yes, mass illness

The floating shit-show on the Roosevelt (god-awful treatment of the captain and crew aside) shows us to be unprepared to deal with disaster such as this. Imagine if we NEEDED to use that ship right now?

And all the other things that have been mentioned already, millions uninsured, lacking sick leave, living paycheck to paycheck, the already unconscionable situation with homelessness and mass incarceration and undocumented citizens--all going from merely awful to hair-on-fire awful in a situation like this.

As my spouse says, trump has tied America's hands and pulled down our pants in front of the world. They can all see how weak and humiliated we are. Putin must be polishing up his "employee of the year" award for you-know-who.

[Pepsidog]

13. My hope too

[TeamPooka]

14. +1000

[Catherine Vincent]

15. And hopefully 95% of the US products won't be made in China

Wishful thinking, I know.

[Progressive Jones]

17. The economy is a hall of mirrors inside the house of cards that is the United States.

It ain't over yet, but we're on our way out.

"Greatest Nation In The World" my ass.

[Ani Yun Wiya]

18. Perhaps what is needed is a global universal basic income.

Spain is going in this direction because of this pandemic

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fspain-universal-basic-income-coronavirus-yang-ubi-permanent-first-europe-2020-4%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR220CSZaXsQg8XmbY6AWo1ee82EsVb-MeegcO5Dyn7GsY6hU4jkjq6kTAQ&h=AT1hhof6-hxrsdQZPOc2pG_H6iNH-QmBhQCFEQygZZ-iIqqO-y1qvLItF-RP6spNCDcE_OO1Q9h3L6Q3Cnu6ezMgqnkESxLM5Y_fjZUBswfCGIL1XAXI-Kj_q9Eih4yYvBiewP70IGGiudgO1d_Bgv3_qQTdb0JdneSb_wk|

[warmfeet]

20. Yes, smoke and mirrors has turned into smoke and rubble (rubles?).

Time to rebuild. Let's use a stronger foundation this time around - disaster capitalism only helps the already rich.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Well Said!

Recommended.
I share your assessment on why the markets inflated in value.

[Aussie105]

23. America is the land of opportunity!

You can get rich and famous in America.

If you don't succeed, try harder.

If you still fail, it's obviously your fault.

If you can't pay your bills, or feed your family, it is your fault.

If you get sick but can't afford health care, so you stay home and die. It's your fault.

Don't expect the government to help you, that is Socialism, which is evil! You are on your own.

(Now, there are countries around the world where people live with no education, no support to feed their families in desperate times, and inaccessible health services. We call them 'Third World Countries'. Heaven help you if you live in one of those and the virus infects you!)

America isn't a prosperous country, not for most of the people who live in it, anyway.

It's sunk to being a third world country. MAGA assumes America was great once. I don't see that moment anywhere in it's history.

OK. I'm being unpatriotic. It's ok. I'm not American.