After the Virus: California Liberals Say Returning to Normal Won't Be Enough

[Zorro]

In a matter of weeks, California let thousands of people out of prisons and found shelter for many who had been living on the streets, but how far the progressive wing can push the state remains a question.

Housing for the homeless. Criminal justice reform. Addressing the digital divide for schoolchildren in rural areas.

Propelled by the urgency of the coronavirus crisis, and despite severe economic headwinds, liberal Californians see this moment as an opening to push through an agenda that addresses some of the state’s most intractable and long-debated problems.

Already, thousands of people have been let out of the state’s jails and prisons, cash bail has been eliminated for most crimes, thousands of homeless people now have roofs over their heads, and children in rural and poor areas of the state are being sent tens of thousands of laptop computers for distance learning — temporary measures to confront the pandemic that leaders are hoping will become durable solutions to longstanding problems of inequity.

While many in the country talk about returning to normal, a common refrain is emerging among California’s powerful political left wing and many liberal leaders across America: Normal wasn’t working.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/us/coronavirus-california-liberals.html

[BComplex]

1. This is great news, and I know there are many states that are going to throw in with California's

new normal visions for the future.

[walkingman]

2. Everything starts in California!

[BComplex]

3. the good stuff!