Opening Up the Economy

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

Right now, the big debate in the halls of power is whether or not to open up the economy once again. The president has made it imminently clear that he wants to open things up again as soon as reasonably possible. But those on the other side of the aisle are trying to say that he’s trading lives for cash. That’s not true; but since when has any politician bothered themselves with something so trivial as the truth?

If Trump continues to listen to the words of his medical advisors, we can expect to see the economy opening back up sometime in 2022. That’s why he’s created this new panel, to look at ways of getting parts of the economy up and running once again. There has to be some balance between protecting people’s lives from COVID-19 and protecting them from dying from heart attacks, depression and suicide. There’s even a possibility of starvation playing a part in this equation.

To me, the biggest reason we need to open the economy back up is food. As it stands today, roughly a third of our country’s meat processing plants are shut down, due to Coronavirus. It’s not that they have been shut down by the government; it’s that they’ve been shut down by workers getting sick and other workers becoming afraid to go to work and possibly get sick.

Our grocery stores are just now getting restocked to the point where we can go into the meat department and find a pretty good selection. But with a third of our meat processing plants shut down, it’s likely that we’re going to see meat shortages once again. Worse, this could be a portent of what’s to come, with many more meat processing plants and other food processing plants shutting down. There’s just no way of knowing. But if people in those plants keep getting sick, they’ll be afraid to go to work.

This clearly illustrates the problem we have in opening the economy back up. In order to open anything back up, the necessary protocols will have to be developed, to make the working environment safe for workers. In the case of retail and food service, this means making it safe for customers as well.

Since the Coronavirus isn’t going to go away anytime soon, this is a big challenge that we face as a nation. Most of us are not accustomed to having to work in masks and gloves. We’re not used to keeping our distance from others. Yet if we are going to keep ourselves safe, those are the types of things we’re going to have to do.

But will masks and gloves be enough? Or are we going to have to implement more stringent measures? Will it be best for the nation as a whole, as well as the companies that we work for, if some of us keep working from home?

One possible answer is to implement universal testing for the virus or for the antibodies created to defeat it. Anyone who comes out clean from the test, in the sense that they aren’t able to infect others, will be allowed to return to work; while those who can infect others will be forced to stay home.

But what about those who are infected but apparently immune to COVID-19? It is theorized that as much as a third of the population could be carriers of the virus, even though they are asymptomatic. Should those people be prevented from working, to protect others? If so, for how long?

I’d be willing to guess that for that last question, the answer that any of us would give would depend on where we fall on the scale. If we are some of those who are infected, but immune, we’d say that it is unfair to keep us from work to protect others. However, if we are those who might be infected by those people, we would fall on the side of saying that those people should stay at home. We’ll all look at it from the viewpoint of what’s best for us, personally.

I know this for sure; we’ve got to find a way to get the businesses of this country open again or we’re going to be in worse shape than we already are. That’s something we just can’t afford. The government can’t keep making up and passing out funny money to keep people at home.

While I’m sure there are lots of good people working on the problem; but I wouldn’t count on them if I were you. Rather, I’d get ready to go back to work and to do so safely. That means having masks, plenty of hand sanitizer and maybe even gloves. If you can’t find them, than make them yourself. That way, when you get that call back to work, you can go safely, without too much worry and without putting yourself or your family in danger.

We’ve got to depend on ourselves. That’s why I’m always saying to make sure your powder is dry and your survival gear close at hand.

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