hi-ho hi-ho

"it must be confessesed that though the plague was chiefly among the poor, yet were the poor the most venturous and fearless of it, and went about their employment with a sort of brutal courage." daniel defoe. a journal of the plague year.

people are home...consumption is spluttering...and boredom is rampant...

the n y times suggests you might want to get moving..or just sit an watch jane fonda move...whatever motivates you...

the beeb tells me there is consumption as the boredom drives people to binge ( and let's not forget the times' suggestion about those "wines under $15...consumption takes many forms )

economically speaking, al jazeera tells me the oil producers are in panic mode...

and nations continue to feel the pressure plague has put on them...

and less wealthy ones are being out-bid for supplies necessary to deal with the infection... ( the poor almost always need have "brutal courage" )...

here the administration wanted to get the economy restarted this month...that seems unrealistic but the ponzi scheme is going broke and the upward flow of cash needs to start again soon so the cdc has issued guidelines for "essential" workers to return to work...

which include such sage advice as taking your temperature...going home if you feel ill...practicing social distancing at all times...and...wearing the gosh darn "ineffective" face masks...my astonishment at the hypocrisy ( or, perhaps, outright politically motivated lies ) with which this has been handled has not abated...

that millions are being bludgeoned by this is unmistakable and the need ( where is the $1200 apiece at? ) is not abating...perhaps the time for a universal guaranteed income has arrived...it will not happen...wealth hates to give anything away...wealth's opinion is profoundly self-centered however...life is al about them...ask trumpy...none of that lessens the validity of the idea...have a look at rutger bregman...

meanwhile the death toll mounts...

and politicians continue to play politics...trying to limit the number of voters in any possible way to keep things under control...plagues are double edged things politically...this could be the reichstag fire...governments using an "emergency" to tighten controls on populations and enhance their means of control...then again they can be empowering to the masses...the black death killed large segments of the european population which fundamentally reshaped the power structure...like it or not , the elite needs the masses to get things done and when plague had killed millions the labor pool was significantly reduced rendering that labor more valuable...wages went up...money came into the hands of the poor and with it greater independence and leverage..economically, and so, politically...no good comes of that for an elite...i have no clue how many deaths will result form this virus...there is , however, a possibility that the creaking and groaning of the economy it has caused may impart a sense of their importance in it to the working poor...a sense of commonality...of solidarity...a sense of the actual power of their numbers if they can overcome their balkanization by hegemonic culture...that scares the bejesus out of any elite...madison's fear of an "interested and overbearing majority" is what the political system here is all about and why politicians seek to limit the input of the masses...paradigm change is in the air and old joe is not going to be the vector...if it comes about it will be because we change our viewpoint...door's open.