The country is entering the Second Great Depression, that which is expected to be even more severe than the Great Depression of the early twentieth century. The hardship is compounded by the pandemic of the corona virus, so that people are referring to this as a ”double whammy”. In desperation, people are looking for leaders. They are appealing to their democratically elected leader, and in particular the president of the United States, Donald Trump. He takes no responsibility for the crisis which is sweeping the country.
One writer in particular, a true starry eyed optimist, stated that Trump is facing a ”problem that can’t be solved with his usual bag of political tools, obfuscation, denial, deflecting blame and misinformation”. If only that were true!
In fact, Trump denies ever having met with medical professionals in January, in which he was warned of the danger of the corona virus. He was advised of the necessity of containing the virus, of isolating infected areas as well as the individuals who are infected, of preparing for the out break of the anticipated pandemic, of stocking up on medical supplies and giving people warning. This he denies, just as he denies clearly stating, on February 25, ”We are very close to a vaccine”. In fact, the medical professionals are convinced that such a vaccine is at least a year away.
He also stated, on February 28, ”Its going to disappear one day, its like a miracle, it will disappear, it will go away.” He went on to speculate that ”warm weather will kill the virus”, despite the fact that there is nothing to suggest that the weather will have any effect on the virus. Then on March 7, he said that ”anyone who wants a test for the virus can get one”. Such is hardly the case, as to this day, such a test is not widely available.
As Trump recently stated, he ”takes no responsibility for this virus”. The lack of preparation, the ”empty shelves”, he has nailed on the previous administration. The fact that he has been in office for over three years is conveniently overlooked. The journalists who point this out to him, in turn face his wrath and scorn. This is especially true if that journalist is a female. Trump has little patience for women who do not ”know their place”!
This brings us to his top political adviser, his son in law, Jared Kushner. He occupies a ”special post” inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The duties of this ”special post” are carefully not specified. Those who work inside the White House refer to him as the leader of the ”Slim Suit Crowd”.
What ever his official duties may or may not be, we are grateful to Kushner for clarifying the position of the Trump administration, concerning their attitude towards the individual states. As Kushner stated so clearly -if not eloquently- ”The notion of the federal stockpile was, it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be the states stockpiles, that they then use.”
There we have it, folks. Jared Kushner has just drawn a clear distinction between ”us”, or the ”federal’, and ”they”, or the individual states! The individual states which comprise the United States are of no consequence! The ”stockpiles” of the ”federal” are not to be used by the states! The United States are no longer ”United”, merely a miscellaneous assortment of individual states which cannot ”use” the ”federal stockpile”!
To think that most Americans were of the impression that America, by which they meant the United States, was just that! A group of states which were united in purpose, brought together under one federal government, a single country. Such is hardly the case, at least according to Jared Kushner.
It is very likely that the ”us” to whom Kushner refers, is nothing other than himself, his father in law, Donald Trump, and the other billionaires in the country, the Sacred Six Hundred, the super rich, the members of the class of people whom are technically referred to as the bourgeoisie. They rule the country, and have donated hundreds, if not thousands, of billions of dollars to the major corporations which they own. These corporations are considered to be ”Too Big To Fail”, as opposed to the numerous small businesses, which are considered to be Too Small To Succeed. For that matter, countless common people are now losing their jobs, houses and life savings, but we too are Too Small To Succeed. We do not count.
Now the latest absurdity from Trump is that ”We see light at the end of the tunnel”. Such is hardly the case, for as Dr. Fauci, his top medical adviser put it, ”This is going to be a bad week… We are struggling to get it under control”. The Surgeon General clearly agrees, as he expects the ”week ahead to be the hardest and saddest.” He also says ”we are facing a crucial two week period…a Pearl Harbour and a nine eleven moment…with a lot of deaths.”
As a journalist just reported, precisely a month ago, the death toll from the virus was precisely eleven. Now, one month later, the death toll is ten thousand! All this talk of the ”peaking of the virus”, of ”flattening the curve”, is just that. Talk. The virus continues to spread, making countless people sick and killing a great many. Further, as thousands of people are desperately sick, kept alive on ventilators, most of those people will soon die, as soon as they are removed from ventilators.
This stands in stark contrast to Trump, the ”eternal optimist”, who is suggesting the use of an untested drug. As he put it, ”What do you have to lose?” In answer to the question, the president of the AMA replied, ”You could lose your life.”
To this day, ninety six percent of the country is placed on ”stay at home orders”, or at least forced to exercise ”social distancing”, so that people leave their homes only when absolutely necessary. In other words, thirteen million people are still moving around, spreading the virus! Trump refuses to exercise his executive authority and force the whole country onto ”stay at home” orders. As a result of this, ever more ”hot spots” continue to appear.
The state of New York has been very hard hit by the virus, with nearly half of the deaths in the country occurring in that one state. Yet when the governor of the state called up the White House and requested more medical equipment, including face masks and ventilators, he was told that he did not know what he had in his own state inventory! Other governors, of other states, have reported similar conversations.
The medical personnel, including first responders as well as hospital staff, are putting their lives as well as their health on the line. In return, they are asking for proper protective gear, such as face masks, as well as hazardous duty pay. In response, the government authorities are telling them ”now is not the time”. Bear in mind that ”now is the time” to bless the biggest, richest, most powerful corporations with mountains of money, tax payer money no less, but the same people who dole out this money have no time to listen to working people!
To all working people, I can only say that now is the time to act! We do not have the time to wait for the virus to run its course. By that time, millions of people will be homeless, as well as unemployed. We have to take action now, to march, as the women marched across the country, at the time Trump was inaugurated, three years ago. The students also marched, in protest of gun violence. Now all Americans, of all walks of life, have got to come together, put aside our differences, and overthrow the system of capitalism, destroy the bourgeois state apparatus and establish the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!
Now is the time for scientific socialism! It is the billionaires, the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie, who are responsible for this disaster. They are using this as an opportunity to line their own pockets! The problem is not one of Trump or Kushner, but of the class they represent, the bourgeoisie! The whole class must be destroyed! In the process, we can expect the country to break up, as the empire collapses, as working people set up a democratic republic, of the people, by the people and for the people, the working people , the proletariat!
May I suggest that when people march, in order to overthrow the government which protects the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the people should wear face scarfs, if nothing else. Face masks are not always available. After the revolution, after we crush the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, then we can focus on dealing with this virus which is decimating our population.
The same people who organized the women’s march, as well as the students march, must once again become active and organize once again, only this time with the goal of overthrowing the bourgeoisie. All citizens should be encouraged to join the two mainstream political parties, as card carrying members. All conscious people, those who are familiar with the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, should focus also on forming a proper Communist Party, one which advocates the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. In this way, the Party will be able to distinguish itself from the revisionist parties.
It is to be hoped that this depression and virus will serve as a ”wake up call”. The people are desperate for leaders. Feel free to rise to the occasion.
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 