https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213307030
Sat Apr 18, 2020, 12:05 AM
Sometimes more information can be a problem.
When we first heard about covid19, the skinny on it was this:
“Deadly to older folks with compromised health”.
That meant that MANY super-rich older folks seemed to be the target. These are the people who get catapulted to the top of transplant lists, and have the best that money can buy when it comes to hospitals and specialists.
There was real cause for concern. The whole issue was all about protecting our elders. We were eager to stay at home, cut off contact.
Anything to protect Grandma and Grandpa, or CEOS. For days there were always pics of genteel/frail (white) elders on tv day and night.
BUT it wasn’t long before more information came out that narrowed the “target” population.
Poor people are at greater risk because of the density of living conditions, mostly in larger cities (Usually Democratic party voters live there).
They are also more at risk because of their health issues. Decades of poor health care due to the fact that most poor people work really shitty jobs with no sick leave or health insurance. These people rely on the ER for health care, and cannot pay for their care.
Many poor folks are chronically unemployed, or homeless. This means that their basic food supply is laden with fats/sugars and is often stuff that’s bought at bodegas/dollar stores and is usually “processed” to the nth degree. Obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes are well known to poor people.
These are not “personal choices”. They are financial consequences of where and how they have to live (polluted areas with bad air, bad water, mold, toxic substances in the buildings, etc).
The elder poor who are in nursing homes are usually in homes that are Medicaid-supported. These places are often staffed with younger poor folks who make substandard wages, are extremely overworked, and often live in densely populated living conditions.
Elder not-so-poor are not immune even though they can afford resort style retirement homes, because the staff is still often poor younger folks, since the owners of these facilities are always watching “the bottom line”.
Minorities are often a large part of the poor faction. Hispanics, documented or undocumented, and African Americans soon became the media focus.
With that new focus, every interviewer was immediately putting any democrat on the air in the hot seat with questions about why these folks were not a part of the $1200 scheme and how they (Dems) would shape future legislation to see that these people got their fair shake.. and of course why they were disproportionately affected by the virus..(always asked with pretend naivete)
It was not a very far leap before prisoners became the focus.
So in a few weeks, the story about the virus went from being a bad old invisible enemy set on killing Granny & Gramps, to an inevitable force of nature that seemed to be preying on “illegals, non-whites, lazy poor folks, and prisoners”.
I’ve understood how republicans think for a very long time now, and I knew where this was heading. Remember after Katrina, when some congressman said that Katrina had accomplished what “they” had been trying to do for a very long time?
Republicans are just fine with the virus running wild.
Apparently, Trump can not only shoot someone on 5th Avenue, but he can also exterminate tens of thousands of people, and his crew will love him all the more.
This is why he does not want to waste money and effort on testing. He needs for the virus to do his party’s work, and if a few doctors and nurses, or some celebs die, he’s ok with that.
He can now just blame the governors.
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