"Freedom," Federalism, and Capitalism: A Recipe for Self-Inflicted Genocide
As of this morning, September 18th, 2020, the United States has reported 197,529 deaths from COVID-19, and over 6.6 million cases. Lots of people among us, myself included, blame President Trump and his administration for this. The president himself, downplaying the virus, lying about it, disregarding science, calling it the democrat’s “new hoax,” and rarely ever wearing a mask, and his administration, by in large, following his inept, bumbling lead, do deserve the lion’s share of the blame here. But our poor response to this pandemic extends far beyond one man and one administration to a pervasive ideology that has grown all the more ridiculous as time has passed.
Watch footage from any anti-mask rally and you’ll see many people claim that they shouldn’t be mandated to be a civil human being and wear a mask during a pandemic because America is a free country. You hear the same argument when any gun control legislation is brought up. Apparently Americans should be free to own whatever types of firearms they wish, and fill those fire arms with any ammunition they wish, and not be hampered by comprehensive background checks. Americans stand by the freedom argument even though there are more guns in the U.S. than people.
Here’s a chart of the highest civilian gun ownership in the world per 100 people:
United States (120.5)
Falkland Islands (62.1)
Yemen (52.8)
New Caledonia (42.5)
Serbia (39.1)
Montenegro (39.1)
Uruguay (34.7)
Canada (34.7)
Cyprus (34)
Finland (32.4)
We nearly double number two on this list. We also have far more gun homicides than any other developed nation—it’s not even close.
Our insane attachment to what we term freedom has been deadly. And the same goes for our attachment to free-market capitalism. We keep on burning fossil fuels at obscene rates—even though scientists have been warning us about how CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels is one the leading causes of climate change—because there’s a lot of money behind it. A large portion of the country is on fire right now, and other sections are flooded. And still, many among us would rather keep the blade of profit spinning along than to implement true systemic change.
We burn more fuel than anyone else:
We’re #1!
Here’s another chart courtesy of Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center listing countries with the most cases and deaths around the world:
When it comes to Covid 19, our attachment to capitalism has been exacerbating our obsession with freedom. Part of the reason so many people were protesting mask mandates and business closings, were that the government did not do their part to take care of its people. And this isn’t just the federal government, it’s state legislatures as well. Instead of truly shutting everything down and paying people to stay home, we were constantly reacting and implementing half-measures that only served to draw things out and cause thousands of deaths.
We are obsessed with our distorted sense of freedom as an American ideal, helplessly stitched to the notion that any civic change, any government action should be immediately attacked. Any action that does not align entirely with our top-down, free-market, boot-strap mentality is thrown out. Any socialistic measures, anything that would make us into a more social democracy—even if these measures do not in any way dismantle the capitalistic system—mean that we are inches from turning into Venezuela.
There wouldn’t have been as many angry people protesting business closings if they felt they would be able to weather the storm financially and open back up when we got through the virus. But paying people to not work was considered a silly premise by many of our leaders, including Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) who thought the idea was hilarious:
So we forced businesses to close and didn’t do nearly enough to help those people survive.
And stop with the bullshit about how we can’t afford it. We gave $500 billion in aid to corporations, and didn’t require them to keep jobs or decrease obscene executive salaries. Our estimated military spending between October 1st, 2020, and October 1st, 2021 is nearly a trillion dollars. Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the rich have cost $450 billion in lost revenue.
We could’ve afforded to make public health the main priority, but “freedom” and capitalism is America’s religion.
And now, 200,000 free people are dead.
All sacrifices to keep an economy, that has crashed anyway, moving.
Art by Steve Ponzo
IG: @StevePonzo, TW: @StevePonzo
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Blast From The Past
As Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States, continues to destroy Yemen, I thought I’d share a piece I wrote which details the horrors that have been occurring there for years, and our active role in facilitating them.
[Click photo or title to read]
The Ongoing Role U.S. Role In The Decimation of Yemen
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Soundtrack
[click to listen, or click here for the full, ongoing LR soundtrack on Spotify]
Guided By Voices- As We Go Up, We Go Down
Blackstar feat. Common- Respiration
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Orgs to Support
(If you have the means, speak with your wallet)
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