Monte Rio Musings by Chuck Ramsey — May 2020
When will normalcy return? People are stressed out and getting more divided by the day. People are out of work and broke. Conspiracy theories are all over the place including that 5G caused coronavirus. On Nextdoor we have two camps. One being keep the lockdown and it’s better to be safe than sorry or 6 feet apart rather than 6 feet under. The other camp questions the need for these draconian measures and why we have created an economic crisis in response to a healthcare crisis.
I stand in the middle as usual. Every action taken has consequences including unintended ones. How can it be that other countries have been able to handle this better and yet the richest and most powerful country on earth is currently shut down and is in the worst place? South Korea appears to be the best example of how to handle the crisis. They did not shut down their economy. They heavily test their population with a WHO test that the US decided we weren’t interested in using and we would instead develop our own. While our Apple and Google try to develop an app that helps identify contacts of people with coronavirus, South Korea already has and uses that technology. During a national healthcare crisis, privacy issues take second place to saving lives. The apps tell you what seat you sat at a movie theater and who sat around you. It tells you the same information for where you ate, where you shopped, etc. This is done through cell phone technology and credit card transactions. Although names of infected people are not disclosed publicly, the government is able to contact those effected, test them, quarantine and isolate them. The people of South Korea feel a patriotic duty to help their country and fellow citizens. It will take some doing for Americans to all get on the same page with big brother following your every move.
I am hoping businesses will be able to open at least on a limited basis sooner rather than later. We know what steps work. We know how to social distance. We can have more people telecommuting, we can have split days at work so only half the workforce shows up daily. We can limit the number of customers inside stores and restaurants. We can accept that there will be no large events or gatherings until we have a viable vaccine or most of us have developed immunity if that is possible. Technology has worked pretty well so far as far as lessening the need for in person meetings, although Zoom has provided some entertainment along the way. We can determine what businesses and places are more or less a threat. There are meat packing plants with workers standing side by side in assembly lines, then there is the isolated beach. There are dense urban centers, crowded subways, and then there are quiet B&B’s in the woods. Why can’t we begin to open up our local economy again?
One side blames Trump for the way he handled the situation. What they don’t seem to get is that he was able to put this reopening decision on the backs of governors instead of taking the responsibility and heat himself. He is for reopening the economy. As more time goes on and people remain on lockdown, stressed out, can’t pay mortgage or rent, who do you think they will vote for? The guy that wants them to be able to get back to work and support their families or for democrats that seem to want to take the you can’t be safe enough approach? As they say it’s the economy stupid. And while the economy is horrific, who is trying to improve it means more than who caused it. People can’t blame Trump for the virus itself and bickering over what did he know when is a tough battle to win. Once again, instead of further dividing the country why not everyone work to get us back to some state of normalcy?
On the local front have our roads been repaved and repaired? Has our Welcome to Monte Rio Vacation Wonderland sign been fixed? What efforts have been made to improve our unemployment rate which had been the highest in Sonoma County? Where are our grants and low interest loans to replace our septic systems? The SBA, through banks, has funded more loans in 14 days then they have in the last 14 years, and even this wasn’t enough. If businesses are not able to reopen, instead of helping businesses ramp back up the program will only supplement EDD. Then what? I’m thinking it will be more difficult than ever to get any funding for any basic government services we still need here. What if the housing market is the next to be affected as people don’t have jobs? What about loss of property taxes and sales taxes? I hate to be pessimistic, but I don’t think it’s looking good. We really need to work together and get things moving forward and done. The future of our hamlet depends on it.
