Get a life

   Little more than a century after the influenza pandemic of 1918-'19, Earth was beset by COVID-19: an illness caused by a novel corona virus. [The name comes from COrona VIrus Disease (20)19.] Some countries, saddled with questionable (at best) leadership, are putting focus not on the health of citizens but on the economy. (!)
   The 45th president of United States has formed a "council" to 'Re-Open America.' The officials of said council, as announced on Fox News [yes, I know] are: Mark Meadows, White House Chief of Staff and formerly representative of North Carolina's 11th District; Ivanka Trump, Trump's daughter; Jared Kushner, Ivanka's husband; Steve Mnuchin, investment banker, serving as 77th U.S. Secretary of Treasury; Larry Kudlow, director U.S. National Economic Council; Robert Lighthizer, attorney and currently U.S. Trades Representative; and Wilbur Ross, investor and current U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Even knowing next to nothing about economy, I had heard most of these names: and knew they spelled disaster for the majority of United States residents.
   Trump has been whining for weeks that the country has to be opened up, to maintain a strong economy. I don't know about you, but when a "leader" is more concerned with bottom lines than the lives of humans, it tells me that person is not fit for duty. Of course, many have realized that about Trump since before he was even nominated.
   It is the leaders, both of individual states, as well as several countries, who are focused on curbing the spread of infection and promoting healthy populations who have the best interests of actual flesh-and-blood people in mind and at heart. When countries/states are forced to bid against each other for limited resources, it isn't good. Period. Systems based on concentrating wealth among a very few, cannot be sustained indefinitely. Just look at who was deemed to be "essential" during the covid-19 pandemic: grocery store workers, healthcare workers, medical personnel, janitorial staff and sanitation workers. Most, if not all, of these people are making minimum wage, which is a far cry from a living wage. That simply is not right. Everyone deserves not only enough money to live on (without having to work two and three jobs) but to be treated with dignity and respect.
   Liberté égalité fraternité: the motto on banners carried during the French Revolution, espouse liberty (freedom), equality, and fraternity (brotherhood). That is what we need now. we must be sensitive to the needs of others, treating all as kindred, because we are all in this together and togetherness is the only way we will "get through." It was John Donne who wrote, "each man's death diminishes me" in his poem No Man is an Island.

   So, just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link; so is global health only as hale as that of the most vulnerable member of humanity. It is our job, our sacred trust as humans, to take care of one another. When this affliction has passed, have no fear: rich people will still be around, ready to steal your money. If billionaires were reduced to millionaires, it wouldn't kill them but sending people back to work before there is a vaccine may well prove deadly. Keep staying home and getting well: going back to work too soon will [almost certainly] lead to a resurgence. Nobody wants that.
   A robust economy is dependent on a healthy populace: dead people don't spend money.