March 12, 2021
Yesterday we marked the grim milestone of one year since the start of the global pandemic. One year since we were brought low by a virus that was both extremely contagious and frequently lethal. Those of us fortunate enough to work remotely, retreated to our homes, which became our offices, our gyms, our bars and restaurants. We struggled to impose boundaries and relieve tedium. We had friends and family members die without being able to comfort them or properly mourn their deaths. Our children were robbed of rituals and rites of passage. It was a year with no proms, no homecomings, no junior year abroad, no graduations.
Yet when we saw George Floyd murdered on camera for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, something snapped. Around the country, and around the world, heedless of the risk of contagion, we streamed into the streets together to say that we would not tolerate a society that would tolerate such depravity. A critical mass of us finally decided that, although this is the country we have always been, this is not the country we want to be.
In response, the forces of the revanchist right wing in this country, from violent police officers to a white supremacist President, reacted to peaceful protests with violence. As the election loomed, a corrupt Postmaster General sabotaged the system in an effort to undermine vote by mail. The “former guy” demagogued the election, whipping his deranged supporters into a frenzy that culminated in a bloody insurrection on January 6th. Despite all of the obstacles thrown in our way, we came out, not once, but twice — first in November to defeat Trump and elect Joe Biden by a margin of 7 million votes; and then in January in Georgia to elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to deliver a Democratic Senate majority.
Yesterday, we saw the first fruit of our labor. President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Act which will deliver $1.9 trillion dollars in relief to our battered country. In addition to $1400 checks for every person making up to $75,000 (or couple making up to $150,000), the law will provide an additional $1400 for each dependent child and an increase in the child tax credit (Source: “Here’s What’s In The American Rescue Plan,” by Barbara Sprunt, npr.org, 3/11/21). The extension of federal unemployment assistance and the billions in assistance to low income Americans is projected to cut child poverty in half and overall poverty by one third (Source: “Joe Biden just launched the second war on poverty,” by Dylan Matthews, Vox.com, 3/10/21).
Then last night, President Biden marked our solemn anniversary with an address to the nation. The first few minutes were a catalogue of loss. The President detailed the lives and livelihoods lost, the missed milestones, and reassured us that he understood and shared our sorrow. He went on to detail what his administration had done and would do, to get the pandemic under control, so that we could get back to living, instead of just existing. As we listened to a President who exuded competence and compassion, our relief was palpable. As President Biden tours the country to promote the benefits of the American Rescue Plan, just remember, we put him there. At the end of the day, we rescued ourselves.
#Electionshaveconsequences