Press Pause
One small, potentially meaningless anecdote had me revise my priors significantly. It was the comically long lines at food banks reported in several locations. I admit I'm largely sheltered from many of the current downsides. I'm a defense attorney and while my hours and income definitely have taken a hit recently because courts have shutdown or paused, I don't foresee a world where criminal law enforcement is abandoned completely. Even if it is somehow, I have enough savings to carry me comfortably for at least 8 months and a credit card with a very high max, to name a few backups.
So I wake up everyday usually thinking something along the lines of "make sure to do the workout your personal trainer has put together" and "I wonder what video game to play for 15 hours today?".
I felt shame when I saw the long lines at a food bank. I conveniently forgot how many people are in atrociously dire situations. I forgot how many people put their entire life savings in a business only to see it obliterated through no fault of their own. I forgot how many people structure their finances on the precarious assumption that their next paycheck will see them through. I forgot how many people really do live with no access to a fancy credit card and if they have no money...they literally can't buy anything.
It's not like I'm alone. The loudest voices I come across are necessarily journalists, policy wonks, or anyone wealthy enough to have a platform. They tell everyone to stay home which is unquestionably sound advice but holy shit not everyone has the savings, stability, or career to do that. Being at home means having no income. Having no income also meaning having no stuff, which includes things like food. It is embarrassingly easy for me to forget that.
I don't want this to just be sappy. I don't know if I accidentally fell into a pit of despair. I'm very worried about all the people dying, and I also acknowledge the true health toll of this pandemic, while unquestionably serious, is still a fuzzy question at the moment. What definitely isn't is the unprecedented emergency brake we're living under. I'm worried about everyone whose hopes and dreams have been thoroughly shat on by the entire world hitting the pause button. I'm worried about what this new world fully of poverty and dashed hopes will push people towards.
I don't forget that "the economy" is really just people acquiring resources, some of which are necessary for survival. I fully appreciate that damage to the economy is not some abstract scenario where some numbers go down. No. It's grinding and visceral poverty. The kind where people have to cut corners and make do with extremely grim circumstances. But, this isn't to say that I'm in the camp of advocating for lifting the lockdown. No. I appreciate the seriousness of the pandemic enough to agree the steps taken are largely necessary. It just sucks that this is what we're stuck with: two giant piles of shit in either direction.