I’m starting to see a lot of “we didn’t know that this would be the last time” posts and even wrote one myself. It’s important to remember, though, that US public officials knew by late January 2020 how contagious and deadly the virus was, concealed the truth, and in some cases made a lot of money.

We, the people, pay the price. We’re still paying the price. Over a half a million of us in the US have died. The same people who deliberately misled the public then are still doing it today. They get rich and leave the public desperate. Most are Republicans, but you can count on one hand the number of real Left politicians among the Democrats.

I don’t know how we get people in office who aren’t interested in becoming rich beyond the dreams of avarice. It would be interesting to see the net worths of all of the people who voted against the minimum wage increase and the relief checks. Something tells me they don’t miss many meals, have everything on autopay without thinking about it, and are proud of how little they pay in taxes. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they have embarrassments of riches, but think they don’t have enough. Pitiable, except that they continue to perpetuate harms through their decisions, which shape our world. What’s really sad is that they could be using those same powers to provide housing, food, and healthcare and mobilize people to strengthen communities. Buddha says that everyone is capable of waking up, to realizing that they have the power to mitigate and repair harm done and refrain from creating more harmful effects. It’s hard to imagine that happening in the halls of power without some major changes to remove financial conflicts of interest and to mitigate corporate influence. Change comes through mass political action.

I don’t know what to do about this beyond griping on the Internet. Let me know if you have ideas. I guess I’m hoping that you and I find some way to stand in solidarity with each other, keep each other, and put people in office who also give a damn about community well being and will do something to break this system we live in that is designed to keep people desperate.

Thanks for reading. You’re doing great. I’m proud of you and proud to know you.