THREAD: Whether by ineptitude or design, America's social safety net has always been incredibly porous, and Covid19 has laid the evidence bare. Those falling through the cracks were ignored before, but when too much of the bottom falls out, the entire structure begins to crumble.
It is impossible to consider healthcare a right if you support a healthcare system that prioritizes profits over people. A system that was already resulting in 1 out of 3 GoFundMes being for medical debt was never going to stop a pandemic, it was only ever going to make it worse. 
Tying healthcare to employment is more cruel than pragmatic:
"I won't have health insurance for the foreseeable future because I need at least 80 hours a month to be eligible. I have 2 daughters, and losing health insurance for them is the scariest part"
vice.com/en_ca/article/…
"I won't have health insurance for the foreseeable future because I need at least 80 hours a month to be eligible. I have 2 daughters, and losing health insurance for them is the scariest part"
vice.com/en_ca/article/…
School lunch debt was always an immoral concept, and schools closing due to Covid19 has made things worse for poor students. But, in the richest country on Earth, 30 million children shouldn't have to rely on school to not risk starving in the first place.
npr.org/2020/03/20/818…
npr.org/2020/03/20/818…
The "how can we afford it" argument is a right-wing talking point that only ever benefits corporations because it only ever used against policies that benefit the social safety net. Comparing deficits between presidents proves this, but Covid19 bailout talks prove this even more.
This pandemic has also proven that policies are only ever considered "purity tests" until the consequences of not having them are felt by more than just the poor. Case in point:
Covid-19 has shed a light on lobbying:
"The only industry that hasn’t been slowed down by the virus is the lobbying industry. It provides a lens into the part of Washington that Americans despise, particularly at this time of national crisis” - Ro Khanna
nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/…
"The only industry that hasn’t been slowed down by the virus is the lobbying industry. It provides a lens into the part of Washington that Americans despise, particularly at this time of national crisis” - Ro Khanna
nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/…
Maybe if more attention had been paid to workers' rights before, corporate lobbyists and elected officials wouldn't have been able to endanger millions of hourly workers' lives solely for the sake of profits.
People are rightfully outraged by Senators selling stocks during this crisis, but it's wild that the outrage is mostly over the timing of the sale and not the fact that elected officials are personally financially invested in industries affected by their votes in the first place.
The only way to properly address Covid19 is to also address the underlying issues it exposed: "politics as usual" helped spread this pandemic. Those suggesting otherwise do so to the benefit of profiteers. In order to save lives going forward, things fundamentally need to change.
